Many people hold Bitcoin but only have a vague understanding of address formats. In fact, there are four types of BTC addresses, each with its own characteristics. Understanding them can save on fees and avoid many troubles.

Let's start with the oldest one: addresses beginning with 1 are first-generation, and their transaction fees are quite high. Nowadays, hardly anyone uses them. Addresses starting with 3 are transitional products, considered legacy, and are not recommended.

The truly noteworthy one is the bc1q prefix, which is currently the best choice—saving on fees and preventing address input errors. The latest bc1p technology is the most advanced, but some exchanges do not support it yet, so its adoption rate is not high.

At this point, many people will ask: how about security? Here's an important point: address format has little to do with security. What truly determines security is your private key management, whether you use a cold wallet, and if you have multi-signature protections.

In summary: when creating a new Bitcoin address, just choose bc1q. Don't overcomplicate it; all BTC addresses can transfer to each other. If issues arise, they usually stem from exchange risk control or insufficient personal knowledge—Bitcoin itself is not the problem.