<p>I think what you are mentionning is <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Firstbits" rel="nofollow noreferrer">firstbits</a>. But this practice is now obsolete as it encourages address reuse, which reduces privacy.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-27T09:39:37.293Z
2017-07-27T09:39:37.293Z
alcio
<p>It's impossible to send funds to anyone using a partial address. The address is is an identifier of 26-35 alphanumeric characters starting with the number 1 or 3.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T15:26:21.847Z
2017-04-28T15:26:21.847Z
user3832856
<p>So, I am confused about address/key length. I am aware that the length is 16-36 characters, but it seems that many people online when giving their public key use a short-form of 7 characters (being only a part of the full address) to receive coins. Also when I was first looking into Bitcoin I read something in a tutorial that mentioned this 7 character short form but I can no longer find said tutorial (was a page similar to bitcoin.com and coindesk). Does this even exist?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T15:54:43.833Z
Perhaps you are referring to the "firstbits" initiative?
Pieter Wuille
<transactions><wallet><public-key>
Is there a short-form for addresses with seven characters length?
Setsuna Kashii
# Is there a short-form for addresses with seven characters length?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-28)

So, I am confused about address/key length. I am aware that the length is 16-36 characters, but it seems that many people online when giving their public key use a short-form of 7 characters (being only a part of the full address) to receive coins. Also when I was first looking into Bitcoin I read something in a tutorial that mentioned this 7 character short form but I can no longer find said tutorial (was a page similar to bitcoin.com and coindesk). Does this even exist?

**Tags:** transactions, wallet, public-key

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Perhaps you are referring to the "firstbits" initiative?  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-07-27. Score: 2

I think what you are mentionning is [firstbits](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Firstbits). But this practice is now obsolete as it encourages address reuse, which reduces privacy.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-04-28. Score: 0

It's impossible to send funds to anyone using a partial address. The address is is an identifier of 26-35 alphanumeric characters starting with the number 1 or 3.


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