<p>Typically there's a seed which is displayed as a sequence of 12-24 words that is used to derive addresses/private keys in different chains. Different coins use different <em>derivation paths</em> which are hardcoded in the wallet so even if two coins use the same address format the generated addresses will be different.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T20:45:23.653Z
2021-02-16T20:45:23.653Z
MCCCS
<p>As far as I know, wallet stores private and public keys and calculate balance according to that.
Suppose a wallet(Single cryptocurrency) has 3 keys (private,public). Wallet will find UTXO's connected to those keys and display balance on your wallet UI.</p>
<p>But if a wallet handles different cryptocurrencies, how does it distinguishes between different cryptocurrencies? How does it know available public address belongs to a particular currency (Blockchain)?</p>

<bitcoin-core><transactions><address><bip32-hd-wallets><ethereum>
How wallet handles different cryptocurrencies?
Ajinkya
# How wallet handles different cryptocurrencies?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-16)

As far as I know, wallet stores private and public keys and calculate balance according to that.
Suppose a wallet(Single cryptocurrency) has 3 keys (private,public). Wallet will find UTXO's connected to those keys and display balance on your wallet UI.

But if a wallet handles different cryptocurrencies, how does it distinguishes between different cryptocurrencies? How does it know available public address belongs to a particular currency (Blockchain)?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, transactions, address, bip32-hd-wallets, ethereum


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-16. Score: 1

Typically there's a seed which is displayed as a sequence of 12-24 words that is used to derive addresses/private keys in different chains. Different coins use different *derivation paths* which are hardcoded in the wallet so even if two coins use the same address format the generated addresses will be different.


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