For the transaction: https://blockchain.info/tx/ee1658bb4d0de80a91d2e0005218d4cfab7c302a352458bd6afb6376b47fbf81 it looks like there are multiple inputs with different values for the same address. I thought an address only has one value at any given time?
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Can you be more specific? That transaction just looks like 1 address in, 2 addresses out; nothing out of the ordinary.– NReilinghFeb 3, 2014 at 6:52
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There are multiple rows of the same address. Normally I have only seen any given input address appear once. I realize there is only one address. That wasn't my question. The question is about different bitcoin values for the same input address– Tyler GilliesFeb 3, 2014 at 8:12
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2 Answers
What's happening in this transaction is that the same address (1AhN6rPdrMuKBGFDKR1k9A8SCLYaNgXhty) is claiming different outputs. You can see which output it's claiming by clicking on the "Output" link available for each input.
This is a common scenario where a person has their coins spread across several addresses.
Bitcoin balances are associated with addresses, but they are packaged in "outputs". The set of all spendable balances is called the Unspent Transaction Output Set (UTXO set).
Each transaction creates a new transaction output for every recipient that it sends money to. When several payments are sent to the same address, this address will accumulate several distinct transaction outputs.
When you spend bitcoins, your transaction explicitly references which outputs created by previous transactions it spends. Outputs are used up completely when they are spent. This is why transactions need to return change to yourself for the leftover input amount.
This means that the same address could appear more than once on the input side, or if someone is being creative even on the receiving side.