How to ask for a new payout address, why we confirm it with you first, and how to check an address so nothing goes astray.
Basics
Your payout address decides where every future payout goes. Changing it is simple, and it is also the moment a thief would most like to step in. The steps below keep the change safe on both sides.
When to change it
You are moving from an exchange address to your own wallet, or the other way round.
Your exchange gave you a new deposit address or closed the old one.
You created a new wallet because a device was stolen or a recovery phrase may have been seen.
Good to know: A lost or broken device is not a reason by itself. If you restore the same recovery phrase on a new device, the address stays the same.
How to request the change
Get the new address from your wallet app or your exchange deposit page. For your own wallet, use a Bitcoin address that starts with bc1. For an exchange, choose a Bitcoin deposit on the Bitcoin network.
On a hardware wallet, show the address on the device screen and check that it matches the app.
Send a small test payment to the address and see it arrive, if the address is new to you.
Copy the address. Do not retype it.
Email hello@firsthandbitcoin.com from the email address on your Firsthand account. Say which machines or which account the change is for, and paste the address as text.
Wait for our confirmation and answer it. The change is applied only after you confirm.
Why we confirm it with you first
A Bitcoin payment cannot be pulled back. If someone got into your mailbox and sent us their own address, every payout after that would go to them, and nobody could reverse it. So we do not apply an address change on the strength of one email. We check with you that the request is yours and that the address is the one you meant. It adds a short delay. It is there to protect your mining.
How to double-check an address
Compare the first 6 and the last 6 characters of the address in our confirmation with the address in your wallet. Malware that swaps addresses usually changes the whole thing, so both ends will differ.
Check it against the source, your wallet or exchange, not against your own email.
On a hardware wallet, compare with the device screen.
If one character is off, reply that it does not match and send the address again.
After the change
Payouts already sent stay where they went. The new address applies to payouts made after the change.
Watch for the next payout on Earnings and look up the new address on mempool.space to see it arrive.
Keep access to the old wallet or exchange account until you have seen a payout land on the new address.
Careful: Firsthand Bitcoin will never ask you by direct message, social media or an unknown email to change your payout address, or to send bitcoin to a 'new' or 'verification' address. If you receive a request like that, do not act on it, do not reply to it, and write to hello@firsthandbitcoin.com yourself.
If you think a change was made without you
Email hello@firsthandbitcoin.com at once, and change the password on your email account and your Firsthand account. Turn on two-factor sign-in on both if it is not on already. The faster we know, the fewer payouts are at risk.