Can someone explain what is a proxy address and how it works? or What is a proxy address, and why wou

"Newbie here—what is a proxy address and how does it even work?"

Hey everyone,
So I keep hearing about proxy addresses but tbh, I’m kinda lost. Like, what is a proxy address *actually*? Is it just a fancy way to hide your IP or does it do more?

Also, why would someone even need one? I’ve seen folks use it for gaming or streaming, but idk if that’s the only use case.

If anyone can break it down in simple terms (or point me to a noob-friendly guide), that’d be awesome!

Thanks in advance

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*PS: Sorry if this is a dumb question, still learning!*