embit/docs/api/base58.md

Base58 encoding

Common encoding format in Bitcoin - used in legacy or nested segwit addresses, WIF private keys, xpubs etc.

Normally a checksum is appended to the bytes before encoding - use encode_check and decode_check functions for that.

Example

from embit import base58

# decode without removing checksum
base58.decode("1CxLJtbFfD7TaY47cVjSooDSQZ72eM1qDq")
# >>> b'\x00\x83 a\x1f\xf02"<\x1fK\xb1\xfb\xbd"\x91\xfd+?C\xd9]O\xbeH'

# decode, check checksum and remove it
base58.decode_check("1CxLJtbFfD7TaY47cVjSooDSQZ72eM1qDq")
# >>> b'\x00\x83 a\x1f\xf02"<\x1fK\xb1\xfb\xbd"\x91\xfd+?C\xd9

# encode without adding checksum
base58.encode(b"\x00\x00\x00\x12\x34\x56")
# >>> '11177em'

# encode and add checksum
base58.encode_check(b"\x00\x00\x00\x12\x34\x56")
'111h1iJauMk5'

encode(b)

Encodes bytes to base58 string.

Arguments

• b - bytes to encode

Returns

base58-encoded string

decode(s)

Decodes a string from base58 encoding

Arguments

• s - string to decode

Returns

Bytes decoded from string, raises an exception if decoding failed (i.e. non-alphabet characters)

encode_check(b)

Encodes bytes to base58 string and appends a checksum to it.

Arguments

• b - bytes to encode

Returns

base58-encoded string with a checksum

decode_check(s)

Decodes a string from base58, checks the checksum and removes it from the result.

Arguments

• s - string to decode

Returns

Bytes decoded from string without a checksum, raises an exception if decoding failed (i.e. non-alphabet characters or checksum is wrong)