Research corpus PrivacyBLC-STUDY-0196

Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys

Encode entropy as a word list with a checksum, then stretch the words with a passphrase into a seed. The words are the backup. The passphrase is an extra secret, often empty.

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Design paper
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Record

Authors: Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe
Date: 2013
Publisher: Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe
Version: Source cited by the 2013 study. The study is the reading. This page does not add a second essay.
Document ID: BLC-STUDY-0196
DOI: None recorded
Last reviewed: 1 October 2026
Licence: MIT

No hash is published. This build does not store those PDF bytes, so a checksum would be invented. Where a legacy path exists, it points at the Internet Archive copy of the old library.

Direct answer

Encode entropy as a word list with a checksum, then stretch the words with a passphrase into a seed. The words are the backup. The passphrase is an extra secret, often empty.

Where to read

Official source — BIP 39
Blockchain Lab study, the canonical readingOriginal commentary. Not a transcription of the paper.

The upstream file is mirrored at /primary/bip39.md under MIT. The canonical file remains the source URL. The desk study is separate.

Full text

Mirrored from the upstream file under MIT. Desk wording is not part of that licence and is not a training grant.

What changed

A reading of the public document. Not a copy of it, and not a claim about a later network that reused the name.

Relationships

Canonical readingBIP 39 study
Related paperBIP 32
Related paperBIP 44

Cite this record

These citations point at the source document. They are not a licence to copy it.

Author–date

Palatinus, M., Rusnak, P., Voisine, A., & Bowe, S. (2013). Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys. Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe. https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki

BibTeX

@techreport{bip392013,
  title = {Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys},
  author = {Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe},
  year = {2013},
  institution = {Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe},
  url = {https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki},
  note = {Rights status: Licensed for redistribution. Blockchain Lab record: https://blockchainlab.com/research/corpus/papers/bip39}
}

RIS

TY  - RPRT
TI  - Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys
AU  - Marek Palatinus
AU  - Pavol Rusnak
AU  - Aaron Voisine
AU  - Sean Bowe
PY  - 2013
PB  - Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe
UR  - https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki
N1  - Rights status: Licensed for redistribution
ER  -

CSL-JSON

[
  {
    "type": "report",
    "id": "BLC-STUDY-0196",
    "title": "Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys",
    "author": [
      {
        "literal": "Marek Palatinus"
      },
      {
        "literal": "Pavol Rusnak"
      },
      {
        "literal": "Aaron Voisine"
      },
      {
        "literal": "Sean Bowe"
      }
    ],
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2013
        ]
      ]
    },
    "publisher": "Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe",
    "URL": "https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki",
    "note": "Rights status: Licensed for redistribution. Not a licence to republish the paper."
  }
]

JSON BibTeX file RIS file CSL-JSON

Rights record

Source status: Official source
Use status: The upstream file is mirrored at /primary/bip39.md under MIT. The canonical file remains the source URL. The desk study is separate.
Rights: Licensed for redistribution
Training and retrieval: Not permitted from this site. There is no rights-cleared full text to retrieve or to train on.

Rights and licensing Corrections