Addresses
Addresses in a blockchain are the accounts on which transactions with cryptoassets are carried out. They are like the IBAN associated with a bank account. Just as a bank account is necessary for a person to send or receive money transfers in the traditional financial system, in order to send or receive cryptoassets, the user will always need an address.
A blockchain address is a unique sequence of alphanumeric characters used to conduct transactions.
Some of the technical characteristics of an address are:
Length: the length of an address varies according to the blockchain, but it usually has between 26 and 35 alphanumerical characters. For example: In Bitcoin, addresses typically look like this: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa, while in Ethereum they begin 0x: 0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e.
Representation: addresses can be represented by a QR code or barcode for easy scanning.
Compatibility: addresses can be compatible with one or more blockchains.
And what happens when transactions are made to an address that does not exist? When transactions are made to an address that does not exist or is invalid, those amounts or sums are lost and cannot be recovered. The amount will arrive at that address, if it is valid, but without the keys, you will not have access to it.
This is because transactions in a blockchain are irreversible, once a transaction has been made to a specific address, it cannot be canceled. Therefore, it is important to make sure you are using the correct address before confirming a transaction.