When generate WIF private key , base58check('80'.decode('hex')) not prefix as '5' i try to generate WIF private key with python.

import base58
import hashlib

def b58(hex):
    return base58.b58encode(hex)

def sha256(hex):
    return hashlib.sha256(hex).digest()

def main():
    k = sha256('private_key')
    extend = '80' + k.encode('hex')
    sha1 = sha256(extend.decode('hex'))
    sha2 = sha256(sha1)
    print b58(extend.decode('hex') + sha2[:8])

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()


the result's prefix is not '5' but 'V'

i try to just base58encode 0x80 and the result is 3D ???

where is mistake in this code?
By comparing all variables with this tool, I've found that the mistake is in this line:

print b58(extend.decode('hex') + sha2[:8])


Remember that sha2 is a byte array and not a hex string. You can replace the 8 with a 4 to make your code work.

You can also simplify the code even further to:

def b58(hex):
    return base58.b58encode_check(hex)

def sha256(hex):
    return hashlib.sha256(hex).digest()

def main():
    k = sha256('private_key')
    extend = '80'.decode('hex') + k
    print b58(extend)