Your wallet shows a different address on each chain because every ecosystem derives and encodes addresses differently from the same seed: EVM chains hash a secp256k1 public key into 0x plus 40 hex characters, Solana encodes an ed25519 public key directly as 32–44 base58 characters, and TON packs an account hash into a 48-character EQ/UQ string. None of these formats encodes the network it belongs to, which is why the identical 0x address is yours on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain, and why wrong-chain sends are so common. The built-in checks are uneven: EIP-55 mixed case catches a mistyped 0x address, TON's CRC16 catches a mistyped EQ/UQ address, and Solana's base58 alphabet merely avoids lookalike characters rather than verifying them. WATS covers Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON — you hold the keys and WATS never holds a key — and it does not support Bitcoin, so no bc1 address is part of this picture.
One seed, three addresses that look nothing alike
Your wallet shows different addresses per chain because each chain builds them differently from the same seed. EVM chains hash a secp256k1 public key into a 0x hex address; Solana encodes an ed25519 public key directly in base58; TON wraps an account hash into a base64 format with a checksum and a bounce flag. Different curves and derivation paths — the addresses cannot match.
None of this is a bug, and no wallet is showing you the wrong address. It is one identity, spelled differently per chain — and knowing which spelling belongs where matters, because sending to the right address on the wrong network is one of the most common ways people lose crypto.
Why does one seed phrase give different addresses on each chain?
Every address on this page can come from a single seed phrase. The seed becomes a master key, and from it multi-chain wallets derive a separate key pair for each chain along a derivation path — a standardized route defined by BIP-44, with a registered coin type per ecosystem in SLIP-44: 60 for Ethereum, 501 for Solana, 607 for TON. (Single-chain wallets, notably on TON, sometimes use their own mnemonic schemes instead.) Two things then split the results apart. EVM chains sign with the secp256k1 curve; Solana and TON sign with ed25519 — different math entirely, so the key pairs are unrelated even though they grew from the same seed. And even chains that share a curve use different paths and different encodings on top. How one seed fans out into that whole tree of keys is covered in what an HD wallet is.
| Ecosystem | Typical shape | Signature curve | Built-in check |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVM (Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum…) | 0x + 40 hex characters | secp256k1 | EIP-55 mixed-case checksum |
| Solana | 32–44 base58 characters | ed25519 | None — safe alphabet only |
| TON (user-friendly) | 48 base64 characters, EQ/UQ prefix | ed25519 | CRC16 checksum + bounce flag |
What is a 0x address, and what does the EIP-55 checksum do?
On every EVM chain — Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, BNB Chain and the rest — your address is the last 20 bytes of a Keccak-256 hash of your public key, written as 0x plus 40 hexadecimal characters. EIP-55 adds a checksum without changing the address: the pattern of upper- and lower-case letters is derived from the address itself, so a wallet can flag a mistyped character before you send. An all-lowercase address is still valid — it just carries no checksum to verify.
Because the address comes only from your key, the same account has the same 0x address on every EVM chain. That is convenient — one address to share everywhere — and dangerous, because the address does not encode the network. Tokens sent on the wrong EVM chain arrive at the same address on a different network: if you control the key, you can usually recover them by switching networks; if the address belongs to an exchange or a contract, they may be gone. In WATS this is the everyday case rather than an edge case, since six of the eight supported chains — Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain — share that one 0x address.
How do Solana addresses work?
A Solana address is the public key itself: 32 bytes of an ed25519 key, encoded in base58 — an alphabet chosen because it drops the easily confused characters 0, O, I and l. The result is 32–44 characters and case-sensitive. There is no EIP-55-style checksum; the safe alphabet reduces typos but does not catch them, which is one more reason to copy rather than type. One detail worth knowing: SPL tokens do not sit at your address directly — each token lives in an associated token account derived from it. Your wallet manages those behind the scenes; you still share just one address.
What are TON's bounceable and non-bounceable addresses?
TON gives one account two spellings. The raw format is the workchain number, a colon and a 64-character hex hash — precise but unfriendly. The user-friendly format packs the same data into 48 base64 characters with flag bits and a CRC16 checksum, so typos are caught. The flag that matters is bounceable: addresses that typically start with EQ tell the network to return the coins if the destination cannot process them, which suits contracts; non-bounceable addresses starting with UQ deliver regardless, which suits personal wallets — and modern wallets typically display the UQ form for them. Both spellings point at the same account, so seeing a different prefix elsewhere does not mean a different destination.
Why do exchanges ask for a memo or destination tag?
On some chains, exchanges pool all customer deposits under one shared address — common on TON, XRP and Stellar — and use a memo (or destination tag) to route each deposit to the right account. The memo is not decoration: omit it, and your coins land in the exchange's shared wallet uncredited. They are usually recoverable through a support ticket, but slowly and with no guarantee. The rule is simple — if a deposit page shows a memo, treat it as part of the address. Sending to your own self-custody wallet needs no memo at all.
How do you avoid sending to the wrong chain — or a lookalike address?
Three habits cover most of the risk. First, match the chain, not the shape: a 0x address tells you nothing about which network the sender selected, so confirm the network explicitly on both ends before anything moves. Second, test sends: for a first transfer to a new address or a new route, send a small amount, confirm it arrives, then send the rest — cheap insurance against expensive assumptions. Third, respect address poisoning: attackers generate lookalike addresses matching the first and last characters of ones you actually use, then send you dust so the fake shows up in your transaction history — waiting for you to copy it. Never copy addresses from history; use saved contacts, and verify characters in the middle, not just the ends. A good multi-chain wallet puts the network label next to every address, and keeping Ethereum, Solana and TON in one app without mixing them up is exactly what that design is for.
How WATS fits in
WATS runs one wallet across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON, so all three formats above are exactly the addresses you end up holding side by side — one 0x address for the six EVM chains, one base58 address on Solana, one EQ/UQ address on TON, all from a single recovery phrase. It stays fully non-custodial across all four products — the Chrome Extension, the Mobile App, the Hot Wallet and the NFC Metal Card: you hold the keys, and WATS never holds a key. In a post about addresses, one clarification about that card is worth making plainly — it stores no private keys. It tap-authenticates to keys that stay inside the WATS apps, with a unique card ID that pairs to exactly one device.
Bitcoin is the honest gap: WATS does not natively support it, so bc1, 1 and 3 addresses are not part of this set. Within the eight chains it does cover, network fees are paid in one token, ATS, instead of holding each chain's native gas token — ERC-4337 account abstraction on the EVM chains, with ATS itself a LayerZero OFT so a single balance works omnichain. That is not a discount; it changes which token pays the fee. ATS supply burns down from 100M to 30M.
Bottom line
Different addresses on different chains are a property of how the chains are built, not a wallet bug: one seed, different curves, different derivation paths, different encodings. Read the format if you like, but never trust it to tell you the network — confirm the chain on both ends, use a small test send on any new route, treat an exchange memo as part of the address, and copy from saved contacts rather than transaction history. If you want the three formats living in one place instead of three apps, the concrete step is to install WATS from the download page: one non-custodial recovery phrase behind your Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON accounts, and fees paid in ATS rather than a separate native gas token on every chain.
Frequently asked questions
Is my address the same on Ethereum, Polygon and Arbitrum?
Yes — for a regular wallet account, the same key produces the same 0x address on every EVM chain, so in WATS one account shows the identical address on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain. The address does not encode the network, though: you must pick the correct chain when sending. Exchange deposit addresses are the exception — an exchange may credit only one specific network, so always match its instructions exactly.
Which address formats does WATS show, and is there a Bitcoin address?
WATS derives every address from one recovery phrase: a single 0x address shared across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain, a 32–44 character base58 address on Solana, and a 48-character EQ/UQ address on TON. WATS is fully non-custodial, so those keys are yours and WATS never holds a key. There is no Bitcoin address, because WATS does not natively support Bitcoin — bc1, 1 and 3 addresses belong to an ecosystem WATS does not cover.
What happens if I send to an exchange without the memo?
Your coins arrive at the exchange's shared deposit wallet but are not credited to your account, because the memo is what identifies you. They are usually not lost — most exchanges can credit them manually through a support ticket — but the process is slow and not guaranteed. If a deposit page displays a memo or destination tag, treat it as a mandatory part of the address, never an optional field. Sending to a self-custody wallet such as WATS needs no memo, because the address is yours alone rather than shared.
What is address poisoning and how do I avoid it?
Address poisoning is an attack where someone generates a lookalike address matching the first and last characters of one you actually use, then sends you a dust transaction so the fake appears in your history. If you later copy an address from that history, funds go to the attacker. Avoid it by never copying from transaction history, saving verified contacts, and checking middle characters — not just the ends — before signing.