Track your Ledger without plugging it in: public address and xpub
Your Ledger sits in a drawer, and you want to see its balance next to your exchanges without plugging it in every time. A public address is enough on most blockchains; on Bitcoin you need the xpub, and it deserves a few precautions.
You can track your Ledger without plugging it in because a hardware wallet doesn’t hide your balances: it only protects the key that signs. On Bitcoin, it’s less simple. I first tracked my own Ledger address by address. I had found four, and two were still missing: change addresses I had never seen.
What a watch-only tracker can see
A watch-only tracker reads the blockchain, nothing more. It can neither send, nor sign, nor approve anything: that would take the private key, which never leaves your Ledger.
| What you give | What the tool can do |
|---|---|
| A public address | See the activity of that address |
| An xpub (Bitcoin) | See the activity of every address of the account, past and future |
| Your recovery phrase (24 words) | Take everything. Never give it to anyone |
No legitimate tracking service will ever ask for your 24 words. If a website or an app wants them to “sync” your Ledger, it’s a scam.
Public address or xpub: which one to give?
| Blockchain | What a Ledger account uses | What to give |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | a fresh address for every payment received, plus change addresses | the xpub |
| Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon… | one 0x… address, the same on all these networks | the address |
| Solana | one address per account | the address |
Copy the address from the “Receive” button in Ledger Wallet. The rest is about Bitcoin.
Why one Bitcoin address isn’t enough
A Ledger Bitcoin account uses a fresh address every time you receive. And a payment you received is spent in full: send 0.02 BTC from an address holding 0.1, and the rest comes back on a change address, which Ledger Wallet never shows you.
On one of my payments, 99.4% of what left my address came back as change. A tool that only watched the first address saw almost the whole balance vanish. Nothing flagged it: the balance looked plausible, it was just wrong.
How to find your Ledger xpub
What is an xpub?
The xpub, or extended public key, is the key a Bitcoin account derives all its addresses from, receiving and change alike. It is public and can’t sign anything. Don’t confuse it with a key starting with xprv, which is private.
In Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live)
According to Ledger’s official help page on the xpub:
- On desktop: open the Bitcoin account, click the wrench icon, then expand Advanced. The xpub starts with
xpub. - On mobile: open the account, tap the settings cog in the top right corner, then Advanced logs.
Use the copy button: one wrong character and it’s rejected.
xpub vs ypub vs zpub: the prefix trap
The prefix is supposed to give the address type:
| Prefix | Addresses | Type |
|---|---|---|
xpub | start with 1 | Legacy |
ypub | start with 3 | SegWit |
zpub | start with bc1q | Native SegWit |
Except that Ledger Wallet generally shows an xpub whatever the account type, Native SegWit included, as in my screenshot. A tool that takes the prefix at face value looks for 1… addresses, finds nothing, and reports an empty wallet. “Converting” it to a zpub on a website means handing your key to one more site.
A Taproot account, whose addresses start with bc1p, doesn’t even have a prefix of its own: it exports as an xpub. Crypto Master computes all four formats for each address, Taproot included. Paste the key exactly as Ledger Wallet shows it.
Is it safe to share your xpub?
An xpub can’t be used to steal your bitcoin. But it shows the account’s entire history, and everything it will receive in the future. Crypto holders have been targeted by physical attacks, and knowing a balance is the first step. Three rules:
- never post your xpub on a forum or in a screenshot, even to ask for help;
- only give it to a tool when you know who runs it and what they do with it;
- if you think it has leaked, move your funds to a new account: an xpub can’t be “changed”.
What about tracking it yourself?
For a Ledger on its own, let’s be honest: Ledger Wallet is enough. It shows your balance with the device unplugged, from the xpub. Tracking by hand gets harder once the Ledger is only part of your portfolio:
- a balance in dollars doesn’t tell you what you paid, since your purchases happened on an exchange;
- a withdrawal to your Ledger is not a purchase, yet a spreadsheet that adds up the exchange and the Ledger counts that bitcoin twice;
- change addresses don’t show up when you check a block explorer address by address;
- fees are paid in bitcoin, on every spend.
What Crypto Master does instead
A Ledger is added from the Add an external wallet page:
- on Bitcoin, you paste the xpub, and all its addresses fit under a single account of your plan;
- the scan is adjustable, account by account: it stops after 20 empty addresses in a row by default, and can go up to 200 if you left gaps;
- if you entered just one address, the app suggests others it infers from your transactions, with the transaction behind each, and counts them only once you confirm. That’s how my two missing addresses showed up;
- on Ethereum, Arbitrum or Solana, you paste the public address and pick the blockchain. A
0x…address can also be linked in one step on every network it has been used on, for a single account of your plan; - a withdrawal from an exchange to your Ledger isn’t counted as a purchase.
The xpub stays with us: only the computed addresses are queried, and deleting the wallet erases it. See what we keep, and what we never ask for.
The free plan covers 3 connected accounts and 500 transactions.
Frequently asked questions
What is an xpub?
The extended public key of a Bitcoin account. It yields all its addresses, but can’t spend.
How do I find my xpub in Ledger Live or Ledger Wallet?
On desktop: Bitcoin account, wrench icon, then “Advanced”. On mobile: the account’s settings cog, then “Advanced logs”.
Is it safe to share my xpub?
It can’t be used to steal your bitcoin, but it reveals the account’s whole history. Only give it to a tool when you know who runs it, and never share your recovery phrase.
xpub vs zpub: which one should I use?
The one Ledger Wallet shows you: Crypto Master tries all four address formats, Taproot included.
Can I track my Ledger without plugging it in?
Yes, from the public address, or from the xpub on Bitcoin. You only need the Ledger to sign.
See what a watch-only wallet looks like next to two exchanges, on a sample portfolio, without creating an account.
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