Why does my hardware wallet generate a new address each time?

Summary
This article explains why hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor generate new wallet addresses, especially for Bitcoin and other UTXO-based assets. You’ll learn how this affects wallet verification under the Travel Rule and how to correctly verify your wallet when making deposits or withdrawals.

What’s happening?

If you use a hardware wallet (like Ledger or Trezor), you might notice that your Bitcoin address changes every time you want to deposit or withdraw. This is normal behavior and improves your privacy and security.

Why does the address keep changing?

Hardware wallets automatically generate a new receiving address for every transaction. This is:

• Standard behavior for UTXO-based assets like Bitcoin and Litecoin
• Meant to prevent address reuse and protect your privacy
• Not a problem, older addresses still work and belong to the same wallet

What does this mean for wallet verification under the Travel Rule?

Depositing to Bitvavo

To meet Travel Rule requirements, you need to verify your wallet before depositing crypto from a hardware wallet. You can do this in several ways:

• Verify via signature (fastest): Use WalletConnect or similar to instantly confirm wallet ownership.
• Verify via screenshot: Take a screenshot of the wallet address before sending crypto. You’ll need to repeat this for every new deposit.
• Use coin control: Enable coin control in your wallet to keep the address consistent for multiple transactions. This is available on Ledger and Trezor under advanced settings.

Withdrawing from Bitvavo

When withdrawing crypto to a hardware wallet, you can add a newly generated address to your address book and use it right away. Once an address is verified, you can continue to use that same address

You may choose to verify a new address for each withdrawal, but it’s not required.

Wallet-specific behavior

• Generates a new address for each BTC-related transaction
• All previous addresses remain valid
• xpub (extended public key) is available in Ledger Live or Trezor Suite under advanced settings (Coin Control)
• Ethereum, Solana, and similar assets use a consistent address

Which assets generate new addresses for each transaction?

These are UTXO-based assets. Your hardware wallet will generate a new address for every transaction, but all addresses still belong to the same wallet:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Ravencoin (RVN)
• Zcash (ZEC)
• Dash (DASH)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• DigiByte (DGB)
• Komodo (KMD)
• Decred (DCR)
• Horizen (ZEN) (trade only)

Which assets do not rotate addresses?

These assets use an account-based model, so your wallet will show one consistent address per account:

• Ethereum (ETH) and ERC-20 tokens
• Solana (SOL)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Stellar (XLM)
• Algorand (ALGO)
• Tezos (XTZ)
• Polkadot (DOT)
• Cardano (ADA) (see below)
• Tron (TRX)
• Avalanche (AVAX)
• Cosmos (ATOM)

Special case: Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is technically UTXO-based, like Bitcoin, so Ledger and Trezor may show a new address for every incoming transaction. However, all addresses still belong to the same wallet and remain valid.

Glossary

• Hardware wallet: A physical device (e.g., Ledger, Trezor) that stores private keys offline for secure transaction signing.
• UTXO: “Unspent Transaction Output” — a model used by Bitcoin and others, which encourages the use of new addresses for every transaction.
• Transaction ID (TXID): A unique identifier for every transaction, used to look it up on a blockchain explorer.
• Extended public key (xpub): A master key that can generate all receiving addresses for a wallet.
• Address book: A list of pre-approved addresses for crypto withdrawals on Bitvavo.
• Wallet verification: A required step under the Travel Rule to prove wallet ownership before deposits or withdrawals.
• Coin control: A setting that lets you manually select UTXOs to send, allowing more control over which address is used.