Should I use a subaddress or the primary address in my miner?

Use a dedicated Monero subaddress in your miner if your mining pool or service supports it. It keeps your mining payouts separate from other payments without needing another wallet. Use your primary address instead if the service explicitly requires it, especially for some direct mining setups.

What changes when you use a subaddress?

Your primary address is your wallet’s main receiving address. A subaddress is another receiving address created inside the same wallet. Both receive XMR, and you control both with the same wallet backup.

On Monero’s main network, primary addresses usually start with 4, while subaddresses start with 8. Always copy the full address from your wallet rather than relying on that first character.

A subaddress is not a separate wallet, and it does not add an extra payment step. Using one does not change your mining speed or create an extra network fee.

You can label it “Mining payouts” in your wallet. That makes it easier to recognize incoming mining payments without mixing them up with payments from friends or other services.

Check who actually sends your payout

The right address depends on how you mine.

• A conventional mining pool: A pool combines miners’ work and later sends payouts. Many pools support subaddresses, but check your pool’s instructions before entering one.
• A browser mining service: Check its payout settings and address requirements. The service may track your work under an account and ask for a wallet address only when you withdraw.
• Solo mining or P2Pool: These can pay you directly through the special transaction that creates newly mined coins. Standard Monero solo-mining tools and P2Pool require a primary address rather than a subaddress. Follow their setup instructions.

Do not assume an address works just because a form lets you paste it. Look for an explicit statement that Monero subaddresses are supported.

If a direct mining setup requires your primary address and you want separation, you can create a dedicated mining wallet instead. That gives you a separate backup to protect.

Create one address and keep using it

For a pool that supports subaddresses, a simple setup is best:

1. Create a new receiving subaddress in your own Monero wallet.
2. Give it a clear mining label.
3. Copy it into the miner or payout settings, as instructed by the service.
4. Check the pasted address carefully.
5. Confirm that your first payout arrives before building up a large unpaid balance.

Avoid changing addresses casually. Some pools track unpaid earnings by mining address. Switching to a different subaddress may start a new balance while leaving the old one below the minimum payout amount.

Your receiving address is safe to give to a legitimate pool. Your wallet’s seed phrase, the secret words that restore access to your funds, is not. A miner or payout service never needs it.

Know what privacy it adds

A dedicated subaddress helps prevent different services from matching you simply because you reused the same receiving address.

It does not make your mining activity invisible. Your pool may still associate your address with your account, connection details, and payout history. Reusing one subaddress across several services also lets those services compare that same address.

The bottom line

For ordinary pool payouts, choose a dedicated subaddress when supported. If your mining setup requires a primary address, use one—preferably from a separate mining wallet if you want clearer separation. Check compatibility before you start, and avoid switching addresses while earnings remain unpaid.