Move your bitcoin off the exchange

You bought bitcoin on an exchange (a company that holds bitcoin for customers). Until you withdraw, that company holds the private cryptographic keys (numbers that prove a spend is yours). You hold a promise to be paid. This guide walks through moving that bitcoin to a wallet you control: the phone app or hardware device that holds those keys, not the coins themselves.

Balances live on Bitcoin’s shared public record (the blockchain). Your wallet holds the keys that unlock your amounts. That is why a working backup matters more than any one phone or device. More on that: Where is my bitcoin, really? and Why self-custody matters.

Before you send anything

1. Finish a real backup of your recovery words, and prove they work, before you trust a larger amount. Start with What is a seed phrase?, then Seed phrase backup. On a hardware wallet, Module 12: Your first hardware wallet setup walks the verify step on the device.
2. If you do not have a hardware wallet yet, Choosing a hardware wallet covers buying direct from the maker. A well-known phone wallet is fine for a first small test while you learn.
3. Use a quiet moment. Rushing is how wrong networks and look-alike addresses get past you.

Never share your recovery words with anyone who claims to “help you withdraw,” “verify your wallet,” or “speed up a transfer.” Real support never needs those words. See Common bitcoin scams.

Get a fresh receive address

An address is a string of letters and numbers that tells Bitcoin where a payment should go. Open your wallet and create a new receive address (many wallets label this Receive).

• Hardware wallet: show the address on the device screen and compare it, character by character, with what your computer or phone shows. Harmful software on a laptop can change what the laptop screen shows. It is much harder for it to change what a genuine hardware wallet screen shows, which is why that screen is the one to trust.
• Phone wallet: copy from the wallet’s own receive screen, not from a message, email, or website someone sent you.
• Use a fresh address for this withdrawal. Do not reuse an old one from a chat history or a screenshot.

Pick the Bitcoin network

On the exchange, start a withdrawal or send. Paste the address you just checked. Then look for the network or chain picker.

• Choose Bitcoin (sometimes labeled BTC, Bitcoin network, or Bitcoin on-chain).
• Do not pick other networks that still say BTC in the name (for example wrapped bitcoin on Ethereum, Base, Solana, or similar). Those are different systems. Coinbase warns that on-chain sends are irreversible and that funds sent on the wrong network cannot be retrieved by them (Coinbase: Steps to send crypto; checked November 5, 2026).
• If the exchange only offers wrapped or alternate-network options for the destination you typed, stop. Your bitcoin wallet’s receive address is for the Bitcoin network.

Fees for a Bitcoin withdrawal are set by how busy the network is. Our mempool and fees page explains fee rates and when to send.

Send a small test first

1. Withdraw a small amount you are willing to retry if something is wrong.
2. Confirm the full address, the amount, the network, and the fee on every screen the exchange shows.
3. Submit the withdrawal and copy the transaction id (txid) if the exchange shows one.
4. Watch it on the public record. Open mempool.space (or our mempool page for how fees work), paste the txid or your address, and wait until your wallet app shows the test amount has arrived. First arrivals can take from minutes to longer when fees are low.

Only after your wallet app shows the test amount has arrived should you send the rest the same way: same wallet, same network habit, a fresh receive address you check again, and the same careful confirmations.

Watch for address poisoning and fake support

Scammers sometimes send a tiny payment from an address that looks like one you use, so the look-alike shows up in your history. Bitcoin.org calls this address poisoning: attackers hope you copy their address from history instead of a real one (Bitcoin.org: Avoid scams; checked November 5, 2026).

• Always copy a receive address from your wallet’s fresh receive screen, or paste the one you just checked on the device. Never copy a send-to address from transaction history.
• Compare more than the first and last few characters when you can. Look-alikes are built to match those ends.
• Ignore DMs, emails, or pop-ups that offer to “fix a failed withdrawal,” “validate your wallet,” or ask for your recovery words. That is theft (Common bitcoin scams).

What to do next

1. Keep practicing with small amounts until the steps feel ordinary.
2. Read Seed phrase backup if your words are still only on paper.
3. Browse the glossary when a word is new, and use the fee page before larger sends.
4. Ready to buy more first? Return to How to buy bitcoin, then withdraw again with a new checked address.

Common mistakes

• Leaving a large balance on the exchange “just for now” after the test worked.
• Picking a network that is not Bitcoin because the label still mentioned BTC.
• Copying an address from history, a screenshot, or a message instead of a fresh receive screen.
• Skipping the backup test, then discovering a typo only after a real amount moved.
• Typing recovery words into a website or “support” chat when a withdrawal looks stuck.