Glossary

Wallet Import Format (WIF)

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Wallet Import Format (WIF) is a standardized method for displaying Bitcoin private keys using the Base58Check encoding scheme. WIF format was standardized in order to allow all Bitcoin wallets to import and export private keys.

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The process of encoding a private key into WIF format is as follows. Raw private keys are simply large numbers, which are represented as bytes. WIF format adds a prefix byte (0x80 for mainnet and 0xef for testnet) so that almost all Bitcoin private keys begin with ‘5’ or a ‘K’ on mainnet. Next, a ‘0x01’ byte is added to the end of the private key if its corresponding public key should use compressed SEC format. Finally, a four byte double SHA-256 checksum is appended to the byte-encoded private key, in order to prevent typos or tampering. This byte string is then converted from bytes to Base58Check.

Below is an example of a private key displayed as a hexadecimal number and in WIF format.

Hex: 0x224b2d71866c35d3701f0fcdd7871cb191c2ae25068602759fcb9b59d9100e00

WIF: 5J5PZqvCe1uThJ3FZeUUFLCh2FuK9pZhtEK4MzhNmugqTmxCdwE

Related Terms
Wallet
A wallet is a piece of software which generates and stores public and private keys, allowing users to send, receive, and store bitcoin.
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Private Key
A private key is used to send bitcoin which was received by the corresponding public key. While a private key can generate a public key, the reverse is not true.
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Base58
Base58 is an encoding scheme with an alphabet of 58 characters, including upper and lowercase letters A-Z and the digits 1-9. A variant of Base58 called Base58Check is used to represent legacy Bitcoin addresses.
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Encoding
The Bitcoin Protocol uses several different encoding schemes to represent data to users. The encoding schemes are chosen based on the data type, in order to optimise for human readability and conserve disk space.
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