List of address prefixes

Blockchain-based currencies use addresses, which are a Base58Check encoding of some hash, typically that of a public key. The encoding includes a version byte, which affects the first character in the address. The following is a list of some prefixes which are in use.

Decimal version	Leading symbol	Use	Example
0	1	Bitcoin pubkey hash	17VZNX1SN5NtKa8UQFxwQbFeFc3iqRYhem
5	3	Bitcoin script hash	3EktnHQD7RiAE6uzMj2ZifT9YgRrkSgzQX
111	m or n	Bitcoin testnet pubkey hash	mipcBbFg9gMiCh81Kj8tqqdgoZub1ZJRfn
128	5	Bitcoin Private key (for uncompressed pubkey)	5Hwgr3u458GLafKBgxtssHSPqJnYoGrSzgQsPwLFhLNYskDPyyA
128	K or L	Bitcoin Private key (for compressed pubkey)	L1aW4aubDFB7yfras2S1mN3bqg9nwySY8nkoLmJebSLD5BWv3ENZ
196	2	Testnet script hash	2MzQwSSnBHWHqSAqtTVQ6v47XtaisrJa1Vc
239	9	Testnet Private key (for uncompressed pubkey)	92Pg46rUhgTT7romnV7iGW6W1gbGdeezqdbJCzShkCsYNzyyNcc
239	c	Testnet Private key (for compressed pubkey)	cNJFgo1driFnPcBdBX8BrJrpxchBWXwXCvNH5SoSkdcF6JXXwHMm

Note that private keys for compressed and uncompressed bitcoin public keys use the same version byte. The reason for the compressed form starting with a different character is because a 0x01 byte is appended to the private key before base58 encoding.

The following table shows the leading symbol(s) and address length(s) for 160 bit hashes for each of the possible decimal version values:

Decimal version	Leading symbol	Address length
0	1	up to 34
1	Q-Z, a-k, m-o	33
2	o-z, 2	33 or 34
3	2	34
4	2 or 3	34
5-6	3	34
7	3 or 4	34
8	4	34
9	4 or 5	34
10-11	5	34
12	5 or 6	34
13	6	34
14	6 or 7	34
15-16	7	34
17	7 or 8	34
18	8	34
19	8 or 9	34
20-21	9	34
22	9 or A	34
23	A	34
24	A or B	34
25-26	B	34
27	B or C	34
28	C	34
29	C or D	34
30-31	D	34
32	D or E	34
33	E	34
34	E or F	34
35-36	F	34
37	F or G	34
38	G	34
39	G or H	34
40-41	H	34
42	H or J	34
43	J	34
44	J or K	34
45-46	K	34
47	K or L	34
48	L	34
49	L or M	34
50-51	M	34
52	M or N	34
53	N	34
54	N or P	34
55-56	P	34
57	P or Q	34
58	Q	34
59	Q or R	34
60-61	R	34
62	R or S	34
63	S	34
64	S or T	34
65-66	T	34
67	T or U	34
68	U	34
69	U or V	34
70-71	V	34
72	V or W	34
73	W	34
74	W or X	34
75-76	X	34
77	X or Y	34
78	Y	34
79	Y or Z	34
80-81	Z	34
82	Z or a	34
83	a	34
84	a or b	34
85	b	34
86	b or c	34
87-88	c	34
89	c or d	34
90	d	34
91	d or e	34
92-93	e	34
94	e or f	34
95	f	34
96	f or g	34
97-98	g	34
99	g or h	34
100	h	34
101	h or i	34
102-103	i	34
104	i or j	34
105	j	34
106	j or k	34
107-108	k	34
109	k or m	34
110	m	34
111	m or n	34
112-113	n	34
114	n or o	34
115	o	34
116	o or p	34
117-118	p	34
119	p or q	34
120	q	34
121	q or r	34
122-123	r	34
124	r or s	34
125	s	34
126	s or t	34
127-128	t	34
129	t or u	34
130	u	34
131	u or v	34
132-133	v	34
134	v or w	34
135	w	34
136	w or x	34
137-138	x	34
139	x or y	34
140	y	34
141	y or z	34
142-143	z	34
144	z or 2	34 or 35
145-255	2	35