Bitcoin address format

A Bitcoin address is an identifier (like an account number), starting with 1, 3 or bc1 on the mainnet, containing 27-34 alphanumeric Latin characters and digits (except 0, O, I).

Full list of Bitcoin address prefixes

A Bitcoin address, or simply address, is an identifier of 27-34 alphanumeric characters, beginning with the number 1, 3 or bc1, that represents a possible destination for a bitcoin payment. Addresses can be generated at no cost by any user of Bitcoin. It is also possible to get a Bitcoin address using an account at an exchange or online wallet service. Also, you can generate it offline and store on paper or at any digital storage.

There are currently four address formats in use in Bitcoin mainnet:

1. P2PKH (Pay 2 Public Key Hash) which begin with the number 1
2. P2SH (Pay 2 Script Hash) type starting with the number 3.
3. Bech32 type starting with bc1.
4. Taproot type sarting with bc1p.

Example use
Leading symbol(s)
Example

Pubkey hash (P2PKH address)
1
17VZNX1SN5NtKa8UQFxw …

Script hash (P2SH address)
3
3EktnHQD7RiAE6uzMj2Z …

SegWit mainnet (P2WPKH address)
bc1
bc1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5 …

SegWit Testnet (P2WPKH address)
tb1
tb1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5 …

SegWit mainnet (P2WSH address)
bc1
bc1qrp33g0q5c5txsp9a …

SegWit Testnet (P2WSH address)
tb1
tb1qrp33g0q5c5txsp9a …

Private key (WIF, uncompressed pubkey)
5
5Hwgr3u458GLafKBgxts …

Private key (WIF, compressed pubkey)
K or L
L1aW4aubDFB7yfras2S1 …

BIP32 pubkey
xpub
xpub661MyMwAqRbcEYS8 …

BIP49 pubkey
ypub
ypub6XiW9nhToS1gjVsF …

BIP49 pubkey
zpub
zpub6qeoQyhseR78SC69 …

BIP32 private key
xprv
xprv9s21ZrQH143K24Mf …

Testnet pubkey hash
m or n
mipcBbFg9gMiCh81Kj8t …

Testnet script hash
2
2MzQwSSnBHWHqSAqtTVQ …

Testnet Private key (WIF, uncompressed pubkey)
9
92Pg46rUhgTT7romnV7i …

Testnet Private key (WIF, compressed pubkey)
c
cNJFgo1driFnPcBdBX8B …

Testnet BIP32 pubkey
tpub
tpubD6NzVbkrYhZ4WLcz …

Testnet BIP32 private key
tprv
tprv8ZgxMBicQKsPcsbC …

Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet

A HD wallet, or hierarchical deterministic wallet is a system of deriving keys from a single starting point known as a seed. The seed allows a user to easily back up and restore a wallet without needing any other information and can in some cases allow the creation of public addresses without the knowledge of the private key. Seeds are typically serialized into human-readable words in a Seed phrase.