<blockquote>
<p><strong>Change addresses are supposed to receive the change bitcoins after a transaction,</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Delivering change is part of the transaction, not something separate that happens &quot;after a transaction&quot; Change is part of a transaction and transactions submitted to the Bitcoin network are indivisible.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>can it happen that such change is sent to a receiving address instead of to a change one?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Your wallet will always construct transactions so that change goes to an address it regards as a change address. You could manually construct a transaction that pays your change to one of your receiving addresses. The Bitcoin network cannot distinguish between change addresses and receiving addresses. It doesn't care about that distinction.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-07T14:10:35.887Z
So the destination address of the change depends on the wallet itself, not on Bitcoin core?
Martel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-07T18:08:02.017Z
The concept of "change address" is something local to your own wallet. If your wallet is Bitcoin Core, then it will handle change. If you use other software (like Electrum, as you appear to be using) as wallet software, then that software is responsible for handling change (and all other aspects of transaction creation).
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-07T10:23:18.147Z
2023-12-08T08:39:40.220Z
2023-12-08T08:39:40.220Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I have an Electrum wallet and I can see there are 2 types of addresses: receiving and change.</p>
<p>Change addresses are supposed to receive the change bitcoins after a transaction, but can it happen that such change is sent to a receiving address instead of to a change one?</p>

<bitcoin-core><wallet><electrum><change>
Can it happen that, after a bitcoin transaction, the change is sent to a receiving (not change) address?
Martel
# Can it happen that, after a bitcoin transaction, the change is sent to a receiving (not change) address?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-12-07)

I have an Electrum wallet and I can see there are 2 types of addresses: receiving and change.

Change addresses are supposed to receive the change bitcoins after a transaction, but can it happen that such change is sent to a receiving address instead of to a change one?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, wallet, electrum, change


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-12-07. Score: 1

> **Change addresses are supposed to receive the change bitcoins after a transaction,**

Delivering change is part of the transaction, not something separate that happens "after a transaction" Change is part of a transaction and transactions submitted to the Bitcoin network are indivisible.

> **can it happen that such change is sent to a receiving address instead of to a change one?**

Your wallet will always construct transactions so that change goes to an address it regards as a change address. You could manually construct a transaction that pays your change to one of your receiving addresses. The Bitcoin network cannot distinguish between change addresses and receiving addresses. It doesn't care about that distinction.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So the destination address of the change depends on the wallet itself, not on Bitcoin core?  
> **username_2**: The concept of "change address" is something local to your own wallet. If your wallet is Bitcoin Core, then it will handle change. If you use other software (like Electrum, as you appear to be using) as wallet software, then that software is responsible for handling change (and all other aspects of transaction creation).  

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