What is the significance of the version byte in front of RIPEMD-160 hash?

Public Address is generated from the private key following some steps. Please refer Bitcoin wiki to see the process.

idk

Posted 2018-06-12T10:54:32.477

Reputation: 49

Answers

The version byte is used to differentiate between MainNet and TestNet addresses as well as between P2PKH and P2SH addresses.

Mike D

Posted 2018-06-12T10:54:32.477

Reputation: 1 571

Can you tell me the version byte of MainNet and TestNet addresses? – idk – 2018-06-12T12:09:10.400

@idk it is 0x00 for mainnet and 0x6f for testnet. You can find all the prefixes here : https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_address_prefixes

– Mike D – 2018-06-12T12:21:26.577

Asked: 2018-06-12T10:54:32.477

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Active: 2018-06-12T11:06:07.980