BIP

Original-Assistant-8

If it was that simple, why do we have so many people working very hard to convince us we don't need to change it. And where is the BIP? Really wish it was that simple

Kayjagx

Here you can see the comparison between BIP39 ans SLIP39: https://trezor.io/learn/a/what-is-shamir-backup

Junior_Client3022

Shitcoins shouldn't be a part of Bitcoin's history. Bitcoin and shitcoins aren't even the same idea or thing(not by a long shot)  Shitcoins are more like something of a lottery ticket mixed with a made up stock ticker and implementing a random failed BIP from the list. Bitcoin does what it does like flick away this pissant unscathed.

Accurate_Barnacle356

If can be numbers as well you jsut have to translate them to the corresponding words (12 or 24 seed phrase) - BIP39 is the Mnemonic code - you can google that and get the words / numbers at any time. look for a hard metal cold storage wallet often the numbers are etched into this for cold long storage like this [https://shop.ledger.com/products/cryptotag-zeus?utm\_source=Google\_Ads&utm\_medium=Paid\_Search&utm\_campaign=24-10-PMAX-US-Conversion-Paid\_Marketing&utm\_content=msg\_\_targ\_17610704398&gad\_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6t-6BhA3EiwAltRFGHmjDzDO4lmYDXBT7l47fqhGz\_o6cPhGeBLejzzynV9L4c5n-jqHIBoC\_EUQAvD\_BwE](https://shop.ledger.com/products/cryptotag-zeus?utm_source=Google_Ads&utm_medium=Paid_Search&utm_campaign=24-10-PMAX-US-Conversion-Paid_Marketing&utm_content=msg__targ_17610704398&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6t-6BhA3EiwAltRFGHmjDzDO4lmYDXBT7l47fqhGz_o6cPhGeBLejzzynV9L4c5n-jqHIBoC_EUQAvD_BwE) could also be a small ledger wallet like youll find on that site as well. if you dont know pin but have seed you can get wallet software and order new wallet and restore it with that seed phrase.

only_merit

Download Sparrow wallet (https://sparrowwallet.com/). Make sure you downloaded the original wallet (verify the release using the signature!). Run Sparrow wallet. In main menu, go to File -> Import Wallet. Choose "Mnemonic Words (BIP39) and on the right side choose "Use 12 Words". Fill in the first 12 words. Enable the checkbox "Use passphrase?". Fill in the 13th word. Click Import Wallet. Enjoy.

Mindless_Union_5397

First of all: Don't answer any DM's. Do you have your 12 or 24 words written down? If so, try to restore your wallet in Sparrow Wallet. New Wallet -> New or imported software wallet -> Mnemonic Seed (BIP 39) -> type in your 12 or 24 words. Then you'll hopefully have gained access to them again.

type_error

lol Tell him to fast track some BIPs for quantum resistance like this one https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0347

KioCosta

It can be numbers, yes. There is this thing called BIP 39 wordlist in which each word is assigned a number. He may have written down 12 or 24 numbers instead of words. No need to rush, tho. Take your time to study.

Delicious-Use-8789

If you have a 16-word recovery phrase from 2014, it might be from an older wallet format, as most modern wallets today use 12 or 24 words (BIP39). Some wallets, like Electrum, used non-standard formats with different word lengths and derivation paths. You can try downloading **Electrum** and importing your 16-word phrase, since Electrum used different formats and might recognize it if it's from an old version. If you remember what wallet software you used back then, you could try finding and downloading an old version (from a reputable source) to import the phrase. You can also try using wallets like **Wasabi** or **Sparrow** that allow for custom recovery phrase lengths to see if they recognize it. Another option is to use Ian **Coleman's BIP39 tool** (download and run offline for safety) to input the 16 words and manually check if it generates valid keys/addresses. If none of these work, the seed might not follow current standards, making recovery tricky. Be cautious to avoid scams or further risks to your funds.

HSuke

Oops, I meant Jeff Garzik, not Hal Finney. Basically all the devs responsible for BIP 100, 101, 102, 103, and 109 to increase block size.

Discokruse

Not your keys, not your coins. No wire fraud rules about BIP39 derivated keys. If you own the privkey, you own the coins.

Savik519

When you open Electrum, go to File>New, Next, Standard wallet, I already have a seed, then click the "options" button and select BIP39 before you put in your 12 word seed

stringings

BIP139 didn't even really exist until after MTGox went down... BIP139 is post 2013. His stuff is safe in electrum.

stringings

BIP139 didn't exist until after 2013. Before that it was just the private key.

Savik519

When you open Electrum, go to File>New, Next, Standard wallet, I already have a seed, then click the "options" button and select BIP39 before you put in your 12 word seed

Aussiehash

Mining in the old days was to random keys, before the BIP32 / BIP39 mnemonic seeds were invented.

HuntlyBypassSurgeon

Under BIP39, only the first 4 letters of each word matter. Does this help?

supersoup2012

Seed phrases are universal within specific standards, but different blockchains often use different standards. Here’s a breakdown of your situation: 1. Seed Phrase Standards: Most wallets use a standard called BIP-39 for generating seed phrases, but they implement it differently for different blockchains. A Solana wallet, for example, uses your seed phrase to derive Solana-compatible keys, while a Bitcoin wallet like Muun uses it to derive Bitcoin-compatible keys. 2. Why Your Bitcoin Doesn't Appear: The Solana wallet generated a Bitcoin address for you, but it likely uses a derivation path that Bitcoin-specific wallets like Muun don’t recognize. This means your Bitcoin is still safe but tied to that specific Solana wallet. 3. Using Multiple Wallets: If you want to use Bitcoin-specific features (like Lightning), you’ll need a Bitcoin wallet, and yes, that often means generating a new seed phrase. Each seed phrase is tied to its wallet’s specific blockchain or ecosystem. 4. Managing Multiple Seed Phrases: Many people have multiple seed phrases for different blockchains. It’s normal. You can either: Keep using your Solana wallet for Bitcoin transactions. Move your Bitcoin to a wallet like Muun after generating a new seed phrase there. Just be careful when managing multiple phrases to avoid losing access to your funds. 5. Universal Wallets?: Some wallets (like Trust Wallet or Ledger) support multiple blockchains using one seed phrase, but they still derive keys for each blockchain separately.

ii-d

End of 2013 the BIP39 word list was not yet in use.

ii-d

Now I found out I need a btcrecover version that supports Electrum memonic phrase list. Back in 2013 the BIP39 was not yet used. We think we have to do with a [blockchain.info](http://blockchain.info) type wallet. How / where to obtain this btcrecover version?

Morbo_69

I only use 25. Ledger and probably others support adding your own 25th word. Then one word isn't even on the BIP39 or any other list of possibilities. Overkill? Probably. But I feel better with a word not even the list.

Azzuro-x

You calculation for the number of possible addresses is incorrect by simply relying on the 24 words BIP39 scenario. There are other factors to consider namely the wallets generated by 12 word seeds, the different address types and also the secp256k1 modulo number (vs 2^256).

Blockchainauditor

Although some wallets have their own mnemonic schemas, many comply with BIP39.

EricCarver

Very universal. The list of 2048 words is documented online, search for BIP39 to see the list.

jfhsdkjfhsdkjfhsdkjf

As someone mentioned, electrum seeds are not the same as the more common BIP85 seeds. >should have no backdoors Electrum wallet on a desktop pc is no more secure than any other hot wallet.

etsolow

It matters how much you have (or think you have) in this wallet. If it's only a couple hundred dollars, less caution might be appropriate than if it's a year's salary or more. At any rate, all you need to recover the wallet is the seed phrase (usually 12 or 24 words) and possibly an optional passphrase. (You said "password" which is ambiguous... might be a device pin/password or could be a passphrase). Put that information into any BIP-39 compliant software or hardware wallet and you should be able to access your funds. Good luck! [Wallet selector](https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet?step=5&platform=hardware)

cumslavenikki

fair, wrong term, not centralized, instead we can say concentrated/consolodated, into a few entities. And it's a significantly valid concern. No one's seeking equal distribution that's the last thing any of us want (id hope) but when a couple of entities control ever larger amounts of the supply it could lose it's appeal to the masses, perhaps even INEVITABLY resulting in a few entities exploiting their control over it, which would defeat it's entire purpose. most proponents are so dazzled w the idea of a 'limited supply' that they overlook this very real possibility that too much of it in a few pockets essentially can cause all the same problems that unlimited fiat presents. Through the BIP process it could be broken down almost infinitely w more and more decimal places added on. But that would fail because it would become abandoned by the masses TLDR; if the supply becomes too concentrated it would hurt btc overall, possible even lead to its abandoent. how concentrated is 'too concentrated' idk

photolaureate

Why does it matter which wallet is telling the truth? How is it useful in finding the BIP39 word?

mkultra327

You’re correct. Seedphrase was a BIP From 2013.

aid00

BIP85 might be useful to you if you want to set up several wallets but only want to backup or remember a single BIP39 mnemonic: [https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0085.mediawiki](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0085.mediawiki) BIP85 lets you do things like this: [https://gist.github.com/aido/07be6c7e68f1ce2091fba8f3eebd9932](https://gist.github.com/aido/07be6c7e68f1ce2091fba8f3eebd9932)

SAM_9-

Yes, this is possible You can use one 24-word (or 12-word) seed phrase to create multiple wallets by adding a different passphrase (often called the 25th or 13th word). Each unique passphrase creates a completely new wallet from the same seed phrase. So: 1. Write down and safely store one seed phrase. 2. Memorize three different passphrases. 3. Use these passphrases with the seed phrase to access three separate wallets. This is called "BIP39 passphrase protection", and it's secure as long as you don't forget your passphrases!

steve_b

If you order from Trezor, they have one of those security seals on them, so presumably you'd see it was tampered with. And it's not very easy to tamper with these things even if you could open the box and reseal it and have it look decent. And you're presuposing that somone is going to go to the trouble of intercepting your Trezor that has no accounts associated with it yet, got to the great effort of replacing it with one that they've compromised, and then hope that one day you load it up with enough crypto to make it worth their effort. On top of that, you assuming they've compromised it in a way that allows them to remotely control it from whatever machine in the world you've connected it to and get your private keys or create blockchain transactions from a hacked version of the [wallet.trezor.io](http://wallet.trezor.io) site you'd be using. This is a huge number of ifs. Nobody is going to go to that effort for the off chance that they strike it rich with your account. The risk in the chain comes in if you try to cut corners - buying someone's used Trezor (or Ledger or whatever), buying the devices from a third party website (only buy directly from the manufacturer's store - don't even use Amazon, where anyone can sell anything). At that point, the only risk is that someone (in the post business) intercepts your mail, has a hacked chip handy, opens your device, swaps the chip, reseals your device in a way that looks perfect, recloses the device in a way that looks perfect, and gets it redelivered back to you. After all that, once you get the device, the manufacturer will have a program you can download that will verify the firmware in the device and let you know if it's been tampered with, so if you're super-paranoid you can always do that. In reality, you're much more likely to lose your crypto because: 1. You lost and forgot your phrase 2. Someone managed to find your BIP39 phrase that you though you'd kept safe 3. Instead of having the device generate your BIP39 phrase, you generated one online from a website that kept a copy of it so they could steal from you later 4. You fall victim to the $5 wrench attack (google xkcd wrench attack for the link).

midnightcaptain

I love that someone pops up in the Daily Mail comments of all places, to point out that this "expert" has no idea what they're talking about: \>He mined the coins in 2009. Seed phrases didn't exist until BIP-39 in 2013. There's no way he's recovering those coins with a seed phrase.

Savik519

Yes there should be a way to decrypt it and get back access to the wallet. I’m guessing it used AES encryption and is in a BIP38 format for the key. There should be some decryption tools on GitHub somewhere.

na3than

BIP-32 has nothing to do with passphrases. BIP-32 describes how to derive a hierarchical wallet from a seed.

The_Pirate_of_Oz

Right BIP32 explains the deterministic wallets, and how a passphrase can derive them. We are saying the same things and hopefully OP has what they need. We are all on the same team here.

na3than

>the "passphrase" is NOT part of the BIP39 standard This is misleading. The BIP-39 standard describes exactly what a passphrase is and exactly how it should be used to calculate a seed.

mnkbstard

https://iancoleman.io/bip39/ this is the best place to learn while practicing and see in numbers how BIP39 passphrase will act as a additional cryptographic salt obviously, don't enter your own real seed phrases website is legitimate, but your devices/network might be eavesdropping.

The_Pirate_of_Oz

No, the "passphrase" is NOT part of the BIP39 standard and is user provided. So your 13th/25th word could be something like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" or "LH6y7gd0x0vHcHpxHtaXIeF5AsUf0KCxOzgzpuQkVKZ4omJhBww56mX11dSYQOIOozl5oEXxVpqlbmuVHAFXYFi2jS059Rr7KNLs" or "I love bitcoin". A mix of any characters are valid. Don't make it too complex or complicated, else you could lose access to your funds.

The_Pirate_of_Oz

The 24 words are part of the BIP39 standard. Here they are - [https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt) These are standard words that every compatible wallet uses. As part of the BIP39 standard (and BIP32 for deterministic wallets), the 25th word (or 13th word), is a **NON-STANDARD** word that is user provided that can be up to 100 characters (or Trezor uses 50 characters) to derive a new wallet.

FinanceOverdose416

Encrypt your seed phrases and record them. You can have multiple copies of the encrypted seed phrases as backups. If someone got a hold of your encrypted seed phrases, they won't be able to access your coin unless they know how to decrypt it. For additional security, replace a few seed phrases with dummy seed phases, and remember the few real seed phrases in your head. Be sure to encrypt and record all 24 seed phrases, including the dummy seed phrases, so the bad actor won't know how many seed phrases are missing. You can use this to encrypt your seed phrases, which is coordinate base: https://x.com/BIP39Plus?t=FPPFGp9zExLVMywiJ_W6hA&s=09

riscten

You don't need a hardware wallet for cold storage. You can generate a BIP39 paper wallet from an airgapped PC as long as you know what you're doing, and even sign transactions without ever exposing your mnemonic or private keys. A hardware wallet is more of a convenience thing, like buying a flashlight despite having a flash on your phone. If you do get one, I wouldn't recommend Ledger. They've shown that they don't necessarily take privacy and coin safety seriously, as they suggested storing their user's keys online at one point. Their software is also not entirely open source, and their hardware is entirely proprietary, making it harder to audit. Instead take a look at Jade, Coldcard, or Trezor. If you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole, you can also build your own DIY Jade or Seedsigner out of general purpose hardware, allowing you to verify every single component, down to the chip level. No chance of the manufacturer freezing, stealing or seizing your funds here.

castorfromtheva

Mostly it's told, that setting up a passphrase is recommended only for advanced users. But nowadays I actually consider that BS . A passphrase can actually be anything you want but I wouldn't mess around with special characters, for ease of use and because you never know how good different implementations are. Just pay attention to it being long enough (but also don't exceed 49 characters - just to stay compatible with most wallets, afaik Trezor's limit: 50, Ledger and Coldcard: 100, Bitbox2: 149 characters - but I might be wrong on that numbers maybe they increased the limit, the numbers are around 3 years old). ThisForExampleCouldBeAGoodPassphrase Of course you make backups of your seedwords and passphrase but DON'T STORE THEM AT THE SAME PLACE. Use a tamper proof seal with the box you store your seedword metal plates in. From time to time have a look at the box and check if the seal is tampered. If it is, move your funds over to a fresh wallet. If your passphrase is long enough, you don't even have to hurry and worry too much that it could be bruteforced and your funds be stolen in between. [It takes several years even for high end machines, if it's long enough](https://github.com/3rdIteration/BIP39-Passphrase-Testing/raw/refs/heads/master/Passphrase%20Strength%20Calculations.xlsx). Using a passphrase comes with some really cool advantages. One of them is you can setup a decoy wallet. Meaning you setup a wallet on your normal seedwords (without a passphrase) and fund it with say 0.001 BTC. If someone forces you to hand your seedwords, fine - you just lost 0.001 BTC. Your main wallet on the other hand is your seedwords PLUS a good passphrase. Here you store your actual funds which cannot be taken away now since the robber doesn't know about your actual wallet. And as I said, if your passphrase is long enough, now that your words are known (or your anti-tamper seal is broken), you still have plenty of time to move your funds to a fresh seed. Another advantage is you can have multiple wallets with the same seed words just by using multiple different passphrases. This follows the same underlying idea as the decoy wallet. Changing the passphrase generates a completely different wallet, even if you just exchange one character of the passphrase. Here is [a good video on passphrase security](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhjq_1J0EbU) I recommend to have a look at.

castorfromtheva

>I’m trying to better understand how passphrase-based wallets work and whether they are interoperable between different hardware wallet brands. Specifically: > > 1. If I use a passphrase-enabled wallet on a Ledger device, can I recover the same wallet on a Trezor device using the same passphrase and seed phrase? You could. But it's actually not best practice if the goal is migration from one device to another. But yep, for recovery purposes this works. > 2. Is the passphrase technology something universal (like a BIP standard) or is it proprietary to certain companies like Ledger or Trezor? It's part of the BIP39 standard which most wallets make use of. > 3. How does this passphrase technology work on a technical level? Does it alter the derivation path, or is it just an additional layer of security? Technically the seedphrase (12/18/24 words) represents a very very very large (at best random, lol) number in a more readable form. Adding a passphrase means adding some more digits to that number making it still larger along with increasing entropy. Has nothing to do with derivation oaths. > 4. Is it possible for companies to remove the passphrase functionality in the future? If so, what happens to wallets that rely on it? It's possible but highly likely they won't. Since removing compatibility isn't really a good idea and less people would likely buy such products (being less compatible). Would the funds still be recoverable, and how? There are hundreds of methods to access bitcoin funds given you have the underlying data like in this case seed phrase and passphrase. It includes different manual ways for recovery including the Ian Coleman BIP39 tool or you simply recover by using a compatible sofware wallet (at best open source), always offline and in an isolated environment. >Would love any insights or technical breakdowns, especially if someone has experience moving wallets between different devices with passphrases. Thanks! As I stated above, moving wallets between devices is not the recommended method. Just generate a new seed and send your funds over.

LocationEfficient161

It is fairly well supported by major vendors but does seem like an extra complication (and way to shoot yourself in the foot) for most standard users. It's more about creating secondary "secret" accounts as ledger calls them. To to be sure, these "secret" sub-accounts will be analyzed on-chain like anything else that transacts. So think: this is for when I can't ensure safety of my BIP backup, but now I have to ensure the safety of/access to the BIP + this passphrase. Do I bother?

barnsligpark

Passphrase functionality is at  the protocol level, BIP39. So yes your passphrase is maintained even if you change hardware devices and regardless of the actions of third party companies

falcofox64

Right now Bitcoin uses out to the 100 millionth decimal point. So 8 zeros on the right side of the decimal point. If there was consensus then a BIP could be proposed to use the 9th zero as well. I don't forsee this needing to be done for a very very long time. By doing this it wouldn't be increasing the supply but just make the current supply more devisible. By expanding on the left side of the decimal point new money is created but peoples wealth is diluted. By expanding the right side the money supply stays the same but there are more units of the current supply to transact with for a growing economy and population.

falcofox64

The fundamental aspects and the core protocal of Bitcoin are timeless. There are developers who work on Bitcoin that can offer BIP's to help improve on top of that core protocal. The wheel is old tech but has been improved upon and still used. The combustable engine is old tech but has been improved upon and still used The core of these technologies is still the same. Boolean logic is what makes computers work today. It was invented in 1847 and is still used today. Our world is full of technology that is hundreds or even thousands of years old and we still use them today, we just improve upon them. Bitcoin is the core technology and will be improved over time but the core protocal has no reason to change just like we don't need to change to a new system for how computers work from boolean logic just because it is old. Math and physics don't go out of date.

Sas_fruit

N i still don't get it, my brain can be a wallet? So when we take the crypto out of exchange, it's not really out anywhere? Because u said when cold wallet lost , i can use BIP39 words and send it to new wallet? Is it always then outside, not on my wallet? I mean cold means not connected to exchange, only via 📱 or 💻 it gets connected n then can the crypto be sent? But it seems i can just create another cold wallet, use BIP39 keys. So where do those BIP39 keys r. Ok I'll look for that on my own. Thanks for all the explanation.

Sas_fruit

Thanks a lot for your effort. Which of my questions you didn't understand? N i still don't get it, my brain can be a wallet? So when we take the crypto out of exchange, it's not really out anywhere? Because u said when cold wallet lost , i can use BIP39 words and send it to new wallet? Is it always then outside, not on my wallet?

steve_b

5. A "wallet" is any device, or computer or paper file (or your brain) that keeps track of your various public key/private key pairs. For convenience reasons, most wallets also include the software that allows you to sign transactions with your private key (stored in the wallet) so that you can send/spend your crypto. You do not need a wallet for people to send you BTC. No matter what you do, you should record your BIP39 phrase somewhere non-electronic and keep it safe, in case whatever devices you're using are destroyed, lost, locked out, or otherwise become unusable. If you have nowhere physically safe to store this, you'll have to do something to "hide" it online, and hopefully remember whatever means you used to hide it. 6. It is possible for you to create a computer that fulfills the function of a wallet, but it has been a long time since I did something like that. Unless you have a very structured and physically safe environment, this is probably not a good idea. All it takes is for someone to get malware installed on that machine and they could steal your private keys, either from the machine (if it's stored there), or by having a program that would read them off a USB drive when you stuck it in. 7. For this reason, most people now use hardware wallets like Trezor of Ledger. They store the keys securely inside the device, are designed in a way to make sure the keys cannot leave the device, and have numerous other safeguards. You can use a Trezor on a completely unsafe machine and have confidence the keys cannot be stolen. You may have read Trezor has a bad reputation - this is incorrect. They have been around longer than any other HW vendor I know of, and have always addressed vulnerabilities. It is not "easy" to get at the data on the chips. For the older devices, if you're not using a passphrase (different from the PIN you use to unlock the device), it is POSSIBLE to get the keys off them if you have access to enough info & hardware to do so, but it is not easy, and not worth it unless the device has millions of dollars on it. It certainly isn't something someone could do in a few minutes, so as soon as you lost it, you could go to your paper copy of the BIP39 (you did keep one, right?), load up a new Trezor with that BIP39, create a address and send the BTC there, which now makes the old device useless. Unless you're transacting millions of dollars all these devices will be more than good enough to keep your BTC safe and convenient to use. Don't get hung up on people picking nits over which one is better - go for one of the well-known brands that has been around the longest.

steve_b

There's a bit of a language barrier in my parsing some of your questions, so I'll stick to just answering what I can. I hate it when people say "do your own research", but in this case, you're going to have to do your own research and googling and reading articles, not just asking anonymous strangers in forums. That said, I'll try to make it clear: 1. Bitcoin works by having a common, publicly visible and publicly writeable transaction ledger called the blockchain. When people make changes to this ledger, the authenticity of the change is verified by a process known as cryptographic signing. 2. Cryptographic signing works by having two keys - a public one and a private one. There is nothing special about either one, other than that one you present to the world, and the other you keep secret. The math magic is that if you encrypt something with one key, it can only be decrypted with the other. This way anyone can use your public key to encrypt a message that only you can read (with your private key) and you can send messages to the world that the world can verify came from you, because only your public key can decrypt them. 3. Your bitcoin address is your public key. Your private key is what you use to sign the transactions that move bitcoins out of your address. WIthout it, nobody can change the balance of that address. 4. Your public key/private key pair can be represented by the BIP39 words. This is an easier way of recording your key (in whichever way you want - paper, on a thumbdrive, whatever) than keeping track of a long hexadecimal number.

Fear_Blind83

Blockchain dot com or dot info as it used to be known in the early days didn't use traditional seed mnemonics as we know them today (BIP39/BIP44) etc.. The phrase they supplied was comprised of your recovery seed plus your login password with a checksum to validate it . The website implemented various iterations of this unique encryption system over the years, the word lists used changed several times before they implemented the more common 2048 word BIP39 standard that is used widely today. If I remember correctly at one point they actually used 2 separate lists of unique words, one to calculate the checksum and the other to calculate the wallet ID and login password. Seeds with more words were for longer passwords, so password length determined the number of words used in the mnemonic (15/17/19/21) words.

suspended_008

Firstly don't trust anyone here, especially if they message you offering help. It's something you would need some programming skills to complete. Here is the full list of 2048 BIP39 seed words. Your missing words will be in there. [https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt) For the last 5/6 words you would loop through all the combinations, but limit it to words that start with the letters you already have. For example if the first missing word started with 'a', there's only 136 words that could match. If all of the missing words had 136 possibilities, and you only needed 5 (the very last word can be calculated), there would be approximately 46,525,874,176 iterations. Which is doable on an average consumer grade computer. During each iteration you would test to see if the pubic key for the iteration's 24 word seed matches what you have. If it does then you've got a winner. Obviously you'd have to do this on a computer that is air-gapped. That is, it's not connected to any network. You could of course create a random 24 word seed for testing while you create the script.

Morbo_69

Wow. More than I would have guessed. No experience with brute force or any type of hacking anything so can't really assist. I guess you used the number of possibilities from BIP39 word list?

NiagaraBTC

Okay so If you're holding Bitcoin, Exodus is a poor choice. Something like Nunchuk, Bluewallet, or Green would be much better. I've never heard of "Jaxx Liberty" Does it use BIP-39 seed words?

handgrip_shingle

You’re in crypto since 2014 and haven’t yet purchased a hardware wallet?  Yeah BitBox is good. Trezor Safe 3 is good. Coldcards are better. TailsOS and paper wallets are not good. But you throwing random buzzwords like “blockchains, bip” make me highly doubtful you’re not a beginner. Like, what blockchains? Why plural? Bitcoin has a single blockchain. What do you want to know about “bip”. It’s stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal. Or are you interested in a specific bip? You haven’t mentioned any, so did you think we’ll randomly start discussing BIP347 Or BIP372? 

0100000101101000

You can combine multisig with BIP-85 too but it's not recommended. I'm too drunk to understand why right now, but do some research and see what works best for your personal use case!

0100000101101000

I wish more people knew about BIP-85

ElectricalTell714

AFAIK the border about what's exactly considered standard/non-standard is a bit blurry. There is no BIP that exactly specifies what is and what isn't, so everybody might have slightly different definitions of it. In general though, any of the following can almost certainly be considered standard: 1. Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) 2. Pay-to-Script-Hash (P2SH) 3. Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) 4. Pay-to-Witness-Script-Hash (P2WSH) 5. Multi-Signature (Multisig) While the following can be indications of non standard transactions: 1. Uses a custom script (really any custom script that isn't commonly used, not limited to special OP Codes) 2. Unusual size (Lots of outputs (dusting), lots of inputs) 3. Anything using Timelocks 4. OP-Return with big custom data Then again - blurry subject.

dagr8npwrfl0z

No. Seed phrase generation is random. If you're shopping a trezor for bitcoin you'd need to Google BIP39 for all your pertinent info on seed phrases. And the obligatory "Don't answer any direct messages, don't let anyone "help" you set up a wallet, or activate your trezor. Learn more than you need to know and then do it yourself. And always always always send a small "test transaction" before you move any bags.

steve_b

The "wallet" terminology that is used in the crypto world is a little confusing. What's important is your private key/public key combination. A "wallet" is just a technology or set of technologies that allow you to use your private key to get at the funds in your address. Think about it this way: 1. Your public key is the address that the public knows about. This is how people send you money (or where you send money to if you're transferring it from, say, an exchange. It is analogous to an account number at a bank. 2. The private key is what allows you to send funds out of your address. It is analogous to your account password. This (along with your public key, I think) is what is encapsulated in the BIP39 words that are generated when you create a new address (key pair). You should use only reputable ways of creating addresses. The absolutely most secure way would be to download and build the Bitcoin software and generate it on a machine that is never connected to the internet (after you downloaded the source code), but buying a hardware wallet from a reliable company like Trezor and having it generate one for you is a good second choice. 3. The wallet is the way you keep track of your (possibly many) accounts. A "paper wallet" means just writing your BIP39 phrase down somewhere and keeping it safe (whatever that means to you). It can't be hacked (except by you being tricked to reveal it), but you can't do anything with it unless you generate a transaction from it using bitcoin software, your private key, and a computer that can upload that transaction to the internet (the blockchain). Enter the hardware wallet. It promises to keep your keys safe (via supposedly unhackable hardware and passphrases you create) and will interface with a computer you connect it to in order to generate the transactions above. Since the big fear is that your private key somehow makes it onto the internet somewhere, hardware wallets are designed such that your key never leaves the device. Instead, you use a computer to generate the desired transaction (say, send 0.1 BTC to address X), then the computer sends the transaction to the device (typically over USB), where it is signed by your private key, then the device sends it back. The program then uploads it to the blockchain and you're off to the races. The idea is that you could do this operation from the most malware-infected public computer and your private key stays private, since the device will never send it out through its interface. Of course, this only works if 1) the device maker isn't lying and secretly sending your keys to their servers somewhere and 2) there isn't some kind of firmware bug that allows an attacker to compromise the device. But companies like Trezor have been around long enough to demonstrate that 1 & 2 haven't happened (yet). Cold wallets are really "cold addresses" - addresses you, through your own protocols, cannot send money from (without great effort). For example you might create an address, put the BIP39 on paper and bury in the woods somewhere, then periodically send BTC to that address. The address is "cold" because the only way to get the money out is to go dig up that chest. Most enterprises have some form of cold address(es) protected by human protocols to make sure that the funds can't come out until certain real world conditions are met (say, multiple officers of the company all get together to sign the outgoing transactions). The Mt. Gox collapse was due to poor management of the security of their cold addresses. A "hot wallet" is just an address that you are using regularly, that has a convenient wallet tech connected to it. A Trezor-managed address makes a convenient and relatively secure hot wallet. A "brain wallet" is just you memorizing your BIP39 phrase and destroying any physical or digital record. You can only put money in that address until you eventually take the phrase and transfer it to a hardware wallet, or computer running Bitcoin software, etc. In the days before hardware wallets, people obsessed with security could create an air-gapped "cold wallet" by having a second computer never connected to the internet, running bitcoin software with their private key on it. The process worked basically like a hardware wallet does today, just more cumbersome - you'd carry the transaction on a floppy disk over to the cold machine where it would be signed, then you'd carry it back to your internet-connected machine to send it. Independent of all of these is just keeping your money on an exchange like Robin Hood, or Coinbase, or a bitcoin proxy like an ETF or even PayPal. These may track the real price of bitcoin to varying degrees of accuracy. If these entities were to suffer financial ruin (like Mt. Gox) your bitcoin would be gone or greatly reduced, thus, the "Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins" mantra. BTC was created to create independence from third parties like these. Of course, you need to use them briefly in order to sell or buy coins, but you don't have to keep your wealth there.

steve_b

I haven't watched this video, it's the first thing that came up when I googled BIP39: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4cPN\_4VPc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4cPN_4VPc) BIP39 is the human-readable format of your private key that gives you access to the coins at your address. It takes the form of 12 or 24 words.

steve_b

It's still a good idea. You should have a paper backup in a secure location for the BIP39 seed that was generated by your hardware wallet that is the human-readable version of your private key. If you don't, NYKNYC. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4cPN\_4VPc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4cPN_4VPc)

SpiralDv

In case of not wanting that library this is the more “manual” approach : import hashlib import base58 from Crypto.Cipher import AES def sha256(data): “””Calculate SHA-256 hash.””” return hashlib.sha256(data).digest() def bip38_decrypt(encrypted_key, passphrase): “”” Decrypts a BIP38 encrypted private key using a passphrase. Args: encrypted_key (str): The BIP38 encrypted private key in Base58Check format. passphrase (str): The passphrase used to encrypt the key. Returns: str: The decrypted private key in hexadecimal format, or an error message. “”” # Step 1: Decode the encrypted key from Base58Check try: decoded = base58.b58decode_check(encrypted_key) except Exception as e: return f”Error: Invalid Base58Check encoding - {e}” # Check prefix (0x0142 for non-EC-multiplied keys) if decoded[:2] != b’\x01\x42’: return “Error: Unsupported BIP38 key format (only non-EC-multiplied supported).” # Step 2: Extract the payload flag_byte = decoded[2] encrypted_part1 = decoded[3:19] encrypted_part2 = decoded[19:35] # Check if no compression (flag_byte == 0xC0) if flag_byte != 0xC0: return “Error: Unsupported BIP38 flag byte (only non-compressed keys supported).” # Step 3: Generate the passphrase-derived key passphrase = passphrase.encode(‘utf-8’) passphrase_hash = sha256(sha256(passphrase)) derived_key = passphrase_hash[:16] # Step 4: Decrypt the two parts using AES cipher = AES.new(derived_key, AES.MODE_ECB) decrypted_part1 = cipher.decrypt(encrypted_part1) decrypted_part2 = cipher.decrypt(encrypted_part2) # Step 5: Combine decrypted parts and verify private_key = decrypted_part1 + decrypted_part2 return private_key.hex() # Example usage if __name__ == “__main__”: # Replace these values with your actual encrypted key and passphrase encrypted_key = input(“Enter BIP38 encrypted private key: “).strip() passphrase = input(“Enter your passphrase: “).strip() decrypted_key = bip38_decrypt(encrypted_key, passphrase) if decrypted_key.startswith(“Error”): print(decrypted_key) else: print(f”Decrypted Private Key (hex): {decrypted_key}”)

SpiralDv

If thats what you are looking for give a go: from bitcoinlib.wallets import BIP38Key def decrypt_bip38(encrypted_key: str, passphrase: str) -> str: “”” Decrypts a BIP38 encrypted private key using a passphrase. Args: encrypted_key (str): The BIP38 encrypted private key. passphrase (str): The passphrase used to encrypt the key. Returns: str: The decrypted private key in WIF format. “”” try: # Create a BIP38Key object bip38_key = BIP38Key(encrypted_key) # Decrypt the key with the passphrase wif_key = bip38_key.decrypt(passphrase) return wif_key except Exception as e: return f”Error decrypting key: {e}” # Example usage if __name__ == “__main__”: encrypted_key = input(“Enter your BIP38 encrypted private key: “).strip() passphrase = input(“Enter your passphrase: “).strip() decrypted_key = decrypt_bip38(encrypted_key, passphrase) if decrypted_key.startswith(“Error”): print(decrypted_key) else: print(f”Decrypted Private Key (WIF): {decrypted_key}”)

Soicethut

Fun fact of the day: Word #1532 of BIP39 is "satoshi"

Clearly_Ryan

All of my BTC is in cold storage, generated by BIP-39. Proof would require me to show my address and a signature using my private keys. Perfectly capable of doing that, but then I'd have my addresses monitored by randos for literally the rest of my life just to make a point. Sooo... nah.

postexoduss

ok got that what, protocol wallet is it using? its not BIP39

NiagaraBTC

If he he picks the 23 words from the BIP-39 list it will work. A good wallet will give him the choice of 8 words for the last one. Still a *very bad* idea to pick the words at all. Needs to be actually random.

primfaktor

Sorry that it took a while. Among other things, I got a new computer which wanted to be set up first. Also, you don't want to play around just anywhere, as you rightfully hinted at. I think none of its options \`Electrum\`, \`BIP39 seed\` or \`SLIP39 seed\` do the trick. * The first two have \`razor\`, the last doesn't. * The last has \`ounce\`, the others don't. Now I thought I'd start meddling with Electrum's word list by overwriting it with the one from the M coin, where I can find all of the words so far. But that list is only 1626 words long, so probably that doesn't work. I'll try to post a link in another reply, but I'm afraid it'll get blocked.

JanPB

It does in the sense that it replaces a universal encryption system (like BIP-39 etc.) with an equivalent one but *tailored to one's experience and psychology*. A person may have trouble remembering or dealing with seed words while remembering perfectly well the elementary school teacher's bust size.

Soicethut

If you set up your private key with a passphrase you need to go to the options>BIP39 passphrase>Frequency: Always. Do this before you recover your wallet. Then it will actually prompt you to type in your passphrase after you’ve entered or scanned your private key. A private key with a passphrase is a whole different private key, there a bitcoin university video on it since I read that you learn from him. Hopefully what happened was that you sent your coins to the “private key-passphrase” address but you are checking your “private key only” address and seeing no balance there.

SolidAlive4008

The problem with creating your passphrase with a non-BIP39 word is that you complicate it more in the future when you want to restore it. It is easier to save your seed phrase and the passphrase being from BIP39 for example in physical devices like the one from Yoseyomo that you have to save the 24 words and the passphrase, instead of writing it down on a paper.

ethereumfail

looking at change log from 8 years ago 2016-02-19: status ACTIVE bitaddress.org-v3.2.0-SHA256-ad4fd171c647772aa76d0ce828731b01ca586596275d43a94008766b758e8736.html - switch languages without full page load - add BIP38 encryption to Bulk Wallet - use compressed addresses on Single/Paper/Bulk Wallet - add compressed address option on Brain Wallet maybe you used uncompressed address, take private key you derived and derive uncompressed public key from it and then convert that to an address. I don't know if blue wallet or other wallets check both compressed and uncompressed addresses for each private key but might also work.

MiguelLancaster

use Electrum or Sparrow make sure you change the wallet type to BIP39 when importing, the Electrum dictionary uses different seed words

edefraa

my private key is encrypted, it also starts with 6P so I think it is BIP38 encrypted? since its long time ago that I created the wallet I'm not quite sure, but in my memory it was BIP38

Savik519

My understanding is BIP38 was used for encrypting a private key, and if you have a word list that would be BIP39. 

Dettol-tasting-menu

Yes you can import your existing seed phrase into the new wallet, and both wallets will see (and send) the coins, as long as they are BIP39 compatible (vast majority of them with the notable exception of Electrum)

liflafthethird

Congrats on what is probably an excellent decission. HODL! Most seed phrases are BIP-39 standard, and any wallet supporting that standard (most do, if not all) will be able to recover the seed phrase. So yes your ledger will be able to import. However, this is what I would do/recommend. I wouldn't import/recover the seed phrase. But create a new wallet, and do a transfer to it. Yes it will cost you a bit for transfer fees. Just look [here](https://mempool.space/) and wait till the transaction fees are around 3 sat/vB. It will probably only be a few dollars. Don't recover the seed phrase, b/c it is directly tied to the private key of your trust wallet. If that key was somehow already compromised then you could lose your funds. Like that defeats the purpose of having a hardware wallet. Don't get a Ledger. Get a cold wallet that has an airgap (you never plug it into a computer), is open source, and has bitcoin only firmware. I have a Coldcard Q, it has all that. You can also setup fake pin codes that will allow you to whipe the wallet, or just lock it for an X amount of time, or just show any wallet of choice, maybe like a decoy wallet with 0.001 bitcoin. Think well about storing the seed phrase, what happens if the place burns down? What happens if you die, will your loved ones be able to access? etc.

Robotstandards

Does blue wallet support BIP 38

The_Pirate_of_Oz

Did you verify the balance using the public key of your hardware wallet on the blockchain? Did you happen to have a BIP39 passphrase used for your wallet? (13th or 25th word, sometime people call it a password) Ignore any PMs for assistance.

notdrybones

yes, it is exactly that there are 2048 words in the BIP38 (bitcoin improvement proposal 38). those english words share a common characteristic: none of them have the same first 4 letters for example, the list may have the word "carrot" but not the word "carrusel" or "carriage" because thet would mean that those 3 worda share the first 4 letters (CARR-) that's why you only need the 4 first letters of each word to identify the complete word

Stockholmedstatist

The English-language wordlist for the BIP39 standard has 2048 words. Just FYI.

CheetahGloomy4700

Actually, depends on how _literally_ you take that zero-trust concept. Trezor is a for profit company. Blue wallet is a for profit company. In both cases, even by using their non-custodial wallet, you are trusting their assets (hardwares and softwares as applicable). But, both of them have extensively opened up their architecture and source codes, and, so far, the whole community trusts them, and some other solutions. So that basically replaces trust on an individual company, to a trust on the (somewhat vaguely defined) community. I trust them for the same reason I can trust, for example, the Linux OS (which I am using right now as I type this). So, to the extent you can trust the community's collective wisdom, you can trust blue wallet and trezor. So we have established at least Blue wallet or trezor cannot _steal_ your bitcoins. That, of course, does not prevent any of them from shutting down, for business reasons. Companies go bankrupt and liquidate all the time. But that is where the mnemonic codes come in. The mapping from mnemonic to private keys is not proprietary to Blue wallet or Trezor, it became part of the bitcoin protool (BIP 39, you can look up). I can write a simple code to convert them to private key and address pairs. So even if blue wallet shuts down, you can use Trezor or any hardware wallet in the market to recover your wallet. Now suppose you are more cynical than I am, and you refuse to trust Blue walle, Trezor or any corporation acting as an intermediary. But you still trust the lower level bitcoin protocol, and the real block chain (otherwise you would not be in crypto, right)? Then your solution is to run a full bitcoin node at your home, with your own hardware. Totally doable, with a little bit of expertise and set up. That way, you are validating all bitcoin transactions from the genesis block and no one else is coming in the picture. I am not going down the rabbit hole of what if you don't trust your hardware manufacturer (Like Razor/Dell) or the Linux kernel necessary to host your node.