<p><em>P2WPKH</em> and <em>bech32</em> are not quite synonymous.</p>
<p><strong>Native segwit</strong> describes a type of output schema in which the <code>scriptPubKey</code> (the &quot;locking script&quot;) is composed of a witness version and a witness program. P2WPKH is a native segwit v0 output type.</p>
<p><strong>Bech32</strong> refers to an encoding scheme and an address format to represent a recipient's <code>scriptPubKey</code> in out-of-band communication.</p>
<p>We use &quot;bech32 addresses&quot; to instruct spenders to create &quot;P2WPKH outputs&quot;:</p>
<ul>
<li>Pay to Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) and Pay to Witness Script Hash (P2WSH) are native segwit v0 outputs that get represented using <strong>bech32</strong> addresses.</li>
<li>Pay to Public Key Hash (P2PKH) and Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) use <strong>base58</strong> addresses.</li>
<li>Pay to Taproot (P2TR) and future native segwit output types will use <strong>bech32m</strong> addresses.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-20T19:45:31.710Z
2021-07-20T19:58:13.673Z
2021-07-20T19:58:13.673Z
Murch
<blockquote>
  <p>are P2WPKH and Bech32 synonyms now?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No. Bech32 is also used for P2WSH addresses. Native segwit and Bech32 are synonyms.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Is there such a thing as Base58 P2WPKH address?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-20T19:56:16.990Z
Not quite; Bech32 is just the encoding scheme, which is more general than Bitcoin's use of it for P2WSH/P2WPKH addresses.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-12T14:50:52.000Z
2018-03-12T14:50:52.000Z
Ava Chow
<p><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0142.mediawiki#example" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BIP142</a> when encoding a segwit P2WPKH address is using a base58 address format (address <code>p2xtZoXeX5X8BP8JfFhQK2nD3emtjch7UeFm</code> in the example). </p>

<p>I understand that BIP142 predates <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0173.mediawiki" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BIP173</a> but are P2WPKH and Bech32 synonyms now? Is there such a thing as Base58 P2WPKH address?</p>

<address><segregated-witness><terminology><bech32-address><p2wpkh>
Is a P2WPKH address synonymous with a Bech32 address?
Mike D
# Is a P2WPKH address synonymous with a Bech32 address?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-12)

[BIP142](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0142.mediawiki#example) when encoding a segwit P2WPKH address is using a base58 address format (address `p2xtZoXeX5X8BP8JfFhQK2nD3emtjch7UeFm` in the example).

I understand that BIP142 predates [BIP173](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0173.mediawiki) but are P2WPKH and Bech32 synonyms now? Is there such a thing as Base58 P2WPKH address?

**Tags:** address, segregated-witness, terminology, bech32-address, p2wpkh


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-03-12. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

> are P2WPKH and Bech32 synonyms now?

No. Bech32 is also used for P2WSH addresses. Native segwit and Bech32 are synonyms.

> Is there such a thing as Base58 P2WPKH address?

No.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Not quite; Bech32 is just the encoding scheme, which is more general than Bitcoin's use of it for P2WSH/P2WPKH addresses.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-20. Score: 1

*P2WPKH* and *bech32* are not quite synonymous.

**Native segwit** describes a type of output schema in which the `scriptPubKey` (the "locking script") is composed of a witness version and a witness program. P2WPKH is a native segwit v0 output type.

**Bech32** refers to an encoding scheme and an address format to represent a recipient's `scriptPubKey` in out-of-band communication.

We use "bech32 addresses" to instruct spenders to create "P2WPKH outputs":

* Pay to Witness Public Key Hash (P2WPKH) and Pay to Witness Script Hash (P2WSH) are native segwit v0 outputs that get represented using **bech32** addresses.
* Pay to Public Key Hash (P2PKH) and Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) use **base58** addresses.
* Pay to Taproot (P2TR) and future native segwit output types will use **bech32m** addresses.


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