<p>A single private key can lead to different addresses, depending on the script it is used in - These include p2pkh, p2wpkh, p2sh-p2wpkh.</p>

<p>Electrum prepends the script type to the private key during export and import so that it knows which address to derive and check for outputs on.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-02T11:20:50.760Z
2020-01-02T11:20:50.760Z
Raghav Sood
<p>I recently started a Blockchain course and came across the electrum software. While going through the list of wallet addresses and associated private keys I found that  'p2pkh' is placed at the start of every private key, why is that?
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ktN7j.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ktN7j.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<wallet><private-key><electrum><p2pkh>
Why is 'p2pkh:' prepended at the beginning of private key addresses in electrum?
Anshu Jalan
# Why is 'p2pkh:' prepended at the beginning of private key addresses in electrum?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-02)

I recently started a Blockchain course and came across the electrum software. While going through the list of wallet addresses and associated private keys I found that 'p2pkh' is placed at the start of every private key, why is that?
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ktN7j.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ktN7j.png)

**Tags:** wallet, private-key, electrum, p2pkh


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

A single private key can lead to different addresses, depending on the script it is used in - These include p2pkh, p2wpkh, p2sh-p2wpkh.

Electrum prepends the script type to the private key during export and import so that it knows which address to derive and check for outputs on.


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