Bitcoin Address Validation

Check a Bitcoin address: its type (P2PKH, P2SH, P2WPKH, P2WSH, P2TR), network, and the Base58Check or bech32 checksum that catches typos. No on-chain lookup.

Free to try bitcoin-address-validate

Example

Input

{
  "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq"
}

Answer

{
  "input": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq",
  "valid": true,
  "network": "mainnet",
  "normalized": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq",
  "address_type": "p2wpkh",
  "format_valid": true,
  "checksum_valid": true
}

Try it

Runs the real tool from your browser, with no key. Free calls are limited to 300 a month across all free tools.

Inputs (JSON)

{
  "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq"
}

Edit the values, then run.

Inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`address`	string	Yes	Bitcoin address (e.g. 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa, bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq, or bc1pmfr3p9j00pfxjh0zmgp99y8zftmd3s5pmedqhyptwy6lm87hf5sspknck9)

Output fields

How reliably each field appears in a successful answer.

Field	Type	Appears
`input`	string	Always (present in every successful answer)
`valid`	boolean	Always (present in every successful answer)
`network`	one of mainnet, testnet, regtest, null	Usually (present for most inputs)
`normalized`	string or null	Usually (present for most inputs)
`address_type`	one of p2pkh, p2sh, p2wpkh, p2wsh, p2tr, p2w-unknown, null	Usually (present for most inputs)
`format_valid`	boolean	Always (present in every successful answer)
`checksum_valid`	boolean	Always (present in every successful answer)

How to call it

The same tool through each route. MCP clients reach it through Strale’s server at https://api.strale.io/mcp; the call below is what the agent sends.

# Free tool: works without a key, within a monthly allowance. Add your key for more.
curl -X POST https://api.strale.io/v1/do \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "capability_slug": "bitcoin-address-validate",
    "inputs": {
      "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq"
    },
    "max_price_cents": 5
  }'

{
  "tool": "strale_execute",
  "arguments": {
    "slug": "bitcoin-address-validate",
    "inputs": {
      "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq"
    },
    "max_price_cents": 5
  }
}

import { Strale } from "straleio";

const strale = new Strale({ apiKey: process.env.STRALE_API_KEY! });
const result = await strale.do({
  capability_slug: "bitcoin-address-validate",
  inputs: {
    "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq"
  },
  max_price_cents: 5,
});

import os
from straleio import Strale, DoRequest

strale = Strale(api_key=os.environ["STRALE_API_KEY"])
result = strale.do(DoRequest(
    capability_slug="bitcoin-address-validate",
    inputs={
        "address": "bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq",
    },
    max_price_cents=5,
))

Limitations

Format and checksum only — no on-chain check
Validates Bitcoin address format and checksum (Base58Check for legacy P2PKH/P2SH; BIP173 bech32 for SegWit v0 P2WPKH/P2WSH; BIP350 bech32m for Taproot v1 P2TR). Does not check whether the address has a balance, has been used on-chain, or whether it controls any funds.
What to do instead: Query a Bitcoin node or block explorer for balances and transaction history.
Witness versions above 1 are accepted but not classified
SegWit witness versions 2-16 are reserved for future upgrades. Addresses with these versions and valid bech32m checksum are returned with address_type="p2w-unknown" rather than rejected, since the address is structurally valid even if its purpose is unknown today.
Mainnet/testnet inferred from prefix only
Network is inferred from the legacy version byte or bech32 prefix, with Bitcoin mainnet, testnet and regtest supported. Forks sharing address formats are not distinguished: they can fail the checksum or be classified as Bitcoin when the prefix matches.
What to do instead: If chain disambiguation matters, validate against the specific chain's expected prefix set before calling.