<p>There are a number of different standard output types for Bitcoin transactions. Most standard types use addresses as shorthand to encode the spending conditions.</p>
<p>The output types and the corresponding types are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Pay to Public Key (P2PK) – no address standard</li>
<li>Pay to Public Key Hash (P2PKH) – addresses start with <code>1…</code> and are up to 34 characters long</li>
<li>Pay to Multisig (P2MS) – no address standard</li>
<li>Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) – addresses start with <code>3…</code> and are up to 34 characters long</li>
<li>Pay to Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) – addresses start with <code>bc1q…</code> and are exactly 42 characters long</li>
<li>Pay to Witness Script Hash (P2WSH) – addresses start with <code>bc1q…</code> and are exactly 62 characters long</li>
<li>Pay to Taproot (P2TR) – addresses start with <code>bc1p…</code> and are exactly 62 characters long</li>
</ul>
<p>The older types (P2PKH, P2SH) use the <code>base58check</code> encoding. As the name implies, it uses a set of 58 characters to encode log 58 ≈ 5.85 bits of information per character.</p>
<p>The native segwit types (P2WPKH, P2WSH, P2TR) use <code>bech32/bech32m</code> to encode addresses. Each character encodes only log 32 = 5 bits of information, but addresses no longer mix uppercase and lowercase. Since each character encodes less information, these addresses are longer.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-30T22:00:01.737Z
Oh oops, thanks Vojtěch
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-30T15:48:02.587Z
2023-05-01T07:47:08.120Z
2023-05-01T07:47:08.120Z
Murch
<p>Normal (old) P2PKH addresses (1...) and P2SH addresses (3...) are 34 characters long. The newer native segwit addresses (bc1...) are longer, because they're case-insensitive and (in some cases) use stronger hashes/cryptography.</p>
<p>Whether you can use these to receive payments from others is a question for your agreement with Coinbase. While any address can inherently receive coins from anywhere, Coinbase can in theory ask you questions about their origin, or even refuse to let you withdraw.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-30T15:43:13.347Z
2023-04-30T15:43:13.347Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>In my Coinbase account, in Manage your profile &gt; Crypto addresses, I can find a Bitcoin address which is 34 characters long. Can I use this as a public address to receive bitcoin from other wallet, e.g. Electrum? Why is this address shorter?</p>

<wallet><address><coinbase.com>
Can I use my Coinbase address to receive bitcoin? Why is it shorter than a normal address?
Martel
# Can I use my Coinbase address to receive bitcoin? Why is it shorter than a normal address?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-30)

In my Coinbase account, in Manage your profile > Crypto addresses, I can find a Bitcoin address which is 34 characters long. Can I use this as a public address to receive bitcoin from other wallet, e.g. Electrum? Why is this address shorter?

**Tags:** wallet, address, coinbase.com


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-04-30. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Normal (old) P2PKH addresses (1...) and P2SH addresses (3...) are 34 characters long. The newer native segwit addresses (bc1...) are longer, because they're case-insensitive and (in some cases) use stronger hashes/cryptography.

Whether you can use these to receive payments from others is a question for your agreement with Coinbase. While any address can inherently receive coins from anywhere, Coinbase can in theory ask you questions about their origin, or even refuse to let you withdraw.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2023-04-30. Score: 5

There are a number of different standard output types for Bitcoin transactions. Most standard types use addresses as shorthand to encode the spending conditions.

The output types and the corresponding types are:

* Pay to Public Key (P2PK) – no address standard
* Pay to Public Key Hash (P2PKH) – addresses start with `1…` and are up to 34 characters long
* Pay to Multisig (P2MS) – no address standard
* Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) – addresses start with `3…` and are up to 34 characters long
* Pay to Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) – addresses start with `bc1q…` and are exactly 42 characters long
* Pay to Witness Script Hash (P2WSH) – addresses start with `bc1q…` and are exactly 62 characters long
* Pay to Taproot (P2TR) – addresses start with `bc1p…` and are exactly 62 characters long

The older types (P2PKH, P2SH) use the `base58check` encoding. As the name implies, it uses a set of 58 characters to encode log 58 ≈ 5.85 bits of information per character.

The native segwit types (P2WPKH, P2WSH, P2TR) use `bech32/bech32m` to encode addresses. Each character encodes only log 32 = 5 bits of information, but addresses no longer mix uppercase and lowercase. Since each character encodes less information, these addresses are longer.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Oh oops, thanks Vojtěch  

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