BTC wallet for Core Extension (Ledger)

Doing wallet cleanup, have a question.

Scenario:

  1. Use ledger to create a fresh 24-word seed phrase
  2. Connect Ledger to Core Wallet Browser Extension
  3. Ledger & Core wallet EVM address match, great
  4. Ledger & Core wallet BTC addresses do not match, problem

Question:
If I were to bridge assets from Avalanche to BTC via the core wallet, will those BTC funds be stuck there? I attempted to send some small BTC over to test and cannot bridge back or send the funds on Bitcoin via Ledger anymore, it just throws an error.

I could be doing something wrong!

Thanks for any inputs, cheers
B

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Hello, I’d be glad to help clarify some pieces.

On point 4, this is by design, not a “problem”. Core derives the appropriate BTC address that is associated with your C-chain address so that when you use the Avalanche Bridge, funds are correctly bridged to your wallet. You can check out our Bitcoin bridging FAQ to learn more about this in detail. Avalanche Bridge™ FAQ for bridging Bitcoin | Avalanche Support

To answer your following questions:

  1. If I were to bridge assets from Avalanche to BTC via the core wallet, will those BTC funds be stuck there? The answer is no, the funds are not stuck there. You can use any wallet that uses the same derivation pathway that Core uses and get to the funds if you choose not to use Core in the future. Wallet addresses are tied to the seed phrase, not the software.

  2. I attempted to send some small BTC over to test and cannot bridge back or send the funds on Bitcoin via Ledger anymore, it just throws an error. The reason you are receiving that error is that the amount you are attempting to bridge may be too low or you may not have any Bitcoin left to cover gas fees on the Bitcoin network side of the transaction. The same goes for when you bridge from Avalanche to Bitcoin, you need some of the native tokens to cover the gas on the respective side of the bridge.

If you have any other questions feel free to respond in the thread.

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Thanks for this response, maybe I can ask a quick follow up that isolates my question?

When I set up Core Browser Extension by connecting it to my ledger, I get a BTC address
When I set up the first BTC account on Ledger Live I get a different BTC address

The ETH addresses on Core/Ledger match tho.

What am I missing / not undertanding?

Thanks so much

The addresses don’t match but I was able to move the BTC back - you were right I just didn’t have enough BTC for gas on that test trade. TY!

The reason that the Bitcoin address that Ledger live shows and the one that Core shows differs, is that they are using different derivation paths, but both belong to the same seed phrase.

This article has a good visual of how that works.

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