Bech32 encode
Bech32 encode. Runs on your device, nothing is uploaded.
Runs on your device. The file is never uploaded.
Bech32 encode regroups a file's bytes from eight bits to five and prints them after the fixed prefix bc and a separator 1. A six-character BCH checksum closes the string and catches mistyped or transposed characters. The prefix cannot be changed, and no witness version or length rule is applied, so this is not a spendable address.
Questions
What does this tool produce?
A Bech32 string with the fixed human-readable part bc, a separator 1, your data regrouped from 8-bit into 5-bit values, and a six-character checksum. The data characters come from the alphabet qpzry9x8gf2tvdw0s3jn54khce6mua7l, which drops 1, b, i and o to avoid confusion.
Can I change the bc prefix?
No. The human-readable part is fixed at bc in this build. The tool takes a file of bytes, and there is no option for a prefix string, so a different network or protocol tag is not available here. The checksum is computed over that fixed prefix, so you cannot swap the letters afterwards either.
Is the result a valid Bitcoin address?
No. It encodes whatever bytes you gave it. A segwit address also carries a witness version as its first 5-bit value and has to be a valid witness program of the right length, and none of that is added or checked here. Treat the output as Bech32 text, not as an address to send funds to.
Is this Bech32 or Bech32m?
Classic Bech32, the BIP-173 form, which finishes the checksum by exclusive-oring the polynomial result with 1. Bech32m uses a different final constant, so a string produced here fails a Bech32m check and a Bech32m string fails a check against this one. There is no option to switch between them.
What is the checksum for?
Catching typos. The six trailing characters are a BCH-style code over the prefix and the data, so a decoder can reject a string where a character was mistyped or transposed rather than silently returning wrong bytes. It is error detection, not a signature and not encryption.
Does the file get uploaded?
No. The regrouping and the checksum are computed in a Web Worker in your browser, with no upload and no logging. That matters for this tool more than most, since the bytes people encode as Bech32 tend to be keys or hashes. The page also keeps working with the network disconnected.