<p>Yes, they are. Bech32 addresses allow for native Segwit outputs, which offer higher efficiency and security than the legacy P2SH nested Segwit outputs. <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0173.mediawiki#Reference_implementations" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0173.mediawiki#Reference_implementations</a> has reference implementations in C, C++, JS, Go, Python, Haskell, Ruby, and Rust along with tests courteous of <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/users/208/pieter-wuille">Pieter Wuille</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-03T16:43:08.197Z
Thanks a lot @satoshi_ghost ! i have been waiting this answer for a long time :D
youssef
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-03T17:38:29.060Z
Pieter Wuille just moved the BIP from draft to proposed (https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/627).
satoshi_ghost
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-03T05:01:18.710Z
2018-01-03T12:44:44.950Z
2018-01-03T12:44:44.950Z
satoshi_ghost
<p>According to github <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips" rel="noreferrer">bitcoin/bips</a>, BIP-173 is still a draft. And i saw today that Electrum wallet start using it.</p>

<p>Is this means that the specs for BIP-173 won't change in the future ? or the final version won't introduce breaking changes to the draft version ?</p>

<p>I just learned about Bech32 addresses this week and this gets me a little confused</p>

<bech32-address>
Are Bech32 addresses safe for mainnet usage?
youssef
# Are Bech32 addresses safe for mainnet usage?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-14)

According to github [bitcoin/bips](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips), BIP-173 is still a draft. And i saw today that Electrum wallet start using it.

Is this means that the specs for BIP-173 won't change in the future ? or the final version won't introduce breaking changes to the draft version ?

I just learned about Bech32 addresses this week and this gets me a little confused

**Tags:** bech32-address


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-01-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Yes, they are. Bech32 addresses allow for native Segwit outputs, which offer higher efficiency and security than the legacy P2SH nested Segwit outputs. <https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0173.mediawiki#Reference_implementations> has reference implementations in C, C++, JS, Go, Python, Haskell, Ruby, and Rust along with tests courteous of [Pieter Wuille](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/users/208/pieter-wuille)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot @username_1 ! i have been waiting this answer for a long time :D  
> **username_1**: Pieter Wuille just moved the BIP from draft to proposed (https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/627).  

---

