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DocumentationDesktop ApplicationSend & Receive

Send & Receive

Sending and receiving are two of the most important flows in the desktop application. Both go through your hardware device — you always verify the recipient address or the incoming address on the KeepKey screen itself.

Receive

To receive funds, click Receive on any asset card. The desktop application generates a fresh receive address and shows it on the device screen for verification.

Receive Ethereum

Verify on the device

Always verify the address on the device screen before sharing it with anyone. The desktop application can be compromised — the device screen cannot.

Check every character. Compare the address shown in the app to the address shown on the device, character by character, all the way through. Don’t just glance at the start and end.

Why the full address matters: GPU-accelerated address grinders like Profanity can generate “vanity” addresses that match a chosen prefix and suffix in minutes. Attackers use these to replace your clipboard or in-app address with a look-alike that starts and ends with the same characters you remember. Checking only the first and last 6 characters is the exact failure mode these attacks are built to exploit — a technique that drained ~$160M from the Wintermute treasury in 2022. Check the middle too.

If any character differs — even one — stop. Don’t use that address. This is the primary defense against malware that silently swaps the displayed address with an attacker’s.

QR codes

A QR code is displayed alongside the address for easy scanning. Someone can scan the QR code from their phone or another wallet to send you funds.

Send

To send funds, click Send on any asset card. You’ll be asked for a recipient address and an amount.

Before signing, check the device

When you hit Send, the device takes over. It shows you the full transaction:

  • The recipient — read the address on the device, character by character
  • The amount — does it match what you typed? Watch the decimals
  • The network fee — how much you’ll pay to have the transaction processed
  • The total — amount + fee

Only if everything matches what you intended should you approve on the device. If anything looks wrong, reject — nothing bad has happened yet. You can try again or cancel entirely.

Read Verifying Transactions for the full reasoning.

Fee selection

For networks with variable fees (Bitcoin, Ethereum), the desktop application offers a few presets:

  • Economy — cheapest, may take longer to confirm
  • Normal — balanced speed/cost, usually fine
  • Fast — higher fee, faster confirmation
  • Custom — set your own fee rate

After signing

Once you approve on the device, the desktop application broadcasts the signed transaction to the network. You’ll see it show up in the transaction history with a pending status until it confirms.

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