@ -231,7 +231,31 @@ All these different applications can be build on different branches of a tree, w
The _HD wallet_ invention and standard was later augmented by another very important invention: a standardized way of creating seeds from a sequence of english words that are easy to transcribe, export and import across wallets. This is known as a _mnemonic_ and the standard is defined by BIP0039. Today, most bitcoin wallets (as well as wallets for other crypto-currencies) use this standard and can import and export seeds for backup and recovery using interoperable mnemonics.
((("deterministic wallets","mnemonic code words")))((("mnemonic code words")))((("seeded wallets","mnemonic code words")))Mnemonics are word sequences that represent (encode) a random number used as a seed to derive a deterministic wallet. The sequence of words is sufficient to re-create the seed and from there re-create the wallet and all the derived keys. A wallet application that implements deterministic wallets with mnemonic words will show the user a sequence of 12 to 24 words when first creating a wallet. That sequence of words is the wallet backup and can be used to recover and re-create all the keys in the same or any compatible wallet application. Mnemonic words make it easier for users to back up wallets because they are easy to read and correctly transcribe, as compared to a random sequence of numbers.
Let's look at this from a practical perspective. Which of the following seeds is easier to transcribe, record on paper, read without error, export and import into another wallet?
.A seed for an HD wallet, in hex
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0C1E24E5917779D297E14D45F14E1A1A
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.A seed for an HD wallet, from a 12-word mnemonic
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army van defense carry jealous true
garbage claim echo media make crunch
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.The mnemonic seed above, recorded in a numbered table, as a backup
|===
|1. army |7. van
|2. defense |8. carry
|3. jealous |9. true
|4. garbage |10. claim
|5. echo |11. media
|6. make |12. crunch
|===
((("deterministic wallets","mnemonic code words")))((("mnemonic code words")))((("seeded wallets","mnemonic code words")))Mnemonic code words are word sequences that represent (encode) a random number used as a seed to derive a deterministic wallet. The sequence of words is sufficient to re-create the seed and from there re-create the wallet and all the derived keys. A wallet application that implements deterministic wallets with mnemonic words will show the user a sequence of 12 to 24 words when first creating a wallet. That sequence of words is the wallet backup and can be used to recover and re-create all the keys in the same or any compatible wallet application. Mnemonic words make it easier for users to back up wallets because they are easy to read and correctly transcribe, as compared to a random sequence of numbers.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
8 years ago