TRON

driver

tron

curve

secp256k1

address formats

base58check

SLIP-44 coin

195'

Load it

import { useBlockchain, blockchains } from "@agntn/keys";

const tronChain = useBlockchain(await blockchains.tron()());

The address

Keccak-256 of the public key, last 20 bytes, exactly like Ethereum. Then a version byte 0x41 in front and base58check around it, which is why every TRON address starts with T.

const publicKey = tronChain.getKeyPublic(privateKey);
tronChain.getAddress(publicKey); // TJCnKsPa7y5okkXvQAidZBzqx3QyQ6sxMW

Strip the base58check and swap 0x41 for 0x, and you have the Ethereum address of the same key. That is a nice trick for debugging and a bad idea for anything else.

Testnet

const shasta = useBlockchain(await blockchains.tron({ network: "testnet" })());

TRON testnets use the same 0x41 prefix as mainnet, so testnet addresses also start with T. The driver accepts the option for symmetry with the other chains, but there's no way to tell a Shasta address from a mainnet one by looking at it. Don't rely on the string.

Validation

tronChain.validateAddress("TJCnKsPa7y5okkXvQAidZBzqx3QyQ6sxMW"); // true
tronChain.validateAddress("1JCnKsPa7y5okkXvQAidZBzqx3QyQ6sxMW"); // false, wrong prefix

Base58check decode, version byte 0x41, 21 bytes total. The checksum catches typos, the prefix catches pasted Bitcoin addresses.

Signing

signMessage frames the message the TIP-191 way, "\x19TRON Signed Message:\n" + length + message, hashes it with Keccak-256 and signs with secp256k1. That's the digest TronWeb's signMessageV2 and TronLink sign, so the same key gives the same r and s here and there. What comes back is those 64 bytes in hex, no recovery byte. verifyMessage here doesn't need one, verifyMessageV2 does, so append a v before asking TronWeb to recover the address.

const signature = tronChain.signMessage("hello", privateKey);
tronChain.verifyMessage("hello", signature, publicKey); // true

Ethereum uses the same framing under its own preamble, which is why a TRON signature and an Ethereum signature of the same message from the same key differ, and each driver rejects the other's.