Having issues properly generating a p2pkh address in Rust code. (for research purposes not for real use)

Question

I have followed the steps to generate a p2pkh compressed base58 address and am consistently checking it to find that I get an invalid checksum.

I am using this python code to check the address: (Checked the solution against the python code and an online address checker, this current python code fails around the encode part for some reason so it cant print out the addr after, it will check the addr still)

import base58
adr = '1AMGLbW71pvdMuRWkDdmZWibmzRkxa6LVt'
adr160 = base58.b58decode_check(adr).encode('hex')[2:]
print(adr160)

Here is the Rust function to hash a public key:

fn hashPubKey(publicKeyStr: String) -> (String, String)
{
    let sha256_1 = digest(publicKeyStr.as_bytes());
    let mut ripemd160 = Ripemd160::new();
    ripemd160.update(sha256_1.as_bytes());
    let ripe = format!("{:x}", ripemd160.finalize());
    let network_byte_key = format!("{:0>42}", ripe.clone());
    let sha256_2 = digest(network_byte_key.as_bytes().clone());
    let sha256_3 = digest(sha256_2.as_bytes());
    let mut checksum = String::new();
    for i in 0..8
    {
        checksum.push(sha256_3.chars().nth(i).unwrap());
    }
    let checkKey = network_byte_key.clone() + &checksum;
    let pubkeyint = big_hex::hex_to_int(checkKey.clone());
    let compressedKey = base58_encode(pubkeyint.clone());
    let pubkeyint_check: BigInt = base58_decode(compressedKey.clone());
    assert!(pubkeyint == pubkeyint_check, "error in base58 encoding/decoding");
    return (ripe, compressedKey);
}

The function returns the hash160 address and the base58 compressed key. It seems to be doing everything that online resources say to do, but it seems as if it generates invalid checksums. I tried to check it against some online tools but they all seemed to generate invalid hashes or inconsistent results with each-other.

Answer 1

I post Rust code below which does what you try to do. I am not sure what's wrong with your code, but I hope my code helps.

Please note that the example you use, 1AMGLbW71pvdMuRWkDdmZWibmzRkxa6LVt is not a valid address. With valid checksum it would be 1AMGLbW71pvdMuRWkDdmZWibmzRkyByigA.

In my example I use public key 032d1e1736727f0957a5137ab93bfbbf6e0c293dd0f65a6c8947b563c1f5827376, which produces address bytes 007eefa5452e04cbc2d0f949ce96080aa2afc15c314e858c41 (prefix + pubkey hash + checksum), and address 1CaBE3CYxhqdjcxKCPqwNhsys1weUnZhHJ.

I provide 3 solutions: one with 'manual' steps, one where the bas58 checksum is done by the base58 library, and the shortest where bitcoin crate is used.

use bitcoin::hashes::Hash;
use bitcoin::util::address::Address;
use bitcoin;

fn hex_to_bytes(hex: &str) -> Vec<u8> {
    hex::decode(hex).unwrap()
}

fn bytes_to_hex(bytes: &Vec<u8>) -> String {
    hex::encode(bytes)
}

fn pubkey_hash(pubkey: &Vec<u8>) -> Vec<u8> {
    let sha = bitcoin::hashes::sha256::Hash::hash(pubkey);
    bitcoin::hashes::ripemd160::Hash::hash(&sha).to_vec()
}

// All manual steps
fn pubkey_to_addr_detailed(pubkey_hex: &str) -> String {
    let pubkey = hex_to_bytes(pubkey_hex);
    let mut pubkey_hash = pubkey_hash(&pubkey);
    let mut address_bytes = Vec::new();
    let prefix: u8 = 0;
    address_bytes.push(prefix);
    address_bytes.append(&mut pubkey_hash);
    let checksum = bitcoin::hashes::sha256d::Hash::hash(&address_bytes).to_vec();
    let mut checksum_truncated = checksum[0..4].to_vec();
    let mut address_bytes_with_checksum = Vec::new();
    address_bytes_with_checksum.append(&mut address_bytes);
    address_bytes_with_checksum.append(&mut checksum_truncated);
    bitcoin::util::base58::encode_slice(&address_bytes_with_checksum)
}

// Base58 checksum done by base58
fn pubkey_to_addr_base58(pubkey_hex: &str) -> String {
    let pubkey = hex_to_bytes(pubkey_hex);
    let mut pubkey_hash = pubkey_hash(&pubkey);
    let mut address_bytes = Vec::new();
    let prefix: u8 = 0;
    address_bytes.push(prefix);
    address_bytes.append(&mut pubkey_hash);
    bitcoin::util::base58::check_encode_slice(&address_bytes)
}

// Using bitcoin::address
fn pubkey_to_addr_bitcoin(pubkey_hex: &str) -> String {
    let pubkey_data = hex_to_bytes(pubkey_hex);
    let pubkey = bitcoin::PublicKey::from_slice(&pubkey_data).unwrap();
    let addr = Address::p2pkh(&pubkey, bitcoin::Network::Bitcoin);
    addr.to_string()
}

#[cfg(test)]
mod tests {
    use super::*;

    const PUBKEY1: &str = "032d1e1736727f0957a5137ab93bfbbf6e0c293dd0f65a6c8947b563c1f5827376";
    const ADDRESS: &str = "1CaBE3CYxhqdjcxKCPqwNhsys1weUnZhHJ";

    #[test]
    fn test_pubkey_to_addr_detailed() {
        let addr = pubkey_to_addr_detailed(PUBKEY1);
        assert_eq!(addr, ADDRESS);
    }

    #[test]
    fn test_pubkey_to_addr_base58() {
        let addr = pubkey_to_addr_base58(PUBKEY1);
        assert_eq!(addr, ADDRESS);
    }
    
    #[test]
    fn test_pubkey_to_addr_bitcoin() {
        let addr = pubkey_to_addr_bitcoin(PUBKEY1);
        assert_eq!(addr, ADDRESS);
    }

    #[test]
    fn t1() {
        let pubkey = hex_to_bytes(PUBKEY1);
        let mut pubkey_hash = pubkey_hash(&pubkey);
        assert_eq!(bytes_to_hex(&pubkey_hash), "7eefa5452e04cbc2d0f949ce96080aa2afc15c31");
        let mut address_bytes = Vec::new();
        let prefix: u8 = 0;
        address_bytes.push(prefix);
        address_bytes.append(&mut pubkey_hash);
        assert_eq!(bytes_to_hex(&address_bytes), "007eefa5452e04cbc2d0f949ce96080aa2afc15c31");
        let checksum = bitcoin::hashes::sha256d::Hash::hash(&address_bytes).to_vec();
        assert_eq!(bytes_to_hex(&checksum), "4e858c4104e953987e6147a2a653a423fa63c4f518c89e9d58c3a3aa40f518e3");
        let mut checksum_truncated = checksum[0..4].to_vec();
        assert_eq!(bytes_to_hex(&checksum_truncated), "4e858c41");
        let mut address_bytes_with_checksum = Vec::new();
        address_bytes_with_checksum.append(&mut address_bytes);
        address_bytes_with_checksum.append(&mut checksum_truncated);
        assert_eq!(bytes_to_hex(&address_bytes_with_checksum), "007eefa5452e04cbc2d0f949ce96080aa2afc15c314e858c41");
        let b58 = bitcoin::util::base58::encode_slice(&address_bytes_with_checksum);
        assert_eq!(b58, ADDRESS);
    }
}