<p>If the address is valid, the transaction will succeed. If nobody knows the private key for that address, the money is lost forever. For all practical purposes, it's impossible to guess the key for an address that you made up.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-16T03:31:00.863Z
2014-02-16T03:31:00.863Z
Diego Basch
<p>Say I send 1.0 BTC to a Bitcoin address that is valid but has never been used yet.</p>

<ol>
<li>Does that 1.0 BTC effectively disappear? Or will the transaction fail?</li>
<li>If the transaction succeeds, could someone eventually start using that address and claim that 1.0 BTC?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-16T03:41:09.630Z
possible duplicate of [Can a new wallet receive money that was sent to it before the wallet was created?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/5880/can-a-new-wallet-receive-money-that-was-sent-to-it-before-the-wallet-was-created)
Greg Hewgill
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-16T10:51:08.200Z
@GregHewgill: Closely related, but the linked question was closed as a duplicate of a question about Hash-Collisions. I think it is closer to this one: [What happens if I mistype the address when making a payment?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/194/5406)
Murch
<sending>
What happens if I send a Bitcoin to an address no one owns?
Travis Webb
# What happens if I send a Bitcoin to an address no one owns?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-16)

Say I send 1.0 BTC to a Bitcoin address that is valid but has never been used yet.

1. Does that 1.0 BTC effectively disappear? Or will the transaction fail?
2. If the transaction succeeds, could someone eventually start using that address and claim that 1.0 BTC?

**Tags:** sending

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: possible duplicate of [Can a new wallet receive money that was sent to it before the wallet was created?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/5880/can-a-new-wallet-receive-money-that-was-sent-to-it-before-the-wallet-was-created)  
> **username_2**: @GregHewgill: Closely related, but the linked question was closed as a duplicate of a question about Hash-Collisions. I think it is closer to this one: [What happens if I mistype the address when making a payment?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/194/5406)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-02-16. Score: 7

If the address is valid, the transaction will succeed. If nobody knows the private key for that address, the money is lost forever. For all practical purposes, it's impossible to guess the key for an address that you made up.


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