Security Mnemonic Do Remember This Mnemonic You Wont See It Again
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- What is a Mnemonic Phrase?
- Your Private Key in Mnemonic Grade (BIP39)
- Your Wallet Is Not a Depository financial institution Account
- Bitcoin Improvement Proposal #39: What Is It and How Does Information technology Piece of work?
- How to Make Your Own Bitcoin Private Key
- FAQ
In this postal service we are going to cover:
Plus more than... Read on to learn everything you demand to know nigh Mnemonic Phrase and BIP39.
If y'all are new to owning Bitcoin, you lot will exist told you lot demand to download a wallet app. And afterward yous download a Bitcoin wallet app onto your phone, reckoner, or some other device, you'll encounter an selection to "create a new wallet". Then you'll practice that, and then be sternly told to write downwards a list of words (either 12 or 24 depending on the wallet) and don't take a flick of them. Information technology'll tell you lot to go on them condom, and if you lose or forget them, there will exist no way to access any of the coins in the wallet you just created.
You're here, now, because you desire to do your ain research (DYOR). Y'all "don't trust", you "verify". It'south not good enough to just exist told, "Hither, have these words. Don't lose them. Don't testify anyone. Good luck!" and so merely to become on your fashion. You want to understand where they come up from and what they mean. Most chiefly, you lot want to know how and why those words allow you to own the Bitcoin in your new wallet.
Y'all're in the correct place, and y'all're going to non but get the explanation you lot need, but yous also won't accept to trust this article. Y'all tin verify the sources of information for yourself.
But first…
What is a Mnemonic Phrase?
A mnemonic is whatsoever word, acronym, or phrase used to help you recall something important. A famous mnemonic y'all may have learned in your math classes is "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally". This mnemonic is intended to help you call back the order of operations when doing math issues: parentheses, exponents, multiplication, segmentation, improver, subtraction. mnemonics aren't just for remembering math operations. You can use or invent new mnemonics to help you recollect anything.
Your Private Key in Mnemonic Grade (BIP39)
The short answer is that these 12 or 24 words are what yous get when you translate from binary (the linguistic communication computers use, consisting of 1'due south and 0's) into the language that you tin can understand, recognize, and (peradventure well-nigh importantly) remember.
Bitcoin is a purely digital fortress of math. Information technology would exist strange and difficult if y'all had to read, copy, or type a string of 256 ones and zeros as your private key to merits buying of some amount of bitcoin. To make things easier and safer for all users, a standard system was developed with security in mind, known equally BIP39, to conveniently provide y'all with a ready of words, called your mnemonic phrase or mnemonic seed (both names can be used interchangeably).
The BIP39 Github Repo
Since your private key, which allows you to spend your bitcoin, is an exact, ordered string of 256 bits, you must always keep those 256 $.25 in the same order if yous desire to spend.
Advice: And since your mnemonic seed consists of words that each represents part of your secret cardinal, you lot must keep those words in the same club with the same spelling. If not, your secret primal will not be recognized because the wallet cannot translate your mnemonic back into the correct binary.
That is the simple answer, just it'southward only 'practiced enough' every bit a concept. If you own any bitcoin or program to own whatever, keep reading. Understanding your hole-and-corner cardinal is of bang-up importance for anyone with bitcoin.
Your Wallet Is Not a Depository financial institution Account
The above answer is just the beginning and about basic of concepts to empathise. If y'all practice non care to learn anymore, then do not purchase bitcoin – not until y'all are fix to exist responsible for it.
When you downloaded a Bitcoin wallet, selected 'create a new wallet', and received your mnemonic phrase, you lot did not merely create a new business relationship for your bitcoin like you would at your local bank for your dollars. In fact, the proper noun "wallet" is misleading because it doesn't actually store your bitcoin at all.
Info: Information technology's simply software that stores your undercover fundamental (which is your mnemonic phrase) and allows you to spend your bitcoin. If you store your mnemonic safely and then drib your phone into the ocean never to exist seen again, you could but purchase a new phone, download the Bitcoin wallet again, input your mnemonic seed, and recover access to your bitcoin.
Potentially, yous don't even demand to download the aforementioned wallet again. You could download whatsoever wallet that supports BIP39 and input your mnemonic phrase to access your bitcoin with the new software.
This is why many people choose to utilize a device called a Billfodl to store this serial of words on pieces of stainless steel, impervious to burn down and flood.
Are you lot starting to see the 'magic' of Bitcoin, still? Keep reading to learn what BIP39 is and how it works.
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal #39: What Is It and How Does It Work?
The phrase "Bitcoin Improvement Proposal" is shortened to 'BIP'. Y'all can browse them and read about them on github here, just for our purposes, we're only going to take a expect at BIP-0039 (commonly referred to simply as BIP39).
BIP39 describes the steps that should be taken to convert a wallet seed into a mnemonic seed and has become a standard for wallets and has also been adopted for use in numerous other cryptocurrency projects, as well (more often than not "shitcoins"). It'southward important enough to be covered in books that explain the fundamentals of Bitcoin (such as Mastering Bitcoin, by Andreas Antonopoulos, and Grokking Bitcoin, by Kalle Rosenbaum) in the sections that talk about wallets.
BIP39 helps users to secure clandestine keys past presenting the secret key in the form of a deterministic key: elementary and mutual words that can more easily be spoken, written, or perhaps memorized. The easiest manner to explain how this works is to show yous how it works. So we're going to create our very own bitcoin private key.
How to Make Your Own Bitcoin Private Key
The post-obit steps are a general guideline for how to generate a private cardinal on our ain. We volition become over each step in particular throughout the remainder of this article.
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Choose 256 $.25 (That is 256 1's and 0's). Convert our 256 bits from binary into hexadecimal (unless it'due south already written in hexadecimal. Make sure you lot take both. You'll need both).
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Plug the hexadecimal (entropy) into the SHA256 (binary) hash function to get another hash which nosotros will employ to create our checksum.
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The new hash will appear written in hexadecimal, so we will take the first ii characters and convert them from hexadecimal into 8 characters (bits) of binary. Once nosotros have our last 8 bits, we will suspend them to our original 256 $.25 for a full of 264 bits.
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Split our 264 $.25 into groups of 11.Plug each group of xi bits (from left to correct) into our converter so we're looking at mutual numbers (Base10) instead of binary (base2).
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Find the corresponding word on the BIP39 give-and-take list.
Advice: Binary begins counting with 0. If you are looking at a [BIP39 word list](/bip39-word-list/) such as the one referenced in the bodily BIP, have note of whether the list begins counting with "1" or with "0". If it begins with "1", you lot will need to add +1 to your binary-to-decimal output in social club to find the correct respective word on the BIP39 wordlist.
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Use Ian Coleman's excellent Mnemonic Code Converter and verify that you did everything correctly!
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Marvel at how awesome we are for having created our own underground key and transforming it into a BIP39 seed phrase.
Before Starting
Info: If you make whatsoever mistakes during this process, yous will likely produce invalid results, and it'south not and so difficult to make a mistake. Therefore, before you begin, get a text certificate ready and record the information you utilize in the post-obit steps so that you can bank check them over again if you need to. If y'all do happen to produce invalid results, read some tips at the terminate on what might take gone wrong and why.
Step 1: Choosing Our Bits
When choosing your 256 bits that you lot volition use to create your mnemonic, y'all ideally want randomness. Using the wallet you downloaded to auto-generate your random mnemonic is probably the best manner to go. All the same, in the name of education, nosotros'll make our own.To go my 256 bits, I will type the phrase "billfold waterproof fireproof metal" into a SHA256 hash function and I'll use that 256-fleck output as my random gear up (it's often called 'entropy').I used this online SHA256 hash generator, Exist aware that you cannot use binary equally the input for this generator. It simply reads an input in hexadecimal. If you need to hash binary, see step two.
For whatsoever random SHA256 hash generator online, your output will more than likely be written in hexadecimal (every bit shown above). Save this information considering you'll utilize information technology in footstep 2.
Footstep ii: Hash the Chosen 256 Bits and Use the Output to Create the Checksum.
From here on, you will likely need to exercise several conversions between hexadecimal and binary (i way or the other). Use this excellent converter from Math Is Fun for all of information technology. It's a great tool.If you're starting from binary, convert the called 256 $.25 into hexadecimal.
Now, take the hexadecimal output and paste it into this converter to get your SHA256 binary output.
Afterwards that, if yous scroll downward, yous volition come across a list of outputs. Gyre well-nigh the bottom of the listing and find SHA256. Copy just the first two digits of that hash equally shown below:
My hash event begins with "41" which is written in hexadecimal. However, we need the binary (8 bits), so I quickly went back to Math Is Fun'southward conversion tool and typed in those first two characters from the hash to find the 8 digits we needed: 11000000
Step 3: Append First 8 bits From the Hash to the Original 256 Bits to Get 264 Bits
Info: Notation that we want 24 words in our BIP39 seed phrase, and so we are using 256 bits considering it is said to be more secure. Nonetheless, you may follow the instructions in BIP39 with only slight changes to get 12, 15, eighteen, or 21 words.
Stride 4: Divide Our 264 Bits Into Twelve Groups of xi Bits
In one case we practise that, hither's what we get:
| 01100111101 |
| 11100010000 |
| 11111010011 |
| 10011011100 |
| 00010100000 |
| 10010000111 |
| 00011110000 |
| 10101011011 |
| 10111111010 |
| 01000111010 |
| 11000011111 |
| 11010001011 |
| 01010010010 |
| 01001011010 |
| 01110000001 |
| 00100110100 |
| 10111010001 |
| 11100101111 |
| 11001101111 |
| 01010101000 |
| 10111100110 |
| 00001011000 |
| 11111101001 |
| 10111000000 |
Step 5: Convert binary (Base of operations 2) to decimal (Base 10)
Info: If it starts list the words with number one, you demand to add +1 to each number you just calculated to find the corresponding discussion. If your list begins with zero, you do not need to change anything.
BIP39 has a word list. There are 2048 words on the list because there are 2048 possible arrangements of ones and zeros for a grouping of 11 $.25. They are listed i-2048 on the BIP39 file reference, but you may discover another file that lists them 0-2047 because nix is included. Each of your 11-bit arrangements will map to one of the words on the list.
In order to do this part, we demand to convert our 11 bit groups from binary (Base of operations ii) into the system we're all familiar with: decimal (Base10). If y'all desire to practise this in your head, you'll accept to learn binary. Since I didn't, I went back to Math Is Fun'south conversion tool and copy/pasted. Notice how none of my numbers will exist greater than 2048.
Keeping the same lodge for my 11-scrap groups shown higher up here are my corresponding decimal (Base 10) numbers.
| 01100111101 | 829 |
| 11100010000 | 1808 |
| 11111010011 | 2003 |
| 10011011100 | 1244 |
| 00010100000 | 160 |
| 10010000111 | 1159 |
| 00011110000 | 240 |
| 10101011011 | 1371 |
| 10111111010 | 1530 |
| 01000111010 | 570 |
| 11000011111 | 1567 |
| 11010001011 | 1675 |
| 01010010010 | 658 |
| 01001011010 | 602 |
| 01110000001 | 897 |
| 00100110100 | 308 |
| 10111010001 | 1489 |
| 11100101111 | 1839 |
| 11001101111 | 1647 |
| 01010101000 | 680 |
| 10111100110 | 1510 |
| 00001011000 | 88 |
| 11111101001 | 2025 |
| 10111000000 | 1510 |
Step six: Catechumen decimal (Base ten) to BIP39 words
Now we have the numbers and we can just take a look at the BIP39 word listing to find the corresponding words and write them down in the right lodge! Someone on Reddit also conveniently made a printable version of this list.
Hither's what we cease up with:
| 01100111101 | 829 | 1. guilt |
| 11100010000 | 1808 | 2. tilt |
| 11111010011 | 2003 | 3. whip |
| 10011011100 | 1244 | 7. oppose |
| 00010100000 | 160 | 8. beef |
| 10010000111 | 1159 | nine. movie |
| 00011110000 | 240 | 13. bulk |
| 10101011011 | 1371 | 14. trouble |
| 10111111010 | 1530 | 15. satisfy |
| 01000111010 | 570 | 19. elder |
| 11000011111 | 1567 | twenty. sentence |
| 11010001011 | 1675 | 21. sphere |
| 01010010010 | 658 | 4. false |
| 01001011010 | 602 | 5. ensure |
| 01110000001 | 897 | 6. water ice |
| 00100110100 | 308 | 10. charge |
| 10111010001 | 1489 | 11. riot |
| 11100101111 | 1839 | 12. tourist |
| 11001101111 | 1647 | sixteen. social |
| 01010101000 | 680 | 17. fence |
| 10111100110 | 1510 | 18. safety |
| 00001011000 | 88 | 22. arch |
| 11111101001 | 2025 | 23. wood |
| 10111000000 | 1510 | 24. rubber |
Step vii: Don't Trust. Verify.
Employ Ian Coleman's Mnemonic Code Converter to verify that you just created a valid 24-give-and-take mnemonic seed phrase. Type your 24 words into the box titled "BIP39 Mnemonic". If you did everything correctly, so you will see no errors. Scroll down and this tool will show y'all a lot of information about your seed and your addresses. You can also use this tool to extend your seed and add an extension give-and-take for greater security and utilize with an HD wallet.
Warning: apply this tool only if you lot have an air-gaped computer to run it on. If you lot plan on using the online version, simply use information technology to verify that the process we take described higher up works as advertised. Nosotros practise not advise inputting whatsoever mnemonic phrase you intend on really using to back up coins into whatever site.
If the Mnemonic Converter Says Your Seed is Invalid
Nosotros've all been there. It'southward easy to screw up. Here are some suggestions if this happens:
- Make certain your checksum is correct. That'southward the most probable bespeak of error
- When creating your checksum, make sure you're using the SHA256 hash generator that I suggested because it is hashing the binary. If you lot use a dissimilar SHA256 generator, it might exist hashing the hexadecimal and non the binary, and that will give you a completely different effect!
- The most likely point of failure is the checksum, the 2nd is the hashing, but the tertiary is mapping the numbers to the words on the list. Unfortunately, yous'll need to cheque over again that y'all did information technology correctly, but if you lot're doing this and then you can really use this bitcoin address for coin, then you must be certain that everything is correct. Do information technology.
- My final proffer, if all else fails, is that you commencement all the steps again from scratch and follow these steps meticulously. They work.
Adding Security: Extension Words
An 'Extension Word' is similar to a password, but proverb countersign is avoided to differentiate this from another password you might accept to open up your bitcoin wallet.
Extension words are also called seed extensions or are referred to as "stretching" by Andreas Antonopoulos. They increase the security of your mnemonic seed phrase by requiring another special ingredient which is created by you lot in social club to access the bitcoin in your wallet. BIP39 explains a recommended way to create a seed from a mnemonic.
This procedure is as well explained well in Mastering Bitcoin. The BIP39 mnemonic seed phrase plus the give-and-take "mnemonic" plus an optional passphrase created by the user are all input into a Key Stretching Role chosen PBKDF2 using HMAC-SHA512. The input makes 2048 rounds through the role and out comes 512 bits which is your new seed. This seed has extra protection because a would-be thief needs to know your passphrase in add-on to the words in your mnemonic seed phrase.
Using this newly created seed phrase, a hierarchical deterministic (Hard disk) wallet can derive an finer limitless supply of bitcoin addresses for you. All of those addresses are protected by your secret seed. Now y'all know more about your secret mnemonic phrase and how important it is. For more data, endeavour these excellent posts, one on Reddit and one on Bitcointalk, or jump down the Bitcoin Wiki rabbit hole!
Warning:
Alert: This is just an example for educational purposes so y'all tin can empathize what your wallet is doing. It is better to let your wallet software randomly choose your seed phrase. Practise not type your seed phrase into the internet. Exercise not type it into a text document on your computer. Exercise not take a screen capture of it. Do not send it in an electronic mail. Practice not use these websites that I have used to generate your keys.
You have been warned.
For more warnings, see the Bitcoin Wiki page.
And that'due south information technology - you've done it! Y'all have created your own secret primal and turned it into a mnemonic phrase, but more importantly, you understand what your wallet is doing under the hood. That is something you can't put a price on…well, except for a few Bitcoins maybe.
FAQ
What does mnemonic mean?
Mnemonic is used either as a noun (a system such equally a blueprint of letters, ideas or associations which assists in remembering something) or as an adjective (helpful, reminiscential, mnemotechnical and intended to help the memory).
Is a passphrase the same as a password ?
A countersign is (usually) short and not safe to use equally primal for encryptions systems. A passphrase is similar to a countersign, but information technology's (usually) much longer for boosted security.
What is a individual key ?
A private key is a form of cryptography which can exist used by the user to access his or hers cryptocurrency.
Source: https://privacypros.io/wallets/mnemonic-phrase
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