Bech32
technology · wallet
A checksummed, human-readable encoding used for native SegWit addresses and other data.
Bech32 combines a human-readable prefix, data symbols, and a checksum. Bitcoin uses it for version-0 native SegWit addresses such as bc1q...; later witness versions use the related Bech32m checksum. The prefix distinguishes networks, such as bc for Bitcoin mainnet and tb for testnet.
The checksum detects specified classes of transcription errors; it does not prove that the destination belongs to the intended recipient. Bech32 strings are conventionally displayed in one case, and mixed-case strings are invalid.
Related terms
Address
→A network-specific identifier that describes a destination or spending condition for a cryptocurrency payment.
wallet · technical
Bitcoin (BTC)
→The first widely adopted cryptocurrency, using proof of work and an issuance schedule capped near 21 million BTC under current rules.
cryptocurrency · btc
SegWit
→A Bitcoin upgrade that moved signatures into witness data, fixing third-party malleability and changing block capacity.
scaling · btc
Checksum
→Data derived from a message to detect accidental corruption or transcription errors.
technology · wallet