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Blockchain LabTHE VENTURE STUDIO

LibraryPrivacy2014Design paperCorpus record

Multi-Account Hierarchy for Deterministic Wallets

BIP 44. Marek Palatinus and Pavol Rusnak.

A path is purpose, coin type, account, change, and index. Accounts are separated so one seed can hold many identities without mixing their change.

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

When a restore shows a zero balance, the path is the first question, not the seed.

The five-minute read

The defect

BIP 32 gives a tree and no convention. Two wallets restoring the same seed will not find the same coins unless they agree on the path.

The rule

A path is purpose, coin type, account, change, and index. Accounts are separated so one seed can hold many identities without mixing their change.

How it is put together

The purpose field marks the scheme. Coin type separates Bitcoin from other chains. Change addresses and receiving addresses are different branches.

Where the claim stops

A wallet that uses a different purpose will not see BIP 44 coins.

One action, walked through

  1. Derive m / 44' / coin' / account' / change / index.
  2. Scan the external chain for payments.
  3. Give change on the internal chain.
  4. Which purpose and coin type?

The argument, unpacked

Why it is still on the desk

When a restore shows a zero balance, the path is the first question, not the seed.

After the text

BIP 84 and BIP 86 are later purposes for native segwit and taproot. They exist because 44 was the convention that made them necessary.

What has to be true

  • A wallet that uses a different purpose will not see BIP 44 coins.
  • The standard does not create privacy between accounts if they are later combined.
  • Hardened account indexes are deliberate.

What happened after the paper

BIP 84 and BIP 86 are later purposes for native segwit and taproot. They exist because 44 was the convention that made them necessary.

What to check before you use the idea

  • Which purpose and coin type?
  • Are accounts hardened?
  • Does the wallet scan the change chain?

Terms

Purpose
The first hardened field, marking which scheme this branch is.
Account
A hardened index that separates identities under one seed.

The problem the paper names

BIP 32 gives a tree and no convention. Two wallets restoring the same seed will not find the same coins unless they agree on the path.

What the design proposes

  • The purpose field marks the scheme.
  • Coin type separates Bitcoin from other chains.
  • Change addresses and receiving addresses are different branches.

How the mechanism is specified

  • Derive m / 44' / coin' / account' / change / index.
  • Scan the external chain for payments.
  • Give change on the internal chain.

What this page does not treat as proven

  • A wallet that uses a different purpose will not see BIP 44 coins.
  • The standard does not create privacy between accounts if they are later combined.
  • Hardened account indexes are deliberate.

Why a venture studio still reads it

When a restore shows a zero balance, the path is the first question, not the seed.

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.