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What's a Wallet Import Format (WIF) (g) - The address converted to base58 notation

Wallet Import Format. See https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding for more details.

Encodes a private key for easier copying.

The private key uses Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) to create the public key.

private-key (a random number)
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ECDSA

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Public-key


The algorithm is described at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_import_format.

Steps for Private Key (password) to WIF:

Add 0x80 to front of the private key and 0x01 to back (note additional rules here could be other value)
SHA-256 x 2 on 1
first 4 bytes (8 chars) is checksum
add checksum to end of step 1
Convert from byte string to base58 string