the address stayed the same the whole time.. why would it change, right? yet no transactions show to or from on the network for that address. the balance in my account for that address showed 1BTC, now its zero. there is no way i can check where that 1BTC went from my address (not that i care) and it wont even show on the blockchain/blockexplorer from what address I initially received that 1BTC (i have sent it to myself obviously). and here i thought the network is open.
If you are paying from a hosted (shared) E-Wallet to an address for another party using the same E-Wallet provider then depending on how that provider operates, that transaction might end up just being an account-to-account transfer that is internal and never touches the blockchain. Mt. Gox is one such provider that does this. Mt. Gox also happens to offer an option when withdrawing called "Open Transaction". When this checkbox is marked, the transaction will always go through the blockchain, regardless of whether or not the recipient is another Mt. Gox user. This causes the payment to not be instant, however, and it must confirm before the recipient gets the funds.
- http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/MtGox#BTC_2