<p>All you need to receive funds is a valid bitcoin address. To create a bitcoin address, users will generally use some software that is capable of creating the cryptographic keys that the bitcoin address is derived from.</p>

<p>So, in the most simple terms, all you need to do is <a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet" rel="nofollow noreferrer">download some Bitcoin wallet software</a>, which will then provide you with a bitcoin address you can receive funds to. All you need to do, is copy that address and send it to the person who wants to pay you.</p>

<p>Note that for every payment, you should send a new receiving address (any good wallet will give you a new address automatically each time a payment is received. This is very important for your privacy (and the privacy of those you transact with). </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Do I need to make a transaction with an existing account before receiving first time payments to legitimate verify my account?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Absolutely not.</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T01:37:37.047Z
2020-02-01T01:37:37.047Z
chytrik
<p>Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you are asking if you need to spend from your wallet in order to verify that you are the owner of a payment address. The answer to that question is no, you don't need to spend first. If you want to prove to another person that you own an address, you can sign a random message string using that payment address. Then another user can verify the signature of that message, which lets them know that you are the owner of that address. </p>

<p>I believe most wallets include this feature, but for example, here's how you would accomplish this using Electrum with the console:</p>



<pre><code>&gt;&gt; message = "this is a random message"
&gt;&gt; address = getunusedaddress()
&gt;&gt; address
'bc1q2zyqwnur9fslzwvhntyqpg9zp5nlaffczed95n'
&gt;&gt; signature=signmessage(address,message)
&gt;&gt; signature
'H1gN7O4SGoeNrRbf4RuznMDrTqHM3sRfzNM2h7qfPjBTPKE/6/UJ+ktOM80PgJ3dvId/xAK7n94F4imSEnqnafA='
&gt;&gt; verifymessage(address, signature, message)
true
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T09:09:13.400Z
that's not what they are asking. they are the victim of a scam.
Abdussamad
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T14:08:20.443Z
@Abdussamad even if they are the victim of a scam, it's good to know that there is a legitimate way to verify address ownership.
ohmyfromage
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T06:26:41.260Z
2020-02-01T06:26:41.260Z
ohmyfromage
<p>Disclaimer new to bitcoin: Do I need to make a transaction with an existing account before receiving first time payments to legitimate verify my account ?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-01T09:08:24.123Z
no that's a common scammers tactic. they haven't really sent you any money yet either.
Abdussamad
<payment><receiving>
Receiving funds for the first time
user102257
# Receiving funds for the first time

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-01)

Disclaimer new to bitcoin: Do I need to make a transaction with an existing account before receiving first time payments to legitimate verify my account ?

**Tags:** payment, receiving

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: no that's a common scammers tactic. they haven't really sent you any money yet either.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-01. Score: 2

All you need to receive funds is a valid bitcoin address. To create a bitcoin address, users will generally use some software that is capable of creating the cryptographic keys that the bitcoin address is derived from.

So, in the most simple terms, all you need to do is [download some Bitcoin wallet software](https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet), which will then provide you with a bitcoin address you can receive funds to. All you need to do, is copy that address and send it to the person who wants to pay you.

Note that for every payment, you should send a new receiving address (any good wallet will give you a new address automatically each time a payment is received. This is very important for your privacy (and the privacy of those you transact with).

> Do I need to make a transaction with an existing account before receiving first time payments to legitimate verify my account?

**Absolutely not.**


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-02-01. Score: -1

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you are asking if you need to spend from your wallet in order to verify that you are the owner of a payment address. The answer to that question is no, you don't need to spend first. If you want to prove to another person that you own an address, you can sign a random message string using that payment address. Then another user can verify the signature of that message, which lets them know that you are the owner of that address.

I believe most wallets include this feature, but for example, here's how you would accomplish this using Electrum with the console:

```
>> message = "this is a random message"
>> address = getunusedaddress()
>> address
'bc1q2zyqwnur9fslzwvhntyqpg9zp5nlaffczed95n'
>> signature=signmessage(address,message)
>> signature
'H1gN7O4SGoeNrRbf4RuznMDrTqHM3sRfzNM2h7qfPjBTPKE/6/UJ+ktOM80PgJ3dvId/xAK7n94F4imSEnqnafA='
>> verifymessage(address, signature, message)
true

```

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: that's not what they are asking. they are the victim of a scam.  
> **username_3**: @username_1 even if they are the victim of a scam, it's good to know that there is a legitimate way to verify address ownership.  

---

