Wallet addresses
SegWit address format and the other Bitcoin styles
What a Bitcoin address looks like in each of its styles — native SegWit, Taproot and the older base58 forms — with the examples the specifications themselves give.
What a Bitcoin address looks like
| Fact | Bitcoin |
|---|---|
| Starts with | bc1q or bc1p |
| Length | 42 or 62 characters; 62 characters |
| Characters | bech32 (lower case, no 1, b, i or o) for bc1 addresses; base58 for the older styles |
| Checksum | bech32 (BIP-173) for bc1q, bech32m (BIP-350) for bc1p, base58check for the older styles |
| Example (Native SegWit, bech32) | bc1qw508d6qejxtdg4y5r3zarvary0c5xw7kv8f3t4 |
| Example (Taproot, bech32m) | bc1p0xlxvlhemja6c4dqv22uapctqupfhlxm9h8z3k2e72q4k9hcz7vqzk5jj0 |
The example is taken from Bitcoin Improvement Proposals, “BIP 173: Base32 address format for native v0-16 witness outputs”, not from any account of ours or of a customer.
The example is taken from Bitcoin Improvement Proposals, “BIP 350: Bech32m format for v1+ witness addresses”, not from any account of ours or of a customer.
How a Bitcoin address is built
Bitcoin has had several address styles. Native SegWit addresses (BIP-173) start with “bc1q” and use bech32: lower-case letters and digits with a checksum that catches typing errors. Taproot addresses (BIP-350) start with “bc1p” and use bech32m, a variant of the same encoding. Older addresses start with “1” or “3” and use base58check.
A bech32 address is written in lower case; an all-upper-case form is also valid, but a mix of the two is not. The amount a payment carries has no effect on the address: any valid address of any style can receive any amount.
Using it on Bitcoin
On Bitcoin this address receives BTC. An Unheld invoice shows the exact address to pay and names the network; nothing else needs to be typed.
Check an address
Paste an address into the checker to see which family and format it is and whether its checksum holds. It reads the format only; nothing is looked up and nothing is stored.
Questions about Bitcoin addresses
What is a SegWit address?
A Bitcoin address that starts with “bc1q”, encoded in bech32 as described by BIP-173, paying to a native SegWit output. It is the style most wallets use today and the one Unheld invoices use.
What is the difference between bc1q and bc1p?
bc1q addresses are native SegWit version 0 (bech32, BIP-173); bc1p addresses are Taproot, version 1 (bech32m, BIP-350). Both are valid Bitcoin addresses; a wallet must support the style it is sending to.
Are Bitcoin addresses case-sensitive?
A bech32 address is valid in all lower case or all upper case, never mixed. The older base58 styles starting with “1” or “3” are case-sensitive throughout.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these documents. Each was read on the date shown rather than recalled.