01-04-2021, 08:19 AM
How your seed works - an Explanation
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Hey all,</p> <p>im reading a lot here and also in other subs like the ledger sub. I often read the question how it is possible to recover the funds with the seeds and all the stuff related to it, so i try to write an easy explanation for your generel information.</p> <p>First of all - your funds are not stored on your ledger, its stored on the blockchain. this is the basic thing which everyone should know about this complete topic. The security of your funds depends not on the safe storage of the hardware wallet. it depends on the safe storage of your seed - the 24 words.</p> <p>For the 24 words there are a lot of different names - recovery phrase/seed, backupseed, 24 words etc. its all referring to the same. </p> <p>if you got a nano ledger s and someone steals it, he cant do anything with it. theres a pin on it, when you insert it three times wrong it will reset to empty, and you have to insert your seed or generete a new one.</p> <p>So but how does it work ? how saves a seed my funds? </p> <p>First something about the 24 words. This words are not random. The words are all written down on a list. Its a standard, the BIP39 (bitcoin improval proposal) which defines a list of 2048 different words. So when you first initialize your hardwaredevice (which is bip39 conform like ledger and trezor) it generetes 24 words from this list. You can ofc also choose 24 words by your own from this list, but this is not random, so it will be maybe unsecure because there could be a pattern, like a line of your favorite book etc. Do not do this. Randomfact: all words in this list are choosen in that way, that the first 4 letter are enough to identify the work completly, so its easier to insert the words and also prevents from missspelling or when you are not able to read the complete word anymore.</p> <p>you can find the bip39 and the different languages here: <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki</a></p> <p><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/tree/master/bip-0039">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/tree/master/bip-0039</a></p> <p>the complete concept of "how the 24 words" work depends also on bip 32 and bip 44. BIP32 descirbes HD wallets and BIP 44 describes multicoin wallets. All the stuff is not that important to understand. Important is HD Wallet. HD means hierarchical deterministic wallets. hierarchical refferes to a tree which is build from top to bottom in a hierachical way and deterministic means, that is always build the same way when you put in the same entryvalue (seed).</p> <p>Now the important explanation how the seed works: </p> <p>You got your 24 words (This words are just for humans. its easier to remember for us than a long digit). this words are convertet to a long string of 0 and 1s. 256 bits in summery. And there is a mathematical calculation. this mathematical calculation is very complicatet but its determenistic, so when u put in the same seed you will always get the same result. to simplify this all in a example, lets say this calculation is just</p> <p><strong>x + 5</strong></p> <p>x is your seed. for example 2 (the 24 words convertet to 256 bits in binary and interpretet as a number) </p> <p>2 + 5 is 7. 7 would be your masterkey. from there it can be calculatet the complete tree and derivation paths like a wallet for bitcoin for example with lets say</p> <p><strong>+ 2</strong></p> <p>so 7 + 2 = 9 would lead you to your bitcoin wallet</p> <p>your first adress could be:</p> <p><strong>+0.1</strong></p> <p>so 9 + 0.1 = 9.1 would be your first bitcoin private/public adress pair.</p> <p>9.2 would be next etc. </p> <p>for ethereum maybe + 3</p> <p>so 7 +3 = 10 would lead you to your ether wallet and 10.1 first adress and so on.</p> <p>in real its ofc much more complicatet but i hope you understand the point. the hardware wallet works like this. You insert your seed, and it can calculate all your keys again. then it can checks the adresses on the blockchain for funds, so if you lost your device, but u got your seed, just insert it new, it recalulate everything again and you got automatically your private key for your different coins and adresses again and got access with it again. </p> <p>Sorry for my english, not native speaker, but i hope you undertand and maybe some of you learnt something new and understand now how the seed work and why its important to store it safe. </p> <p>Just my 2 sats. Happy HODLing</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/EntertainEnterprises"> /u/EntertainEnterprises </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/kpmvsu/how_your_seed_works_an_explanation/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/kpmvsu/how_your_seed_works_an_explanation/">[comments]</a></span>Kind Regards R
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Hey all,</p> <p>im reading a lot here and also in other subs like the ledger sub. I often read the question how it is possible to recover the funds with the seeds and all the stuff related to it, so i try to write an easy explanation for your generel information.</p> <p>First of all - your funds are not stored on your ledger, its stored on the blockchain. this is the basic thing which everyone should know about this complete topic. The security of your funds depends not on the safe storage of the hardware wallet. it depends on the safe storage of your seed - the 24 words.</p> <p>For the 24 words there are a lot of different names - recovery phrase/seed, backupseed, 24 words etc. its all referring to the same. </p> <p>if you got a nano ledger s and someone steals it, he cant do anything with it. theres a pin on it, when you insert it three times wrong it will reset to empty, and you have to insert your seed or generete a new one.</p> <p>So but how does it work ? how saves a seed my funds? </p> <p>First something about the 24 words. This words are not random. The words are all written down on a list. Its a standard, the BIP39 (bitcoin improval proposal) which defines a list of 2048 different words. So when you first initialize your hardwaredevice (which is bip39 conform like ledger and trezor) it generetes 24 words from this list. You can ofc also choose 24 words by your own from this list, but this is not random, so it will be maybe unsecure because there could be a pattern, like a line of your favorite book etc. Do not do this. Randomfact: all words in this list are choosen in that way, that the first 4 letter are enough to identify the work completly, so its easier to insert the words and also prevents from missspelling or when you are not able to read the complete word anymore.</p> <p>you can find the bip39 and the different languages here: <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki</a></p> <p><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/tree/master/bip-0039">https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/tree/master/bip-0039</a></p> <p>the complete concept of "how the 24 words" work depends also on bip 32 and bip 44. BIP32 descirbes HD wallets and BIP 44 describes multicoin wallets. All the stuff is not that important to understand. Important is HD Wallet. HD means hierarchical deterministic wallets. hierarchical refferes to a tree which is build from top to bottom in a hierachical way and deterministic means, that is always build the same way when you put in the same entryvalue (seed).</p> <p>Now the important explanation how the seed works: </p> <p>You got your 24 words (This words are just for humans. its easier to remember for us than a long digit). this words are convertet to a long string of 0 and 1s. 256 bits in summery. And there is a mathematical calculation. this mathematical calculation is very complicatet but its determenistic, so when u put in the same seed you will always get the same result. to simplify this all in a example, lets say this calculation is just</p> <p><strong>x + 5</strong></p> <p>x is your seed. for example 2 (the 24 words convertet to 256 bits in binary and interpretet as a number) </p> <p>2 + 5 is 7. 7 would be your masterkey. from there it can be calculatet the complete tree and derivation paths like a wallet for bitcoin for example with lets say</p> <p><strong>+ 2</strong></p> <p>so 7 + 2 = 9 would lead you to your bitcoin wallet</p> <p>your first adress could be:</p> <p><strong>+0.1</strong></p> <p>so 9 + 0.1 = 9.1 would be your first bitcoin private/public adress pair.</p> <p>9.2 would be next etc. </p> <p>for ethereum maybe + 3</p> <p>so 7 +3 = 10 would lead you to your ether wallet and 10.1 first adress and so on.</p> <p>in real its ofc much more complicatet but i hope you understand the point. the hardware wallet works like this. You insert your seed, and it can calculate all your keys again. then it can checks the adresses on the blockchain for funds, so if you lost your device, but u got your seed, just insert it new, it recalulate everything again and you got automatically your private key for your different coins and adresses again and got access with it again. </p> <p>Sorry for my english, not native speaker, but i hope you undertand and maybe some of you learnt something new and understand now how the seed work and why its important to store it safe. </p> <p>Just my 2 sats. Happy HODLing</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/EntertainEnterprises"> /u/EntertainEnterprises </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/kpmvsu/how_your_seed_works_an_explanation/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/kpmvsu/how_your_seed_works_an_explanation/">[comments]</a></span>Kind Regards R