> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.filecoin.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.filecoin.io/core-concepts/filecoin-virtual-machine/addresses.md). # Addresses All Filecoin addresses begin with an `f` to indicate the network (Filecoin), followed by any of the address prefix numbers (`0`, `1`, `2`, `3`, `4`) to indicate the address type. There are five address types:
Address prefixDescription
0An ID address.
1A SECP256K1 public key address.
2An actor address.
3A BLS public key address.
4Extensible, user-defined actor addresses. f410 addresses refers to Ethereum-compatible address space, each f410 address is equivalent to an 0x address.
Each of the address types is described below. ## Actor IDs All actors have a short integer assigned to them by `InitActor`, a unique actor that can create *new* actors. This integer that gets assigned is the ID of that actor. An *ID address* is an actor’s ID prefixed with the network identifier and the address type. Actor ID addresses are not *robust* in the sense that they depend on chain state and are defined on-chain by the `InitActor`. Additionally, actor IDs can change for a brief time after creation if the same ID is assigned to different actors on different forks. Actor ID addresses are similar to monotonically increasing numeric primary keys in a relational database. So, when a chain reorganization occurs (similar to a rollback in a SQL database), you can refer to the same ID for different rows. The expected consensus algorithm will resolve the conflict. Once the state that defines a new ID reaches finality, no changes can occur, and the ID is bound to that actor forever. For example, the mainnet burn account ID address, `f099`, is structured as follows: ```plaintext Address type | f 0 9 9 | | | Actor ID | Network identifier ``` ID addresses are often referred to by their shorthand `f0`. ## Public keys Actors managed directly by users, like accounts, are derived from a public-private key pair. If you have access to a private key, you can sign messages sent from that actor. The public key is used to derive an address for the actor. Public key addresses are referred to as *robust addresses* as they do not depend on the Filecoin chain state. Public key addresses allow devices, like hardware wallets, to derive a valid Filecoin address for your account using just the public key. The device doesn’t need to ask a remote node what your ID address is. Public key addresses provide a concise, safe, human-readable way to reference actors before the chain state is final. ID addresses are used as a space-efficient way to identify actors in the Filecoin chain state, where every byte matters. Filecoin supports two types of public key addresses: * [`secp256k1` addresses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secp256k1) that begin with the prefix `f1`. * [BLS addresses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLS_digital_signature) that begin with the prefix `f3`. For BLS addresses, Filecoin uses `curve bls12-381` for BLS signatures, which is a pair of two related curves, `G1` and `G2`. Filecoin uses `G1` for public keys, as G1 allows for a smaller representation of public keys and `G2` for signatures. This implements the same design as ETH2 but contrasts with Zcash, which has signatures on `G1` and public keys on `G2`. However, unlike ETH2, which stores private keys in big-endian order, Filecoin stores and interprets private keys in little-endian order. Public key addresses are often referred to by their shorthand, `f1` or `f3`. ## Actors Actor addresses provide a way to create robust addresses for actors not associated with a public key. They are generated by taking a `sha256` hash of the output of the account creation. The ZH storage provider has the actor address `f2plku564ddywnmb5b2ky7dhk4mb6uacsxuuev3pi` and the ID address `f01248`. Actor addresses are often referred to by their shorthand, `f2`. ## Extensible user-defined actors Filecoin supports extensible, user-defined actor addresses through the `f4` address class, introduced in [Filecoin Improvement Proposal (FIP) 0048](https://github.com/filecoin-project/FIPs/blob/master/FIPS/fip-0048.md). The `f4` address class provides the following benefits to the network: * A predictable addressing scheme to support interactions with addresses that do not yet exist on-chain. * User-defined, custom addressing systems without extensive changes and network upgrades. * Support for native addressing schemes from foreign runtimes such as the EVM. An `f4` address is structured as `f4f`, where `` is the actor ID of the *address manager*, and `` is the arbitrary actor ID chosen by that actor. An *address manager* is an actor that can create new actors and assign an `f4` address to the new actor. Currently, per [FIP 0048](https://github.com/filecoin-project/FIPs/blob/master/FIPS/fip-0048.md), `f4` addresses may only be assigned by and in association with specific, built-in actors called *address managers*. Once users are able to deploy custom WebAssembly actors, this restriction will likely be relaxed in a future FIP. As an example, suppose an address manager has an actor ID (an `f0` address) `123`, and that address manager creates a new actor. Then, the `f4` address of the actor created by the address manager is `f4123fa3491xyz`, where `f4` is the address class, `123` is the actor ID of the address manager, `f` is a separator, and `a3491xyz` is the arbitrary `` chosen by that actor. [Was this page helpful?](https://airtable.com/apppq4inOe4gmSSlk/pagoZHC2i1iqgphgl/form?prefill_Page+URL=https://docs.filecoin.io/core-concepts/filecoin-virtual-machine/addresses)