Editorial note: This is general educational information for overseas readers. It is not investment, tax, legal or custody advice. Rules and service availability differ by country; verify current terms with an official source before acting.
A balance is a set, not one number
Bitcoin tracks unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). Each output has a value and a condition that describes how it may be spent. A wallet adds the values of outputs it controls to show a balance, but a future payment may use one output or many inputs.
Change is normal
If the selected inputs are worth more than the payment and fee, the wallet creates a change output back to an address it controls. Check that the change address belongs to the same wallet and label the transaction purpose. Do not treat a new address as evidence that funds disappeared.
Privacy and fees
- Combining inputs can reveal a common-control relationship to observers.
- Many inputs make a transaction larger and can increase the fee at busy times.
- A coin-selection suggestion is a trade-off, not a performance or price signal.
Editorial note: This is general educational information for overseas readers. It is not investment, tax, legal or custody advice. Rules and service availability differ by country; verify current terms with an official source before acting.