Bech32 / Bech32m Encoder & Decoder
Bech32 / Bech32m FAQ
What is Bech32?
Bech32 is a Bitcoin address format introduced with SegWit. It improves error detection, readability, and QR code efficiency.
What is Bech32m?
Bech32m is a variant introduced for Taproot addresses. It uses a modified checksum constant for stronger guarantees.
Why are Bech32 addresses safer than legacy ones?
They include a strong checksum that detects most errors, preventing loss of funds from mistyped addresses.
Do all wallets support Bech32?
Most modern wallets and exchanges support Bech32. Bech32m (Taproot) is newer but increasingly supported.
Can Bech32 be used outside Bitcoin?
Yes. Bech32 is used in the Lightning Network, Cosmos, and other blockchains for encoding addresses or keys.
Is Bech32 encryption?
No. Bech32 is an encoding scheme, not encryption. It only converts data into a safe, human-readable format.
What is Bech32 / Bech32m Encoding?
Bech32 is a human-readable encoding format introduced by Bitcoin developers as part of the Segregated Witness (SegWit) upgrade. It was designed to replace older Base58Check-encoded Bitcoin addresses with a format that is easier to read, less error-prone, and more efficient for QR codes. Bech32 addresses begin with “bc1” for Bitcoin mainnet and are widely adopted in modern cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges.
Bech32 encoding splits data into a human-readable part (HRP) and a data part separated by the digit “1”. The HRP typically defines the network or coin type, while the data section encodes the payload and a strong checksum. This checksum significantly reduces the risk of transcription errors, making Bech32 addresses safer to use than older formats.
Bech32m, introduced in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-350), is a variant of Bech32 optimized for Taproot addresses (bc1p...). It uses a modified checksum constant that provides stronger guarantees for certain use cases. While Bech32 remains valid for older SegWit addresses, Bech32m is now the recommended standard for new Bitcoin addresses.
Compared to Base58Check, which was used in legacy Bitcoin addresses, Bech32 encoding avoids visually similar characters like 0/O and 1/l. This makes it more user-friendly for manual entry and prevents costly mistakes when sharing addresses.
Beyond Bitcoin, Bech32 and Bech32m have been adopted by other blockchain projects, including the Lightning Network, Cosmos, and various proof-of-stake chains. Its combination of human readability, compact QR-code efficiency, and error resistance makes it a modern standard for crypto address encoding.
This online tool allows you to encode text into Bech32 or Bech32m format or decode existing Bech32/Bech32m strings back into plain text. The entire process runs client-side in your browser, ensuring privacy and security. It’s useful for developers, blockchain researchers, and anyone learning how these modern encoding schemes work in practice.