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Base58 Encoder and Decoder: Bitcoin Alphabet

This free tool encodes text or hexadecimal bytes in Base58 with the Bitcoin alphabet and decodes Base58 back. Base58 drops easily confused characters such as 0, O, I and l.

By Debmedia Technologies LLP · Kolkata, India · Updated

What Is It and When Do You Need It?

Base58 is a compact, copy-friendly encoding. It was designed so that people can read addresses aloud or copy them without confusing similar characters.

Type text or hex bytes to encode, or Base58 to decode.

How to Use This Tool

  1. Paste your input.
  2. Choose encode or decode, and text or hex.
  3. Press Convert.
  4. Copy the result.

How the Calculation Works

The bytes are read as one large number. That number is repeatedly divided by 58 and each remainder picks a character from 123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz. Each leading zero byte adds a leading 1. Decoding multiplies back up with big integers.

Worked Example

The text Hello World! is 2NEpo7TZRRrLZSi2U in Base58. The bytes 00 00 01 become 11 2, and the two leading zero bytes become two 1 characters.

Common Uses

  • Reading cryptocurrency address formats.
  • Short readable IDs.
  • Debugging IPFS hashes.
  • Learning encodings.

Tips and Common Mistakes

  • Base58 is not encryption.
  • Hex input must have an even number of digits.
  • Without the Check variant, errors will not be detected.
  • If a decoded result looks like random symbols, it is probably binary data such as a hash or a key, so use the decode to hex option instead of the text option.

Next, you may need the Base32 encoder, checksum calculator, bitwise calculator, ASCII table.

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored or sent to any outside service.

Frequently Asked Questions

A way to write binary data with 58 characters: the digits and letters except 0, O, I and l, and without + and /. This makes it easy to read and copy.
Bitcoin addresses and keys, IPFS content identifiers (version 0) and some short ID systems.
Each leading zero byte becomes the character 1, so a value starting with zero bytes keeps its length information.
No. This tool does plain Base58 without the checksum used in Bitcoin addresses.

Disclaimer: results are calculated in your browser from the numbers you enter. Check important results before you rely on them for money, health, safety or legal decisions.