<p>The blockchain doesn't know your total possession.  You know that addresses A and B belong to you, but the rest of the world doesn't know they belong to the same person.</p>

<p>However, Bitcoin transactions are allowed to have multiple inputs.  So you can create a transaction with two inputs, one from each of your two previous transactions.  This transaction will include two signatures, one for A and one for B, thus proving to the world that the respective owners of A and B (whether the same person or different people) have authorized their coins to be spent in this way.</p>

<p>Your wallet client software will take care of this for you automatically.  So from your perspective, all you have to think about is that you own 2 BTC.  You don't really have to pay attention to which addresses they live in; when you want to spend coins, your client software will choose appropriate inputs from among all your addresses.</p>

<p>It's not really correct to think of a Bitcoin address like an email address that identifies a particular person.  It's a token that's associated with a particular private key, such that coins sent to the address can only be spent by whoever holds the private key.  But there doesn't have to be a one-to-one correspondence between addresses and people.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-13T01:27:01.253Z
From your answer, may I come to the conclusion that the wallet also stores all the addresses used and all the transactions performed on the addresses?
xuanzhui
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-13T01:50:35.913Z
@xuanzhui: Yes, that's correct.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-12T17:32:47.743Z
2017-12-12T17:32:47.743Z
Nate Eldredge
<ol>
<li><p>Is it recommended to use different addresses for transactions whenever possible? I have been told that a bitcoin address is similar to an email address. </p></li>
<li><p>Is my total possession of Bitcoin visible on the blockchain by anyone?   </p></li>
<li><p>If address A receives 1 BTC from Alice and address B receives 1 BTC from Bob, and then I want to send 2 BTC to Dave; is that possible and how?</p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-13T01:18:14.537Z
Welcome to Bitcoin.SE! It is preferred if you can post separate questions instead of combining your questions into one. That way, it helps the people answering your question and also others hunting for at least one of your questions. Thanks!
Ava Chow
<transactions><address>
Do bitcoin addresses reveal my identity?
xuanzhui
# Do bitcoin addresses reveal my identity?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-12)

1. Is it recommended to use different addresses for transactions whenever possible? I have been told that a bitcoin address is similar to an email address.
2. Is my total possession of Bitcoin visible on the blockchain by anyone?
3. If address A receives 1 BTC from Alice and address B receives 1 BTC from Bob, and then I want to send 2 BTC to Dave; is that possible and how?

**Tags:** transactions, address

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Bitcoin.SE! It is preferred if you can post separate questions instead of combining your questions into one. That way, it helps the people answering your question and also others hunting for at least one of your questions. Thanks!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-12-12. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The blockchain doesn't know your total possession. You know that addresses A and B belong to you, but the rest of the world doesn't know they belong to the same person.

However, Bitcoin transactions are allowed to have multiple inputs. So you can create a transaction with two inputs, one from each of your two previous transactions. This transaction will include two signatures, one for A and one for B, thus proving to the world that the respective owners of A and B (whether the same person or different people) have authorized their coins to be spent in this way.

Your wallet client software will take care of this for you automatically. So from your perspective, all you have to think about is that you own 2 BTC. You don't really have to pay attention to which addresses they live in; when you want to spend coins, your client software will choose appropriate inputs from among all your addresses.

It's not really correct to think of a Bitcoin address like an email address that identifies a particular person. It's a token that's associated with a particular private key, such that coins sent to the address can only be spent by whoever holds the private key. But there doesn't have to be a one-to-one correspondence between addresses and people.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: From your answer, may I come to the conclusion that the wallet also stores all the addresses used and all the transactions performed on the addresses?  
> **username_2**: @username_0: Yes, that's correct.  

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