TRON vs. Ethereum: Why Different Address Formats?
Published: July 14, 2025
TRON and Ethereum both use public key cryptography to generate wallet addresses, but their formats differ significantly. Let’s break down how and why.
TRON Addresses: Base58Check Format
TRON uses Base58Check encoding for user-facing wallet
addresses. This format:
- Is derived from Bitcoin-style encoding
-
Starts with the letter T when displayed (e.g.,
TNPeeaaFB7...) -
Encodes a hex address that starts with
41(TRON’s network prefix) - Includes a 4-byte checksum for added safety
TRON’s hex address (e.g. 418840E6C5...) is obtained by
prepending 41 to the last 20 bytes of a Keccak-256 hash of
the public key. The Base58Check string is then encoded from this.
Ethereum Addresses: Hex Format
Ethereum addresses are:
- Also derived from a Keccak-256 hash of the public key
-
Encoded in hexadecimal with a
0xprefix - Optionally checksummed using EIP-55 (mixed-case checksum)
For example, an Ethereum address might look like:
0x8840e6c55b9aDA326D211d818C34a994aEcEd808
Are They Compatible?
Sort of — they’re built on similar cryptographic foundations (both use
secp256k1 keys and Keccak-256), but:
-
TRON hex addresses always start with
41, Ethereum’s with0x - TRON uses Base58Check for user display, Ethereum uses hex
So while the underlying keys are compatible, the formats are not directly interchangeable — which is why conversion tools like this site are useful.