bitcoin: public key
Learning how the public key is derived from the private key
Bitcoin empowers individuals to take control of their finances. One of the crucial aspects of Bitcoin security lies in generating a wallet seed, a set of 24 randomly generated words that act as the master key to your funds. In contrast to relying on custodial services, generating your own wallet seed grants you full control and ownership of your Bitcoin. In this article, we will explore the significance of a wallet seed, discuss the advantages of self-generation, and guide you through the process of generating your own 24-words wallet seed for maximum security.
Understanding the Importance of a Wallet Seed
A wallet seed, also known as a mnemonic phrase or seed phrase, is a set of 24 words generated by a Bitcoin wallet to represent your private key. This seed acts as a backup and recovery mechanism for your Bitcoin funds. With this seed, you can recreate your wallet and access your funds from any compatible wallet or software, making it an essential component of Bitcoin security.
Advantages of Self-Generating a Wallet Seed
The phrase NOT YOU KEYS NOT YOUR BITCOIN ! is a popular phrase in the global Bitcoin community. Let's discover what stands behind.
Enhanced Security
By generating your own wallet seed, you eliminate the need to trust third-party custodial services. This reduces the risk of potential hacks, insider attacks, or loss of funds due to centralized failures. You have complete control over the generation process, ensuring the highest level of security for your Bitcoin holdings.
Ownership and Sovereignty
Self-generating a wallet seed aligns with the core principles of Bitcoin, empowering individuals to be in full control of their funds. You become the sole custodian of your private keys, free from reliance on any intermediaries or centralized entities.
Privacy and Anonymity
When you generate your own wallet seed, you reduce the exposure of your personal information to third parties. This helps maintain a higher level of privacy and anonymity, as you're not sharing your seed with external services that may collect and store sensitive data.
Generating Your Own 24-Words Wallet Seed
Preparations
Learn and Practice: Get a broad understanding of the Bitcoin Improvement proposal bip39. Play around with a web visualization for bip39 by Ian Coleman.
Privacy and time: Take your time, when generating your wallet seed, ensure you're in a secure and private environment. Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks or compromised devices. Ideally, use a dedicated, offline computer for this process.
Throw a coin to get your seed
- Create random seed: Throw a coin 256 times. Note Number as 1 and Head as 0.
- Calculate the checksum on an offline device as shown in that youtube video by Geroge Hammond.
- Secure: Stamp your secret words on stainless steel.
- Verify and test the Seed: You can Verify and test the seed with a Hardware Wallet or if you know what you do on an offline/air gapped device.
Roll your own words with dices
- Create random seed: A trusted method like BitBox Provides a good practice to do so. (Do not choose the by yourself. Humans behaviour is not random and could be hacked.) With that method you get 23words. Each word equals 11bits. 23 x 11 = 253. To follow bip39 we need to get 3 bits to get from 253 to 256bits. These 3 bits could be rolled with a dice 1, 2, 3 is 1 (true) and 4, 5, 6 is 0 (false).
- Calculate the checksum on a offline device as shown in that youtube video by Geroge Hammond.
- Secure: Stamp your secret words on stainless steel sheet as back-up.
- Verify and test the Seed: You can Verify and test the seed with a Hardware Wallet like Ledger, Trezor, BitBox or Blockstream Jade or if you know what you do on an offline/air gapped device on a Software as Bitcoin Core.
Generate your own seeds with a trusted wallet
- Select a Trusted Wallet: Choose a Bitcoin wallet that supports the BIP39 standard for generating wallet seeds. Popular options include Electrum, Ledger Live, or Trezor Suite. Ensure that you download the wallet from official sources and verify the authenticity of the software.
- Secure: Stamp your secret words on stainless steel sheet as back-up.
- Verify and test the Seed: You can Verify and test the seed with a Hardware Wallet like Ledger, Trezor, BitBox or Blockstream Jade or if you know what you do on an offline/air gapped device on a Software as Bitcoin Core.
Generating your own 24-words wallet seed is a powerful step towards securing your Bitcoin with the highest level of control, ownership, and privacy. By taking charge of your wallet seed generation, you eliminate reliance on third-party custodial services and empower yourself with the core principles of Bitcoin. Remember to choose a trusted wallet, follow secure practices during the generation process, and securely store your seed offline. Regularly verify the accuracy of your seed and test the recovery process to ensure its effectiveness. By generating your own wallet seed, you establish a solid foundation for safeguarding your Bitcoin holdings and maintaining true financial sovereignty.
