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Mnemonic Code for Generating Deterministic Keys

BIP 39. Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine and Sean Bowe.

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.

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

A recovery flow that asks for twelve words and never asks whether there was a passphrase will restore the wrong wallet and call it empty.
Evidence
Primary paper
Re-measured
No
Assumptions
3
Records linked
3

Code

Source, repository, and what is actually hosted

  • BIP 39https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki
  • bitcoin/bipsRepository taken from the source URL. 97 other studies in this library cite the same repository. This is not an audit.
  • Full upstream textMirrored 2026-10-10 under MIT. The desk study is not part of that licence.
  • Add to a reading list

01 Claim ledger

What the paper is allowed to say

Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.

  1. Claim 01 · Paper model

    The defect

    A seed that is a random hex string is not something a person can write down without errors.

  2. Claim 02 · Paper model

    The rule

    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.

  3. Claim 03 · Paper model

    How it is put together

    The word list is an encoding, not an account. The checksum catches some typos, not all mistakes of meaning. PBKDF2 stretches the mnemonic into a seed.

  4. Claim 04 · Paper model

    Where the claim stops

    The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.

02 Three cuts

Observation, model, falsifier

A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.

  1. 01 The defect

    Observation

    What the study says

    A seed that is a random hex string is not something a person can write down without errors.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    How many words, and which list?

  2. 02 The rule

    Observation

    What the study says

    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.

    Model

    What has to hold

    A passphrase that nobody recorded is a lost wallet.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Is there a passphrase beyond the words?

  3. 03 How it is put together

    Observation

    What the study says

    The word list is an encoding, not an account. The checksum catches some typos, not all mistakes of meaning. PBKDF2 stretches the mnemonic into a seed.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The words are not encrypted because they were written on paper.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Which derivation path turns the seed into addresses?

  4. 04 Where the claim stops

    Observation

    What the study says

    The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.

    Model

    What has to hold

    The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.

    Falsifier

    What would retire it

    Which derivation path turns the seed into addresses?

03 Sequence

One action, as an operating tape

  1. 01Draw entropy.
  2. 02Map it to words and a checksum.
  3. 03Derive the seed. BIP 32 then derives keys.
  4. 04How many words, and which list?

04 Load-bearing

The argument, and where a pitch drops it

  1. Why it is still on the desk

    The cut

    A recovery flow that asks for twelve words and never asks whether there was a passphrase will restore the wrong wallet and call it empty.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A passphrase that nobody recorded is a lost wallet.

  2. After the text

    The cut

    The word list became the default backup. The passphrase is the part users do not know they set.

    Why it carries weight

    If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.

    Where it is dropped

    A passphrase that nobody recorded is a lost wallet.

05 Register

What has to be true

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    A passphrase that nobody recorded is a lost wallet.

  • Model · Not re-measured

    The words are not encrypted because they were written on paper.

06 Divergence

What happened after the paper

The word list became the default backup. The passphrase is the part users do not know they set.

A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.

07 Pre-mortem

What to check before you use the idea

  4. 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.

08 Anatomy

The paper, in the order a builder needs

The problem it names

A seed that is a random hex string is not something a person can write down without errors.

What the design proposes

  • The word list is an encoding, not an account.
  • The checksum catches some typos, not all mistakes of meaning.
  • PBKDF2 stretches the mnemonic into a seed.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Draw entropy.
  • Map it to words and a checksum.
  • Derive the seed. BIP 32 then derives keys.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • The standard does not say which derivation path. That is BIP 44 and cousins.
  • A passphrase that nobody recorded is a lost wallet.
  • The words are not encrypted because they were written on paper.

Why the desk still reads it

A recovery flow that asks for twelve words and never asks whether there was a passphrase will restore the wrong wallet and call it empty.

09 Lexicon

Terms, opened into the record

Mnemonic
Words that encode the entropy and a checksum.
Passphrase
An optional extra secret mixed into the seed.

10 Repository

Every linked record on this page

Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.

Concepts

Upstream

The file, in full

Licence recorded on the mirror: MIT. Canonical file: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki. Numbers and web addresses in the file open a study or the address itself.

Loading the mirrored file.

This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.

Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.