How to show your Seed Phrase/ Private Key | English (2024)

FAQs

How to show your Seed Phrase/ Private Key | English? ›

The process of converting a mnemonic phrase into a private key involves several steps. First, the mnemonic phrase is converted into a 512-bit integer using a cryptographic algorithm called SHA-256. This integer is then used as the seed for a random number generator, which is used to generate a series of private keys.

The process of converting a mnemonic phrase into a private key involves several steps. First, the mnemonic phrase is converted into a 512-bit integer using a cryptographic algorithm called SHA-256. This integer is then used as the seed for a random number generator, which is used to generate a series of private keys.

Private keys are used to sign transactions, spend, and prove ownership over Bitcoin, whereas seed phrases act as a recovery tool for your wallet in case of issues. These components are crucial for ensuring the security and accessibility of self-custody of your digital assets.

To convert a mnemonic to a private key, you first need to generate a seed from the mnemonic using a key derivation function such as PBKDF2 or BIP39. The seed is then used to generate a master key using a hierarchical deterministic (HD) key generation algorithm such as BIP32.

Private Keys and Digital Wallets

While hashed private keys are essential to cryptocurrency, users don't need to manually create or remember their key pairs. Instead, cryptocurrency wallets automatically create key pairs and store them.

Here are a few important points to keep in mind:

Wallets that are imported with a private key will only have the option to view the private key. The seed phrase option is not available for these wallets. Private key accounts are not tied to the wallet's seed phrase.

The large amount of theoretical wallets make it practically impossible for anyone to guess your seed phrase, not to mention “re-creating” your wallet by sheer accident.

Ledger does not store your private keys, nor ever asks for it.

You could let your digital wallet generate a seed phrase for you. Or for very high security, you could "roll your own" seed phrase with dice or a calculator as offline methods. It is extremely important that your seed phrase be randomly generated, so that it cannot be guessed or reverse-engineered.

How do I prove I have a private key? ›

You can use OpenSSL to show proof-of-possession (POP) of a private key by signing a test file with it. Works for both RSA and ECC keys.

A private key is a cryptographic variable that is used in conjunction with an algorithm to encrypt and decrypt data. Private keys should be shared only with the key's generator or parties authorized to decrypt the data. They are crucial in symmetric cryptography, asymmetric cryptography and cryptocurrencies.

We do not store any of your personal information on our servers and thus can't recover your funds if you lose your 12-Word recovery phrase. There is no other way to recover a lost Recovery Phrase.

What's the difference between a private key and a seed phrase? A private key is per account, whereas the seed phrase is per wallet, used to generate all private keys in the account. Hence you cannot restore all accounts if you have only 1 key.

Single file (private key with certificates) format

PEM-encoded. This file can contain the private key and the primary certificate, or the private key and the chain of certificates combined in the following order: Private key and primary certificate. Private key, primary certificate, and intermediate certificate.

Limitations of private key encryption

The main problem with private key encryption lies in key exchange. Since the same key is used for both encryption and decryption, you will need to share this key with each intended recipient.

Convert the mnemonic phrase into a seed. Derive the keys using the appropriate derivation path for Ethereum (usually m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 for the first account). Extract the private and public keys from the derived path. Make sure to handle the keys securely.

The mnemonic phrase generates the private key, the private key is used to authorize the management of digital assets; backing up the mnemonic phrase is backing up the private key. HD wallet users hold their own mnemonic phrase, and Cobo HD wallet does not store any users' mnemonic phrase and private keys.

HD wallets use 12-word seed phrase to generate an entire tree of key pairs. It's almost impossible to hack it. Mnemonic is the “root” of the tree as it can be algorithmically converted into all private keys used in the wallet. That single key does not replace other private keys but is rather used to generate them.

SSH passphrases protect your private key from being used by someone who doesn't know the passphrase. Without a passphrase, anyone who gains access to your computer has the potential to copy your private key. For example, family members, coworkers, system administrators, and hostile actors could gain access.