EVM Address Explained: Beginner’s Guide — Why Do Your Wallet Addresses Start With 0x?

What is EVM Address? Origin and Basics

The Ethereum network uses the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) as the execution environment for smart contracts. The EVM is a decentralized virtual machine that consistently and securely runs contract code across all nodes, using “gas” as the unit of resource measurement.

EVM Address is the unique identifier assigned to a regular External Owned Account (EOA) or a contract account. For an external account, the address is generated from the private key — by extracting the last 20 bytes of the public key through a series of cryptographic and hashing operations, and then converting it to a hexadecimal format that starts with “0x”.

For example, a typical Address might be 0xABC123…7890. This Address is what you use to receive or send assets on the chain and interact with contracts.

EVM compatible chains and the design concept of “one address, multiple chains”

With the development of the blockchain ecosystem, in addition to the mainnet Ethereum, many “EVM-compatible” chains/networks have emerged, such as Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain), Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, etc.

They all follow the EVM specifications — therefore, an EVM Address can be used across multiple compatible chains. In other words, your Wallet Address on Ethereum is also valid on BNB Chain or Polygon.

This design greatly simplifies cross-chain asset management and user experience - you don’t need to create a new Address for each chain, and you can flexibly transfer and receive assets across chains.

How to view and manage your EVM Address

• Create an account using an EVM-compatible Web3 Wallet (MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Bitget Wallet, etc.).
• Open the Wallet interface → Click “Account Address / Receive” → The Wallet will display your EVM Address (starting with 0x), which can be copied or scanned with a QR code.
• When you switch between different chains (Ethereum, BSC, Polygon…), the Address remains unchanged — but you still need to verify that the current network is correct to avoid sending to the wrong chain.

Practical scenarios of using EVM Address

• Receiving/Sending ETH or Tokens: Whether it’s ETH or ERC-20/EVM-compatible tokens, as long as you provide your EVM Address to others, you can receive assets.
• Participate in DeFi, NFT, and smart contract projects: Many protocols (swap, lending, staking, NFT minting, etc.) require you to provide an EVM Address for authorization or transfer.
• Cross-chain deposit/withdrawal or bridge: In exchanges or bridging services, you only need to provide an EVM Address to transfer assets between different chains.
• Multi-chain asset one-stop management: Because addresses are universal, you can manage assets on multiple chains in the same Wallet, convenient and efficient.

Common Mistakes and Security Recommendations

• Confirm the target chain is correct: although the addresses are the same, different chain environments differ. If assets are mistakenly sent to an incompatible chain, it may result in the assets being irretrievable.
• Protect your private key/mnemonic: The EVM Address is exported from the private key - once the private key is leaked, your Wallet assets are no longer secure. Do not casually enter your mnemonic on untrusted websites or software.
• Verification format usage: Some Wallets/Tools will distinguish address case (checksum), it is recommended to use the address automatically generated by the Wallet to avoid manual input errors.
• Verify the difference between contract address and account address: do not confuse “contract address” with “ordinary EOA address” — the contract address represents a smart contract account, not your personal Wallet.