The Secret of the Codification of the Bitcoin Directors: Understanding of the Base58
When sending and receiving bitcoins on the network, users trust a unique address that unique identifies their wallet. However, behind the scene, the coding mechanism of the Bitcoin address uses an advanced encryption called base58. In this article, we will deepen why the bitcoin addresses are coded at base 58 and explore how it provides safety and efficiency.
the purpose of the coding of the address
Bitcoin address coding is not just a characteristic cosmetic; He plays a crucial role in the protection of the confidentiality of transactions and ensuring that users can recover their funds, even if they lose or poorly placed their wallet seed phrases. Here are some reasons why base 58 was chosen:
- Security : base58 use a combination of letters, digits and special characters to create a unique hash function. This makes it safer that simple encryption schemes as a base64, which is vulnerable to brute force attacks.
- Efficiency : BASE58 Use a Hierarchical Algorithm, Where Each Character Corresponds to A Specific Byte In The Output Chain. This allows efficient compression of large directions, reducing storage requirements and improving transaction speed.
- randomity : the use of special characters such as!, @, #, $, Etc., ensures that each address will be randomly generated, which makes third parties (for example, hackers) predict or guess the address .
how the base works58
The base coding58 uses a variant of the bloom filter algorithm, which was developed by Ronald Rivest in 1979. The original flowering filter has a complexity of average time of O (1), which makes it efficient for large data sets. However, it is not designed for cryptographic purposes; Instead, it is optimized for fast search times.
To encode a Bitcoin address at base 58, the following steps are taken:
- Hash Function: A Hash SHA-256 is generated from a combination of the sender seed and transaction data.
- Character coding : Each byte in the hash exit chain is assigned to a character using a specific scheme:
*! (More Common): 0x00
* @: 0x01
* #: 0x02
* $: 0x03
* %: 0x04
- Combining characters : The encoded characters are concatenated to form a chain.
WHY BASE58 IS NOT BASE64
While it may be contradictory that Bitcoin addresses would be coded at base 58 instead of base 64, which is commonly used for text data coding, there are severe reasons why this choice was made:
- Performance
: BASE64 has a higher computational overload than base58, which makes it slower and less efficient for large data sets.
- Security : as mentioned above, the basic hierarchical algorithm58 provides better security characteristics than base 64.
- Efficiency : The Basic Characters Coding Scheme58 allows a more efficient compression of large directions, reducing storage requirements and improving transaction speed.
Conclusion
The choice of base 58 as coding of the Bitcoin Address is a deliberate design decision aimed at providing security and efficiency. By using a hierarchical algorithm, Guaranteeing randomness and mapping characters to specify bytes, base58 provides a safe and reliable way for users to verify the authenticity and property of their wallets. Whether it is an experienced bitcoiner or simply begins, undersanding the coding of mechanics behind the direction will give you a deeeper appreciation for the complexity and sophistication of this popular blockchain technology.
In
Additional Resources:
- The official technical document of Bitcoin (Section 2.1) provides more information on how it was chosen base58.
- The specification of the Bitcoin Protocol (RFC 6978) including details on address coding.
- The Technical Document of Ethereum (Section 4.6) Analyzes the use of a similar coding scheme for Ethereum addresses.