require 'securerandom'
require 'digest'
require 'openssl'
# -------------------
# 1. Generate Entropy
# -------------------
bytes = SecureRandom.random_bytes(16) # 16 bytes = 128 bits
entropy = bytes.unpack("B*").join
puts "entropy: #{entropy}"
# ----------------------
# 2. Entropy to Mnemonic
# ----------------------
# 1. Create checksum
size = entropy.length / 32 # number of bits to take from hash of entropy (1 bit checksum for every 32 bits entropy)
sha256 = Digest::SHA256.digest([entropy].pack("B*")) # hash of entropy (in raw binary)
checksum = sha256.unpack("B*").join[0..size-1] # get desired number of bits
puts "checksum: #{checksum}"
# 2. Combine
full = entropy + checksum
puts "combined: #{full}"
# 3. Split in to strings of 11 bits
pieces = full.scan(/.{11}/)
# 4. Get the wordlist as an array
wordlist = File.readlines("wordlist.txt")
# 5. Convert groups of bits to array of words
puts "words:"
sentence = []
pieces.each do |piece|
i = piece.to_i(2) # convert string of 11 bits to an integer
word = wordlist[i] # get the corresponding word from wordlist
sentence << word.chomp # add to sentence (removing newline from end of word)
puts "#{piece} #{i.to_s.rjust(4)} #{word}"
end
mnemonic = sentence.join(" ")
puts "mnemonic: #{mnemonic}"
# -------------------
# 3. Mnemonic to Seed
# -------------------
passphrase = "" # can leave this blank
puts "passphrase: #{passphrase}"
password = mnemonic
salt = "mnemonic#{passphrase}" # "mnemonic" is always used in the salt with optional passphrase appended to it
iterations = 2048
keylength = 64
digest = OpenSSL::Digest::SHA512.new
result = OpenSSL::PKCS5.pbkdf2_hmac(password, salt, iterations, keylength, digest) # password, salt, iter, keylen, digest
seed = result.unpack("H*")[0] # convert to hexadecimal string
puts "seed: #{seed}"
Mnemonic Seed
Source of keys in an HD Wallet
Mnemonics – The study of techniques for remembering anything more easily.
A mnemonic sentence ("mnemonic seed", "mnemonic code", "seed phrase") represents a large randomly-generated number as a sequence of words, which makes it easier for humans to store.
These words are then used to create a seed, which is used for generating extended keys in a hierarchical deterministic wallet.
A wallet needs to use a large random number to generate all your keys and addresses, and a mnemonic sentence gives us a convenient way to store this number.
A mnemonic sentence is usually 12 or 24 words. Either is perfectly fine.
Creating
How do you create a mnemonic sentence and seed?

There are three steps to generating a mnemonic sentence and seed:
1. Generate Entropy
Start by generating some entropy, which is our source of randomness.
Entropy – The randomness collected by an operating system.
You can think of the entropy as being a very large random number that nobody has ever generated before, or will ever generate in the future. It's also best to think of this number as a series of bits (e.g. 10011010010001...
), which is how computers store numbers.
A bit (0
or 1
) is the smallest unit of storage on a computer.
The entropy we generate must be a multiple of 32 bits, as that allows us to split the entropy up in to even chunks when converting to words later on.
Lastly, the entropy should be between 128 and 256 bits, as that's enough to make it impossible for two people to generate the same entropy.
Code
# -------------------
# 1. Generate Entropy
# -------------------
require 'securerandom' # library for generating bytes of entropy
bytes = SecureRandom.random_bytes(16) # 16 bytes = 128 bits (1 byte = 8 bits)
entropy = bytes.unpack("B*").join # convert bytes to a string of bits (base2)
puts entropy #=> "1010110111011000110010010010111001001011001001010110001011100001"
# Note: For the purposes of the examples on this page, I have actually generated 64 bits of entropy.
# For real world use, you should generate 128 to 256 bits (in a multiple of 32 bits).
Always use a secure random number generator for you entropy. Do not use your programming language's default "random" function, as the numbers it produces are not random enough for cryptography.
2. Entropy to Mnemonic
Now that we've got our entropy we can encode it into a sentence.
Checksum
Firstly, we add a checksum to our entropy to help detect errors (making the final sentence more user-friendly).
This checksum is created by hashing the entropy through SHA-256, which gives us a unique fingerprint for our entropy. We then take 1 bit from the start that hash for every 32 bits of entropy, and add it to the end of our entropy.

This checksum is created using a single SHA-256 hash of the entropy. Most other checksums in bitcoin use HASH256.
By adding 1 bit of checksum to every 32 bits of entropy we always end up with a multiple of 33 bits, which we can split up in to equal 11-bit chunks.
Words
Next we split this entropy+checksum in to groups of 11 bits, convert each group of 11 bits to a decimal number, and use those numbers as indexes to select the corresponding words from the wordlist.
And there we have our mnemonic sentence.
An 11-bit number can hold a decimal number between 0-2047 (which is why there are 2048 words in the wordlist).
Code
The code below requires wordlist.txt
# ----------------------
# 2. Entropy to Mnemonic
# ----------------------
entropy = "1010110111011000110010010010111001001011001001010110001011100001"
# 1. Create checksum
require 'digest'
size = entropy.length / 32 # number of bits to take from hash of entropy (1 bit checksum for every 32 bits entropy)
sha256 = Digest::SHA256.digest([entropy].pack("B*")) # hash of entropy (in raw binary)
checksum = sha256.unpack("B*").join[0..size-1] # get desired number of bits
puts "checksum: #{checksum}"
# 2. Combine
full = entropy + checksum
puts "combined: #{full}"
# 3. Split in to strings of 11 bits
pieces = full.scan(/.{11}/)
# 4. Get the wordlist as an array
wordlist = File.readlines("wordlist.txt")
# 5. Convert groups of bits to array of words
puts "words:"
sentence = []
pieces.each do |piece|
i = piece.to_i(2) # convert string of 11 bits to an integer
word = wordlist[i] # get the corresponding word from wordlist
sentence << word.chomp # add to sentence (removing newline from end of word)
puts "#{piece} #{i.to_s.rjust(4)} #{word}"
end
mnemonic = sentence.join(" ")
puts "mnemonic: #{mnemonic}" #=> "punch shock entire north file identify"
3. Mnemonic to Seed
Now that we've got our mnemonic sentence, we can convert it to our final seed.
To create the seed, you put your mnemonic sentence through the PBKDF2 function. This basically hashes your mnemonic (+ optional passphrase) multiple times until it produces a final 64-byte (512-bit) result.
This 64 byte result is your seed, which is used to create the master extended key in a hierarchical deterministic wallet.
Code
# -------------------
# 3. Mnemonic to Seed
# -------------------
require 'openssl'
mnemonic = "punch shock entire north file identify"
passphrase = "" # can leave this blank
puts "passphrase: #{passphrase}"
password = mnemonic
salt = "mnemonic#{passphrase}" # "mnemonic" is always used in the salt with optional passphrase appended to it
iterations = 2048
keylength = 64
digest = OpenSSL::Digest::SHA512.new
result = OpenSSL::PKCS5.pbkdf2_hmac(password, salt, iterations, keylength, digest)
seed = result.unpack("H*")[0] # convert to hexadecimal string
puts "seed: #{seed}" #=> e1ca8d8539fb054eda16c35dcff74c5f88202b88cb03f2824193f4e6c5e87dd2e24a0edb218901c3e71e900d95e9573d9ffbf870b242e927682e381d109ae882
PBKDF2 Settings:
- Password: mnemonic sentence
- Salt: "mnemonic"+(optional passphrase)
- Iterations: 2048
- Algorithm: HMAC-SHA512
- Size: 64 bytes
Validating
How do you check if a mnemonic sentence is valid?
A mnemonic sentence contains a checksum, which means that you can easily check if a given mnemonic sentence is valid.
To do this, you:
- Convert the words in the mnemonic back in to bits.
- Determine the entropy part and the checksum part.
- Check whether the checksum you create from the entropy matches the given checksum.
Do not create a mnemonic sentence by randomly generating 12-24 words. If you just randomly select 12-24 words from the wordlist, the last word you select probably won't contain the correct checksum for the rest of the words and the mnemonic sentence will be invalid.
Code
The code below requires wordlist.txt
# -----------------
# Validate Mnemonic
# -----------------
require 'digest'
mnemonic = "punch shock entire north file identify"
puts "mnemonic: #{mnemonic}"
# Get the wordlist
wordlist = File.readlines("wordlist.txt").map { |word| word.chomp} # remove new lines from end of each word
# Convert mnemonic to binary string
binary = ""
mnemonic.split(" ").each do |word|
i = wordlist.index(word) # get word index number in wordlist
bin = i.to_s(2).rjust(11, "0") # convert index number to an 11-bit number
binary << bin # add to binary string
end
puts "entropy+checksum: #{binary}"
# Get the original entropy and checksum
x = binary.length / 33 # for every 33 bits, 1 bit will be checksum
entropy = binary[0...-x] # first part is original entropy
checksum = binary[-x..-1] # last x bits are checksum
# Compute the expected checksum from the entropy
hash = Digest::SHA256.digest([entropy].pack("B*"))
checksumexpected = hash.unpack("B*").join[0...x]
# Check the checksum in the mnemonic sentence matches the checksum of the entropy
puts "checksum: #{checksum}"
puts "expected: #{checksumexpected}"
puts "valid: #{checksum == checksumexpected}" #=> true
BIP39 Wordlist
The words in a mnemonic sentence come from a fixed list of 2048 words (specified by BIP39).
abandon ability able about above absent absorb abstract absurd abuse access accident account accuse achieve acid acoustic acquire across act action actor actress actual adapt add addict address adjust admit adult advance advice aerobic affair afford afraid again age agent agree ahead aim air airport aisle alarm album alcohol alert alien all alley allow almost alone alpha already also alter always amateur amazing among amount amused analyst anchor ancient anger angle angry animal ankle announce annual another answer antenna antique anxiety any apart apology appear apple approve april arch arctic area arena argue arm armed armor army around arrange arrest arrive arrow art artefact artist artwork ask aspect assault asset assist assume asthma athlete atom attack attend attitude attract auction audit august aunt author auto autumn average avocado avoid awake aware away awesome awful awkward axis baby bachelor bacon badge bag balance balcony ball bamboo banana banner bar barely bargain 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The first 4 letters of each word in the list are unique.
Each word has its own index number (e.g. "abandon" is 0). Don't forget that counting starts at 0 in programming.
Code
Here's how you can create a mnemonic sentence and seed in a few different programming languages.
The code snippets below require the wordlist.txt file.
<?php
// -------------------
// 1. Generate Entropy
// -------------------
// a. Use Own Entropy (Binary)
// $entropy = "0110101001101101101110100111010101010010010111010111110111011101010011110101100011010001111011110100111001100000001101000101101110110000010010001110101101011011101010000010111101100000100101100000111000101000110000001111010010100000101011000000111010001110";
// b. Use Own Entropy (Hexadecimal)
// $hex = "c0ba5a8e914111210f2bd131f3d5e08d";
// $raw = hex2bin($hex); // convert to raw bytes
// $length = (strlen($raw)/2)*8*2; // calculate expected number of bits in binary representation (so we can pad result to correct number of bits)
// $entropy = str_pad(gmp_strval(gmp_init(bin2hex($raw), 16), 2), $length, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT);
// echo "entropy: $entropy".PHP_EOL;
// c. Generate Entropy
$length = 256; // How many bits of entropy you want
$urandom = fopen('/dev/urandom', 'r');
$bytes = fread($urandom, $length / 8); // Get raw bytes (8 bits in a byte)
$entropy = str_pad(gmp_strval(gmp_init(bin2hex($bytes), 16), 2), $length, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT); // Convert to binary (10110111...) (pad zeros)
echo "entropy: $entropy" . PHP_EOL;
// ----------------------
// 2. Entropy to Mnemonic
// ----------------------
// 1. Create Checksum
$size = strlen($entropy) / 32; // 1 bit of checksum for every 32 bits of entropy
$hex = str_pad(gmp_strval(gmp_init($entropy, 2), 16), strlen($entropy) / 8 * 2, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT); // convert entropy back to hexadecimal ready to be hashed
$hash = hash("sha256", hex2bin($hex)); // hash raw binary of entropy (bin > hex > rawbinary)
$checksum = substr(str_pad(gmp_strval(gmp_init($hash, 16), 2), 256, "0", STR_PAD_LEFT), 0, $size); // hex > dec > bin, pad with zeros, take size bits
echo "checksum: $checksum" . PHP_EOL;
// 2. Combine and split in to groups of 11 bits (32 bits + 1 bit entropy will always be a multiple of 11)
$pieces = str_split($entropy . $checksum, 11);
// 3. Get the wordlist as an array
$wordlist = file("wordlist.txt", FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES); // file() reads file in to an array
// 4. Convert groups of 11 bits in to decimal and store the corresponding word
$words = [];
foreach ($pieces as $piece) {
$i = bindec($piece); // e.g. 01101010011 => 851
$words[] = $wordlist[$i];
}
$mnemonic = implode(" ", $words); // Convert to a sentence (string of words separated by spaces)
echo "mnemonic: $mnemonic" . PHP_EOL;
// -------------------
// 3. Mnemonic to Seed
// -------------------
// Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2
// Password = mnemonic sentence (UTF-8 NFKD)
// Salt = "mnemonic" + passphrase (UTF-8 NFKD)
// Iterations = 2048 and HMAC-SHA512
// Algorithm = HMAC-SHA512 (the pseudo-random function)
// Length = 512 bits (64 bytes)
$passphrase = "TREZOR"; // default is empty string
echo "passphrase: $passphrase" . PHP_EOL;
$seed = bin2hex(hash_pbkdf2("sha512", $mnemonic, "mnemonic" . $passphrase, 2048, 64, true)); // algo, password, salt, iterations, length, raw_output
echo "seed: $seed" . PHP_EOL;
package main
import (
"crypto/rand" // generating random bytes for entropy
"crypto/sha256" // creating checksum
"crypto/sha512" // hash function used in pbkdf2
"encoding/hex" // getting bytes from hex string
"fmt"
"io/ioutil" // read wordlist file
"math/big" // converting byte slice to integer
"strings" // split wordlist file string in to an array of strings
"golang.org/x/crypto/pbkdf2"
)
func main() {
// ---------------------------------------
// 1a. Generate Random Bytes (for Entropy)
// ---------------------------------------
// Create empty byte slice and fill with bytes from crypto/rand
bytes := make([]byte, 16) // [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
rand.Read(bytes)
fmt.Println("Entropy:", hex.EncodeToString(bytes))
fmt.Println("Entropy:", bytes)
fmt.Printf("Entropy: %08b\n", bytes)
fmt.Println()
// ----------------------------------------
// 1b. Use Hexadecimal String (for Entropy)
// ----------------------------------------
// entropy := "7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f"
// bytes, _ := hex.DecodeString(entropy)
// fmt.Println("Entropy:", entropy)
// fmt.Println("Entropy:", bytes)
// fmt.Printf("Entropy: %08b\n", bytes)
// fmt.Println()
// ------------------
// 2. Create Checksum
// ------------------
// SHA256 the entropy
h := sha256.New() // hash function
h.Write(bytes) // write bytes to hash function
checksum := h.Sum(nil) // get result as a byte slice
fmt.Printf("Checksum: %08b\n", checksum) // 10000101
// Get specific number of bits from the checksum
size := len(bytes) * 8 / 32 // 1 bit for every 32 bits of entropy (1 byte = 8 bits)
fmt.Println("Bits Wanted:", size) // how many bits from the checksum we want
fmt.Println()
// Convert the byte slice to a big integer (so you can use arithmetic to add bits to the end)
// Note: You can only add bytes (and not individual bits) to a byte slice, so you need to do bitwise arithmetic instead
//
// entropy ([]byte)
// |
// 762603471227441019646259032069709348664 (big.Int)
//
dataBigInt := new(big.Int).SetBytes(bytes)
fmt.Println("Entropy: ", dataBigInt)
// Run through the number of bits you want from the checksum, manually adding each bit to the entropy (through arithmetic)
for i := uint8(0); i < uint8(size); i++ {
// Add a zero bit to the end for every bit of checksum we add
//
// --->
// 01001101
// |entropy|0|
//
dataBigInt.Mul(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2)) // multiplying an integer by two is like adding a 0 bit to the end
// Use bitwise AND mask to check if each bit of the checksum is set
//
// checksum[0] = 01001101
// AND 10000000 = 0
// AND 1000000 = 1000000
// AND 100000 = 0
// AND 10000 = 0
//
mask := 1 << (7 - i)
set := uint8(checksum[0]) & uint8(mask) // e.g. 100100100 AND 10000000 = 10000000
if set > 0 {
// If the bit is set, change the last zero bit to a 1 bit
// 10001101
// |entropy|1|
//
dataBigInt.Or(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(1)) // Use bitwise OR to toggle last bit (basically adds 1 to the integer)
}
}
fmt.Println("Entropy+Checksum:", dataBigInt)
fmt.Println()
// TIP: Adding bits manually using bitwise arithemtic (can't use bitwise AND or SHIFT on an integer, but maths can do the same)
// dataBigInt.Mul(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2)) // add 0 bit to end = 0 (multiplying by two is like adding a 0 bit)
// dataBigInt.Or(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(1)) // change 0 bit on end to 1 = 1
// dataBigInt.Mul(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2)) // add 0 bit to end = 10
// dataBigInt.Mul(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2)) // add 0 bit to end = 100
// dataBigInt.Mul(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2)) // add 0 bit to end = 1000
// ---------------------------------------
// 3. Convert Entropy+Checksum to Mnemonic
// ---------------------------------------
// Get array of words from wordlist file
file, _ := ioutil.ReadFile("wordlist.txt")
wordlist := strings.Split(string(file), "\n")
// fmt.Println(wordlist[2047])
// Work out expected number of word in mnemonic based on how many 11-bit groups there are in entropy+checksum
pieces := ((len(bytes) * 8) + size) / 11
// Create an array of strings to hold words
words := make([]string, pieces)
// Loop through every 11 bits of entropy+checksum and convert to corresponding word from wordlist
for i := pieces - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
// Use bit mask (bitwise AND) to split integer in to 11-bit pieces
//
// right to left big.NewInt(2047) = bit mask
// <---------------- <--------->
// 11111111111|11111111111|11111111111|11111111111
//
word := big.NewInt(0) // hold result of 11 bit mask
word.And(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2047)) // bit mask last 11 bits (2047 = 0b11111111111)
// Add corresponding word to array
//
// 11100111000 = 1848 = train
//
words[i] = wordlist[word.Int64()] // insert word from wordlist in to array (need to convert big.Int to int64)
// Remove those 11 bits from end of big integer by bit shifting
//
// 11111111111|11111111111|11111111111|11111111111
// / - dividing is the same as bit shifting
// 100000000000 = big.NewInt(2048)
// 11111111111|11111111111|11111111111|
//
dataBigInt.Div(dataBigInt, big.NewInt(2048)) // dividing by 2048 is the same as bit shifting 11 bits
}
// Convert array of words in to mnemonic string
mnemonic := strings.Join(words, " ")
fmt.Println("Mnemonic:", mnemonic)
fmt.Println()
// ------------------------------------
// 4. Convert Mnemonic Sentence to Seed
// ------------------------------------
passphrase := "TREZOR"
seed := pbkdf2.Key([]byte(mnemonic), []byte("mnemonic"+passphrase), 2048, 64, sha512.New)
fmt.Println("Seed:", hex.EncodeToString(seed))
}
// Code inspired by: https://github.com/tyler-smith/go-bip39/blob/master/bip39.go
Resources
- BIP 39 (Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine, Sean Bowe)
- Ian Coleman BIP39 Tool (Fantastic)
- Tyler Smith Go BIP39
- Pete Corey Elixir BIP39 (Elixir is a good language for working with binary)
- https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Seed_phrase