libcrypto Documentation¶

libcrypto is a lightweight, dependency-free Python library for deterministic cryptocurrency key and address generation, signing, and validation. Every cryptographic primitive it needs — secp256k1, Keccak-256, RIPEMD-160, HMAC/PBKDF2, Base58, Bech32/Bech32m, CashAddr — is implemented either in pure Python inside the package or through the Python standard library. There are no third-party runtime dependencies.

Requires Python 3.8 or newer.
MIT licensed.
Installable from PyPI: pip install libcrypto.

Documentation map¶

Section	Description
Installation	Install from PyPI or source.
Quickstart	Generate wallets and addresses in minutes.
Supported Coins & Networks	All 43 networks, address types, and version bytes.
Command Line Interface	Use the bundled `libcrypto` command.
Security Model	What the library guarantees and what it does not.
Releasing & Packaging	Automated GitLab CI/CD publishing to PyPI.

Guides¶

Guide	Description
HD Wallets & Mnemonics	BIP39 mnemonics and BIP32 xprv/xpub derivation.
Signing & Verification	ECDSA and Ethereum/Bitcoin message signing.
Address Validation	Verify and decode addresses safely.

API reference¶

Module	Description
`wallet`	High-level `Wallet` facade.
`keys`	`PrivateKey` and `PublicKey`.
`addresses`	Multi-chain address generation.
`bip32`	HD wallet, xprv/xpub, CKDpriv/CKDpub.
`mnemonic`	BIP39 mnemonic utilities.
`formats`	Base58, Base58Check, WIF, hex conversions.
`hash`	SHA-256/512, RIPEMD-160, Keccak-256, HMAC, PBKDF2.
`secp256k1`	Elliptic-curve public key derivation.
`signing`	Deterministic ECDSA (RFC 6979).
`messages`	Ethereum (EIP-191) and Bitcoin message signing.
`validation`	Address validation and decoding.

Correctness¶

Every feature is validated against published standard test vectors:

secp256k1 generator multiples and known public keys.
BIP32 test vector 1 (xprv, xpub, and CKDpub equivalence).
BIP39 mnemonic-to-seed (Trezor TREZOR passphrase vector).
RFC 6979 deterministic ECDSA (secp256k1 / SHA-256).
EIP-55 checksummed Ethereum addresses and EIP-191 message hashes.
Bitcoin Base58Check, Bech32, Bech32m, and CashAddr encodings.

Run the suite with:

python -m pytest -q

Building this documentation¶

The documentation is written in Markdown and rendered with MkDocs (Material theme). It is hosted on Read the Docs.

Build it locally:

pip install -r docs/requirements.txt
mkdocs serve      # live preview at http://127.0.0.1:8000
mkdocs build      # static site in ./site

Configuration lives in mkdocs.yml (site and navigation) and .readthedocs.yaml (the Read the Docs build). These documentation tools run only in the build environment — the libcrypto library itself remains dependency-free at runtime.