btc-terminology
Critical Bitcoin terminology rules to prevent confusion between bech32m (encoding) and taproot (address type). Use when working on BTC-related code, config files, or shell scripts.
Installation
Follow the repository instructions for this skill and your agent. Review the files and dependencies before adding it to your workflow.
View source ↗GuidesSkill instructions
BTC Terminology Rules
🚨 CRITICAL: Bech32m vs Taproot
This is a common source of bugs. Do NOT confuse these terms:
| Term | What It Is | Where Used |
|---|---|---|
| bech32m | Encoding format (HOW address is serialized) | Bitcoin Core RPC, shell scripts |
| taproot | Address type (WHAT the address represents) | Config files, domain model |
Key Rule: bech32m ≠ taproot — They are related but NOT interchangeable.
Quick Reference Table
| Context | Correct Term | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Config YAML/TOML files | taproot |
address_type: "taproot" |
| Environment variables | taproot |
WALLET_ADDRESS_TYPE="taproot" |
| Bitcoin Core CLI/RPC | bech32m |
bitcoin-cli getnewaddress "" bech32m |
| Shell scripts (receiver addresses) | bech32m |
getnewaddress "" bech32m |
Go domain code (internal/domain/address/) |
taproot |
AddrTypeTaproot |
Go Bitcoin Core interface (internal/domain/bitcoin/) |
bech32m |
AddressTypeTaproot = "bech32m" |
Common Mistakes
❌ WRONG
# Config file - DON'T use bech32m
address_type: "bech32m" # WRONG!
# Shell script - DON'T use taproot for Bitcoin Core RPC
bitcoin-cli getnewaddress "" taproot # WRONG!
✅ CORRECT
# Config file - Use taproot
address_type: "taproot" # CORRECT!
# Shell script - Use bech32m for Bitcoin Core RPC
bitcoin-cli getnewaddress "" bech32m # CORRECT!
Technical Background
Why Two Different Terms?
- Taproot (BIP341) = SegWit version 1 address type (P2TR - Pay-to-Taproot)
- Bech32m (BIP350) = Encoding format that fixes checksum issues in original Bech32
All Taproot addresses are encoded using bech32m, but:
- User-facing config uses "taproot" (what you want)
- Bitcoin Core RPC uses "bech32m" (how it's encoded)
Address Format Comparison
| Encoding | SegWit Version | Address Type | Prefix | Config Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base58 | N/A | P2PKH | 1... |
legacy |
| Base58 | N/A | P2SH | 3... |
p2sh-segwit |
| Bech32 | v0 | P2WPKH | bc1q... |
bech32 |
| Bech32m | v1 | P2TR | bc1p... |
taproot |
Codebase Mapping
The project has two different type definitions:
// internal/domain/bitcoin/address_type.go
// For Bitcoin Core RPC communication
AddressTypeTaproot AddressType = "bech32m" // Bitcoin Core uses "bech32m"
// internal/domain/address/types.go
// For user-facing configuration
AddrTypeTaproot AddrType = "taproot" // User sees "taproot"
Conversion between these is handled by mapper functions:
// internal/infrastructure/api/btc/btc/mapper.go
// FromAddressType: "bech32m" (Bitcoin Core) → "taproot" (user-facing)
// ToAddressType: "taproot" (user-facing) → "bech32m" (Bitcoin Core)
Verification Checklist
When working with Taproot/Bech32m code:
- Config files (YAML/TOML) use
address_type: "taproot" - Environment variables use
WALLET_ADDRESS_TYPE="taproot" - Bitcoin Core RPC calls in shell scripts use
bech32m - Shell scripts generating receiver addresses use
bech32m - Go code uses correct type for the layer:
- Domain/config layer:
AddrTypeTaproot(value:"taproot") - Bitcoin Core interface:
AddressTypeTaproot(value:"bech32m")
- Domain/config layer:
Related Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
internal/domain/address/types.go |
User-facing AddrType definitions |
internal/domain/bitcoin/address_type.go |
Bitcoin Core AddressType definitions |
internal/infrastructure/api/btc/btc/mapper.go |
Type conversion functions |
docs/crypto/btc/taproot/user-guide.md |
Taproot user guide |
Related Documentation
Examples
Read the usage examples in the source repository.
View source ↗Source history
- Indexed on
- 2026-01-20
- Index updated
- 2026-01-28
- Branch
- main
Index and sync dates describe this directory. View the source repository for code history.
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