RIPEMD-160 is a cryptographic hash developed at KU Leuven in 1996, producing 160-bit (40 hex) hashes. It was designed as an independent European alternative to SHA-1. Today it is most famous for its critical role in Bitcoin address generation.

How is RIPEMD-160 used in Bitcoin?

Bitcoin addresses are created by: (1) computing SHA-256 of the public key, (2) computing RIPEMD-160 of that hash, (3) adding a version byte and checksum, then (4) Base58Check encoding. Every Bitcoin address is fundamentally a RIPEMD-160 hash.

Why did Bitcoin choose RIPEMD-160?

Satoshi chose RIPEMD-160 to create shorter addresses (40 hex chars = shorter Base58 string) while providing a different cryptographic primitive from SHA-256. Using two different hash functions provides defense-in-depth.

Is RIPEMD-160 still secure?

RIPEMD-160 provides 80-bit security against collisions, lower than SHA-256's 128-bit but still requiring enormous resources to attack. Bitcoin addresses benefit from both SHA-256 and RIPEMD-160 security. For new applications, SHA-256 or BLAKE2 are recommended.

Where else is RIPEMD-160 used?

Besides Bitcoin, RIPEMD-160 is used in PGP/GPG for email signing and encryption, OpenSSL, and various cryptocurrency projects. Adoption has decreased as SHA-256 and SHA-3 have become preferred standards.

Tools

RIPEMD-160|40 hex chars

Input

Output

Hash result will appear here...

0 chars|0 bytes

RIPEMD-160 Hash Generator — Bitcoin Address Core Hash

The core hash behind Bitcoin address generation (P2PKH) with 160-bit output. Also used in PGP/GPG signatures. 80-bit security level — irreplaceable in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Features

✓Compute RIPEMD-160 hashes online — the core hash of Bitcoin address generation (P2PKH)
✓Real-time 160-bit hash computation with 40 hex character output
✓One-click copy, download as .txt, and uppercase/lowercase toggle
✓Also used in PGP/GPG signatures for email encryption and code signing
✓Hash verification against known RIPEMD-160 checksums
✓100% browser-based — essential for cryptocurrency developers and security researchers

How to Use

1Type or paste your text into the input box above.
2Your hash digest appears instantly — no page reload needed.
3Toggle UPPERCASE / lowercase to change the hex output format.
4Click the copy icon to copy the hash to clipboard, or use Download to save as .txt.
5Paste an expected hash into the Verify field to check for a match.

Frequently Asked Questions

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