About the RIPEMD-160 Hash Generator
RIPEMD-160 is a 160-bit hash from the RIPE project, designed as an open alternative to the SHA family. Its most visible use is in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, where an address is derived by applying SHA-256 and then RIPEMD-160 to a public key. This tool computes it locally from your text.
The double hashing in Bitcoin is deliberate rather than decorative. Running SHA-256 first and RIPEMD-160 second shortens a 256-bit key digest to 160 bits, which keeps addresses compact, and combining two independently designed functions means that a break in either one alone does not immediately break address derivation. The pairing is common enough that Bitcoin script gives it its own opcode name, HASH160.
Note that a Bitcoin address is not the raw 20 bytes you see here. They are prefixed with a version byte, appended with a four-byte double-SHA-256 checksum and wrapped in Base58Check, or in Bech32 for the newer formats, before anyone can paste one into a wallet. If you are reproducing that pipeline by hand, feed this output into Base58 Encode next. It has no known practical collision attacks and is considered adequate for its niche, though the SHA-2 family is preferred for new general-purpose designs. Output is hex or Base64, and the other well-known 160-bit function is covered by the SHA-1 generator.
How to use
- Paste text.
- Choose the output format.
- Copy the RIPEMD-160 hash.
Common questions
- Where is RIPEMD-160 used?
- Most notably in Bitcoin address derivation, applied after SHA-256 to a public key.
- Is it secure?
- No practical attacks are known against RIPEMD-160, but SHA-2 is the modern default for new systems.
- What length is the output?
- 160 bits, or 40 hexadecimal characters.