Issue producing a valid WIF key with Python 3.6 (Pythonista - iPadOS) - python-3.x

Question

I am having some issues with some code. I have set about a project for creating Bitcoin wallets in an attempt to turn a hobby into a learning experience, whereby I can understand both Python and the Bitcoin protocol in more detail. I have posted here rather than in the Bitcoin site as the question is related to Python programming.
Below I have some code which I have created to turn a private key into a WIF key. I have written this out for clarity rather than the most optimal method of coding, so that I can see all the steps clearly and work on issues. This code was previously a series lines which I have now progressed into a class with functions.
I am following the example from this page: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet_import_format
Here is my current code:
import hashlib
import codecs
class wif():
def private_to_wif(private_key):
extended_key = wif.create_extended(private_key)
address = wif.create_wif_address(extended_key)
return address
def create_extended(private_key):
private_key1 = bytes.fromhex(private_key)
private_key2 = codecs.encode(private_key1, 'hex')
mainnet = b'80'
#testnet = b'ef'
#compressed = b'01'
extended_key = mainnet + private_key2
return extended_key
def create_wif_address(extended_key):
first_hash = hashlib.sha256(extended_key)
first_digest = first_hash.digest()
second_hash = hashlib.sha256(first_digest)
second_digest = second_hash.digest()
second_digest_hex = codecs.encode(second_digest, 'hex')
checksum = second_digest_hex[:8]
extended_key_chksm = (extended_key + checksum).decode('utf-8')
wif_address = base58(extended_key_chksm)
return wif_address
def base58(extended_key_chksm):
alphabet = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'
b58_string = ''
leading_zeros = len(extended_key_chksm) - len(extended_key_chksm.lstrip('0'))
address_int = int(extended_key_chksm, 16)
while address_int > 0:
digit = address_int % 58
digit_char = alphabet[digit]
b58_string = digit_char + b58_string
address_int //= 58
ones = leading_zeros // 2
for one in range(ones):
b58_string = '1' + b58_string
return b58_string
I then use a few lines of code to get this working, using the example private key from the above guide, as follows:
key = ‘0C28FCA386C7A227600B2FE50B7CAE11EC86D3BF1FBE471BE89827E19D72AA1D‘
address = wif.private_to_wif(key)
Print(address)
I should be getting the output: 5HueCGU8rMjxEXxiPuD5BDku4MkFqeZyd4dZ1jvhTVqvbTLvyTJ
Instead I’m getting:
5HueCGU8rMjxEXxiPuD5BDku4MkFqeZyd4dZ1jvhTVqvbWs6eYX
It’s only the last 6 characters that differ!
Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Connor

Answer 1

I have managed to find the solution by adding a missing encoding step.
I am posting for all those who run into a similar issue and can see the steps that brought resolution.
def create_wif_address(extended_key):
extended_key_dec = codecs.decode(extended_key, 'hex')
first_hash = hashlib.sha256(extended_key_dec)
first_digest = first_hash.digest()
second_hash = hashlib.sha256(first_digest)
second_digest = second_hash.digest()
second_digest_hex = codecs.encode(second_digest, 'hex')
checksum = second_digest_hex[:8]
extended_key_chksm = (extended_key + checksum).decode('utf-8')
wif_address = base58(extended_key_chksm)
return wif_address
So above I added in a step to the function, at the beginning, to decode the passed in variable from a hexadecimal byte string to raw bytes, which is what the hashing algorithms require it seems, and this produced the result I was hoping to achieve.
Connor