This content is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice or an inducement to buy, sell, or trade cryptoassets.
Using the Magic Eden wallet, you might notice discrepancies between your Bitcoin balance as displayed in the wallet and what is shown on block explorers like mempool.space. This article outlines the reasons why this might happen and what you can do to resolve these discrepancies.
Reasons for discrepancies in Bitcoin balance
Several factors could cause your Bitcoin balance to differ between your Magic Eden wallet and what you see on a block explorer. Here are the common reasons why this occurs:
Confirmation delays
Bitcoin transactions must be confirmed on the blockchain before appearing in your wallet balance. This process can take some time compared to other blockchains. If you have recently received Bitcoin, it may not be fully confirmed yet, leading to temporary discrepancies.
Inscriptions
Inscriptions are digital collectables created using the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol. If your payment wallet contains a UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) with an inscription, the entire UTXO will not appear in your balance. This is to prevent accidental spending of the inscription as transaction fees. To manage this, you can send inscriptions to an Ordinals (Taproot) address.
Rare satoshis (sats)
Rare sats are unique satoshis that hold additional value. If your payment wallet contains a UTXO with rare sats, this UTXO may not appear in your wallet balance. You should separate the rare sats from the rest of the Bitcoin to prevent accidental spending. Magic Eden is working to make this process easier while maintaining the safety of your digital assets.
Dummy UTXOs
Dummy UTXOs are small UTXOs containing a tiny amount of Bitcoin. These are used in many Ordinals marketplaces, including Magic Eden, to ensure assets are kept safe during transactions. These small UTXOs may not show up in your wallet balance.
Runes
Runes are a new type of fungible token on the Bitcoin blockchain. If your payment wallet contains a UTXO with Runes, this UTXO might not show up in your Bitcoin balance. Bitcoin in these UTXOs will not be considered spendable Bitcoin.
How to check for inscriptions or rare sats in your payment address
If you suspect your Bitcoin balance is inaccurate due to inscriptions or rare sats, you can easily check your payment wallet for these digital assets.
Paste your wallet address into Magic Eden to see if it contains inscriptions or rare sats. If you are located outside of the United States:
https://magiceden.io/ordinals/wallet?walletAddress=<your-bitcoin-payment-address-here>
If you are located inside the United States it will be:
https://magiceden.us/ordinals/wallet?walletAddress=<your-bitcoin-payment-address-here>
Look at the Inscriptions and Rare Sats tabs to identify any assets in your payment wallet. If you find them, consider moving them to your Ordinals (Taproot) address to keep your payment wallet separate from these digital collectables.
How to check for Runes in your payment address
If you suspect that discrepancies in your Bitcoin balance might be caused by Runes, you can easily check whether your wallet contains any Runes. To do this, follow these steps:
Open your Magic Eden wallet and locate your Bitcoin payment address. Copy this address to your clipboard.
https://magiceden.io/runes/portfolio/<your-bitcoin-payment-address-here>
If you are located inside the United States copy:
https://magiceden.us/runes/portfolio/<your-bitcoin-payment-address-here>
Similar to checking for inscriptions and rare sats, put your payment address into the URL, press Enter to load the page.
The Runes portfolio page will display all the Runes associated with your wallet address. Check this list to identify if any UTXOs in your wallet contain Runes.
If you find Runes in your wallet, consider transferring them to the dedicated Taproot address for Runes and Ordinals. This will ensure that your Bitcoin balance remains accurate and avoid potential discrepancies caused by Runes UTXOs.
Alternative method to review Bitcoin payments address
If you'd prefer not to use the direct URLs provided above, there's a convenient alternative for checking your wallet for inscriptions, rare satoshis, and Runes. This method involves using a dedicated block explorer specifically designed for Ordinals and related digital assets.
Visit Ordiscan, a block explorer for Bitcoin Ordinals and Runes. You can use it to view any inscriptions, rare sats, or Runes associated with your wallet.
How to use Ordiscan
Open Ordiscan in your web browser.
Copy your Bitcoin payment address from your Magic Eden wallet.
Paste your address into the search bar on Ordiscan and press Enter.
Explore the results by checking the various tabs on the Ordiscan page.
By using this alternative method, you can examine your wallet's contents in more detail and confirm whether your balance discrepancies are due to digital assets in your payment address.
If you have questions or need assistance with resolving balance issues, feel free to reach out to our support team through our Help Centre. Just click on the chat widget to get started.