Brypt Identifier

A Brypt Identifier is used to identify nodes within an associated network. An identifier is generated by sourcing 128 sufficiently random bits which are then processed through SHAKE128 with output of 128 bits. Internally, the identifier is operated on as a 128 bit number, however, for data integrity and human readability the value is processed into a string representation when sent over the network. The network representation contains three primary components: the metadata, the value, and a checksum. The metadata contains a Brypt header denoted as "bry" and a version number (e.g. "bry0" for an alpha Brypt Identifier); the metadata is terminated by a colon (":"). The checksum consists of four bytes produced by processing the identifier value through SHAKE128 a second time. The checksum guarantees a received network representation was generated by the contained identifier value, but should not be used for cryptographic purposes. The identifier value and checksum are then encoded using Base58. The following is an example of a valid network representation: "bry0:awj6xRXwsvcxpPrkmnTaWmrsvu3".