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  • I sent 0.005 BTC from my Ledger Nano wallet (Segwit) to my Bitstamp wallet.
  • When checking my new balance on a public address reader, an additional 0.603 BTC was removed. I then checked the transaction online on blockchain.info and the 0.603 BTC went to an unknown-to-me address (I never authorized nor performed this second transaction).
  • My Ledger Nano wallet (Segwit) balance on my Ledger Desktop app always showed the correct balance (with only -0.005 BTC) when the other sites all showed the incorrect balance ( -0.603 -0.005 BTC).
  • I finally transfered the total remaining balance from my Ledger nano to Bitstamp as a test, and I got back the 0.603 BTC missing.
  • What is interesting is that the total of the transaction (authorized 0.005 + unauthorized 0.603) is equal to a transaction I have done two weeks before (from an exchange to my Ledger Nano).

Can someone explain to me what happened? By not understanding what happened, I am fearful of other unexpected transactions and wonder if I should still use my Segwit address.

Thank you

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You just experienced what is called a change address, when you send a transaction from an address, the wallet sends the amount to the address you put and sends the remaining balance to another address in your wallet. this is why you saw the correct balance in your ledger because the address is still in your ledger.

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  • Thank you @chick So, it is not Segwit related or is it? And you are saying that this second new address is part of my HD wallet, so Ledger Nano includes it in my balance when the other sites only have one unique address and not the HD one so the display part of my balance? Is "change address" frequent? And harmless? Thank you
    – georgebateman
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:41
  • It is not segwit related at all. All modern wallets will use newly generated change addresses for your change. In a block explorer, you are looking at things on an address by address basis, so of course it won't show you your balance if the coins are in a different change address. Furthermore, they can't distinguish between a change address and not; there really is no distinction. It has nothing to do with Segwit or HD wallets.
    – Ava Chow ♦
    Commented Feb 23, 2018 at 5:11

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