Checksums are used to detect errors introduced into data during transfer. A hash function-based checksum such as Base58Check detects any type of error uniformly, but not all classes of errors are equally likely to occur in practice. Bech32 prioritizes detection of substitution errors, but improving detection of one error class inevitably worsens detection of other error classes. During the design of Bech32, it was assumed that other simple error patterns beside substitutions would have a similar detection rate as in a hash function-based design, and detection would only be worse for complex, impractical errors. The discovered insertion weakness shows that this is not the case.
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