In the context of Bitcoin and other UTXO-based cryptocurrencies, an xpub (extended public key) is used to derive multiple public addresses hierarchically, as defined in BIP-32 (Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets). Each address can hold one or more UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Outputs), which represent individual pieces of cryptocurrency that can be spent.To answer your question:

• All UTXOs under addresses derived from a single xpub are considered part of the same wallet. The xpub represents a single HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallet, and all addresses (and their associated UTXOs) generated from that xpub belong to that wallet.
• You do not have multiple wallets under one xpub. Instead, the xpub allows the wallet to generate a tree of addresses (e.g., for receiving payments, change addresses, etc.), and all UTXOs associated with those addresses are managed as part of the same wallet.
• Each UTXO is tied to a specific address derived from the xpub, but the wallet software aggregates all UTXOs across all derived addresses to calculate the total balance of the wallet.

Key Points:

• Single Wallet: The xpub defines one wallet, regardless of how many addresses or UTXOs it controls.
• Multiple UTXOs: A single address can have multiple UTXOs (e.g., from multiple transactions), and the xpub can derive many addresses, each potentially holding multiple UTXOs. All of these are still part of the same wallet.
• Wallet Software: Wallet software (e.g., Electrum, Sparrow, or hardware wallets) uses the xpub to track all derived addresses and their UTXOs, presenting them as a single wallet balance.

Example:

• You have an xpub that derives addresses addr1, addr2, and addr3.
• addr1 has 2 UTXOs (e.g., 0.1 BTC and 0.2 BTC).
• addr2 has 1 UTXO (e.g., 0.5 BTC).
• addr3 has no UTXOs.
• All these UTXOs (0.1 + 0.2 + 0.5 = 0.8 BTC) are part of the same wallet, as they are derived from the same xpub.

In summary, all UTXOs under addresses derived from one xpub belong to a single wallet, not multiple wallets.

Receiving notification of a payment is almost instant with Bitcoin. However, there is a delay before the network begins to confirm your transaction by including it in a block. A confirmation means that there is a consensus on the network that the bitcoins you received haven’t been sent to anyone else and are considered your property. Once your transaction has been included in one block, it will continue to be buried under every block after it, which will exponentially consolidate this consensus and decrease the risk of a reversed transaction. Each confirmation takes between a few seconds and 90 minutes, with 10 minutes being the average. If the transaction pays too low a fee or is otherwise atypical, getting the first confirmation can take much longer. Every user is free to determine at what point they consider a transaction sufficiently confirmed, but 6 confirmations is often considered to be as safe as waiting 6 months on a credit card transaction.

Transactions can be processed without fees, but trying to send free transactions can require waiting days or weeks. Although fees may increase over time, normal fees currently only cost a tiny amount. By default, all Bitcoin wallets listed on Bitcoin.org add what they think is an appropriate fee to your transactions; most of those wallets will also give you chance to review the fee before sending the transaction.

Transaction fees are used as a protection against users sending transactions to overload the network and as a way to pay miners for their work helping to secure the network. The precise manner in which fees work is still being developed and will change over time. Because the fee is not related to the amount of bitcoins being sent, it may seem extremely low or unfairly high. Instead, the fee is relative to the number of bytes in the transaction, so using multisig or spending multiple previously-received amounts may cost more than simpler transactions. If your activity follows the pattern of conventional transactions, you won’t have to pay unusually high fees.

Overview

Electrum, BlueWallet, and Nunchuk are all open-source, non-custodial Bitcoin-only wallets focused on security and self-sovereignty. Electrum (launched 2011) is a veteran lightweight desktop client ideal for advanced users. BlueWallet (2018) excels in mobile simplicity with Lightning Network support. Nunchuk (2021) stands out for collaborative multisig and inheritance planning, making it great for families or teams. All integrate with hardware wallets (e.g., Ledger, Trezor, Coldcard) and emphasize privacy features like coin control. Below is a detailed comparison based on their latest features as of September 2025.

Detailed ComparisonEase of Use & Accessibility

• Electrum prioritizes function over form—it’s fast to set up but feels like a tool for tinkerers. Mobile support is basic, better for desktop workflows.
• BlueWallet wins for intuitiveness: Clean mobile interface, one-tap Lightning sends, and easy vault creation. Ideal if you’re stacking sats on the go.
• Nunchuk balances polish with power—its key/wallet separation and NFC tapping make multisig feel effortless, though inheritance setup adds a learning step. Recent updates (e.g., wallet reordering) improve UX.

Security & PrivacyAll three are non-custodial (you control keys) and open-source, but they differ in depth:

• Electrum shines in decentralization (run your own server) and cold storage, but historical server-based phishing attacks highlight the need for manual verification.
• BlueWallet adds unique defenses like plausible deniability (hide real funds behind a decoy) and full-node connectivity, but lacks 2FA.
• Nunchuk leads for resilience: Multisig tolerates key loss, with upcoming proactive secret sharing for seamless rotations. It’s privacy-maximal (Tor, no email required) and has resisted government data requests (e.g., 2022 Canadian convoy incident).

For hardware pairing, all work well, but Nunchuk’s NFC support (e.g., with TAPSIGNER or Coldcard) enables true air-gapping without cables.Advanced Functionality

• Electrum offers broad tools like coin control and plugins, perfect for RBF fee bumps during congestion.
• BlueWallet stands out with Lightning for micro-payments and batching for efficiency.
• Nunchuk excels in collaboration: Encrypted group chats for co-signing, custom policies (e.g., time-locks), and inheritance (pass keys to heirs without txs). It’s future-proof with Taproot and anti-reorg features.

Community & ReliabilityFrom recent discussions (e.g., Reddit, X), Electrum is the “trusted old guard” for solosig/desktop. BlueWallet gets praise for mobile/Lightning but some critique its load times. Nunchuk is rising fast for multisig enthusiasts, with users calling its UX “rent-free in your head” and highlighting easy Coldcard integration.Recommendation

• Choose Electrum if you’re a desktop power user valuing longevity and minimalism.
• Go for BlueWallet for mobile-first, everyday spending with Lightning.
• Pick Nunchuk for secure, shared custody—it’s the most innovative for 2025’s focus on inheritance and key resilience.

For maximum security, pair any with a hardware wallet and verify downloads via GPG. Always back up seeds offline.

When you spend a portion of a Bitcoin UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output), the transaction is recorded on the blockchain, which is publicly visible. Here’s how it works regarding your question:

• Change and the UTXO Used: If you spend part of a UTXO, the transaction will show the input (the UTXO you’re spending), the amount sent to the recipient, and the change sent back to a new address in your wallet (the change address). Anyone looking at the blockchain can see the amount of the original UTXO, the amount sent, and the change, but they won’t necessarily know that the change address belongs to you unless they can link it to your identity or wallet through other means (e.g., address reuse or external data).
• Other UTXOs and Total Wallet Balance: The blockchain does not directly reveal your other UTXOs or your total wallet balance. Each UTXO is independent, and the blockchain only shows the specific UTXO(s) used in a transaction. Unless your other UTXOs are linked to the same address (e.g., through address reuse) or associated via some off-chain data (like exchange records or wallet fingerprinting), the recipient or anyone else cannot see your other UTXOs or deduce your total wallet balance from the transaction alone.
• Privacy Considerations: If you reuse addresses or if your wallet’s transaction patterns are analyzed (e.g., through chain analysis), someone could potentially link multiple UTXOs to your wallet, giving them insight into your balance. To improve privacy:
  • Use a new change address for each transaction (most modern wallets do this automatically).
  • Avoid address reuse.
  • Consider using privacy-enhancing techniques like CoinJoin or Lightning Network for more private transactions.

In summary, the recipient can see the change from the UTXO you used in the transaction if they look at the blockchain, but they cannot see your other UTXOs or total wallet balance unless additional information links those UTXOs to you.

This works fine. The bitcoins will appear next time you start your wallet application. Bitcoins are not actually received by the software on your computer, they are appended to a public ledger that is shared between all the devices on the network. If you are sent bitcoins when your wallet client program is not running and you later launch it, it will download blocks and catch up with any transactions it did not already know about, and the bitcoins will eventually appear as if they were just received in real time. Your wallet is only needed when you wish to spend bitcoins.

Long synchronization time is only required with full node clients like Bitcoin Core. Technically speaking, synchronizing is the process of downloading and verifying all previous Bitcoin transactions on the network. For some Bitcoin clients to calculate the spendable balance of your Bitcoin wallet and make new transactions, it needs to be aware of all previous transactions. This step can be resource intensive and requires sufficient bandwidth and storage to accommodate the full size of the block chain. For Bitcoin to remain secure, enough people should keep using full node clients because they perform the task of validating and relaying transactions.