<p>Bitcoin uses different serialization formats for different data structures, as described on <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Protocol_documentation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Protocol_documentation</a>.</p>
<p>See also <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/113631/in-what-format-does-a-block-store-the-transaction-data">In what format does a block store the transaction data?</a> for a similar question.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-24T13:43:54.273Z
> Bitcoin uses different serialization formats for different data structures. I see. I am mostly asking for the network serialisation format. Which format is used for this?
Finlay Weber
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-24T14:08:31.120Z
Did you look at the link I provided? It describes the Bitcoin network protocol, including the serialization for P2P messages.
stickies-v
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-25T00:03:28.717Z
Normally link-only answers are not preferred (they can become broken, out of date, etc), but in this case its perhaps more tenable, considering how general the question is (and thus how much info would be included in a complete answer-- eg basically copy/pasting the entire contents of the first link)
chytrik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-24T13:01:23.170Z
2022-10-24T13:01:23.170Z
stickies-v
<p>What serialization format is used in bitcoin network? I know in Ethereum, there is the  RLP which has been replaced with SSZ. Polkadot has it's own serialization format called SCALE, but I have not been able to find information on what serialization format is used in Bitcoin.</p>

<serialization>
What Serialization format is used in Bitcoin?
Finlay Weber
# What Serialization format is used in Bitcoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-24)

What serialization format is used in bitcoin network? I know in Ethereum, there is the RLP which has been replaced with SSZ. Polkadot has it's own serialization format called SCALE, but I have not been able to find information on what serialization format is used in Bitcoin.

**Tags:** serialization


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-10-24. Score: 3

Bitcoin uses different serialization formats for different data structures, as described on <https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Protocol_documentation>.

See also [In what format does a block store the transaction data?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/113631/in-what-format-does-a-block-store-the-transaction-data) for a similar question.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: > Bitcoin uses different serialization formats for different data structures. I see. I am mostly asking for the network serialisation format. Which format is used for this?  
> **username_1**: Did you look at the link I provided? It describes the Bitcoin network protocol, including the serialization for P2P messages.  
> **username_2**: Normally link-only answers are not preferred (they can become broken, out of date, etc), but in this case its perhaps more tenable, considering how general the question is (and thus how much info would be included in a complete answer-- eg basically copy/pasting the entire contents of the first link)  

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