About Base58/Base32/Base85

Encode and decode text in Base58, Base32, or Base85. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Encoding collection.

Use Cases

• Encode data for cryptocurrency address generation
• Create compact identifiers safe for case-insensitive systems
• Encode binary data for embedding in ASCII protocols
• Generate human-readable tokens that avoid confusing characters

Tips

• Switch between Base58, Base32, and Base85 encoding modes
• Use Base58 for human-friendly encoded strings without ambiguous characters
• Decode encoded strings back to plaintext with one click

Fun Facts

• Base58 was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto for Bitcoin addresses, deliberately excluding 0, O, I, and l to avoid visual ambiguity.
• Base32 encoding uses only A-Z and 2-7, making it case-insensitive and ideal for systems that cannot handle mixed-case strings.
• Base85 (Ascii85) was developed for the btoa utility on early Unix systems and is used internally by Adobe's PostScript and PDF formats.

FAQ

What's Base58?

A base64 variant that excludes confusing characters (0/O, 1/l, I). Popular for Bitcoin addresses and shortened URLs where humans type them.

How is it different from base64?

Base64: 64 chars, includes +/= padding. Base58: 58 chars, no confusable characters, no padding. Slightly more compact than hex but harder to compute.

When should I use Base58 over Base64?

When users type codes manually — Bitcoin addresses, gift card codes, short URLs. Base64 is better for machine-to-machine encoding (faster to compute).

What about Base85?

Even denser (85 chars per symbol). Used in PostScript and PDF. Less readable than Base58 because it includes special characters.