Standards-compliant SLIP-39 cryptocurrency seed generation and recovery, compatible with Trezor hardware wallets
Creating Ethereum, Bitcoin and other accounts is complex and fraught with potential for loss of funds.
A BIP-39 seed recovery phrase helps, but a single lapse in security dooms the account (and all derived accounts, in fact). If someone finds your recovery phrase (or you lose it), the accounts derived from that seed are /gone/.
The SLIP-39 standard allows you to split the seed between 1, 2, or more groups of several mnemonic recovery phrases. This is better, but creating such accounts is difficult; presently, only the Trezor supports these, and they can only be created "manually". Writing down 5 or more sets of 20 words is difficult, error-prone and time consuming.
Your keys, your Bitcoin. Not your keys, not your Bitcoin.
---Andreas Antonopoulos
The [python-slip39] project (and the [SLIP-39 macOS/win32 App]) exists to assist in the safe creation, backup and documentation of [Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallet] seeds and derived accounts, with various SLIP-39 sharing parameters. It generates the new random wallet seed, and generates the expected standard Ethereum account(s) (at [derivation path] m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 by default) and Bitcoin accounts (at Bech32 derivation path m/84'/0'/0'/0/0 by default), with wallet address and QR code (compatible with Trezor and Ledger derivations). It produces the required SLIP-39 phrases, and outputs a single PDF containing all the required printable cards to document the seed (and the specified derived accounts).
On an secure (ideally air-gapped) computer, new seeds can /safely/ be generated (without trusting this program) and the PDF saved to a USB drive for printing (or directly printed without the file being saved to disk.). Presently, `slip39' can output example ETH, BTC, LTC, DOGE, BSC, and XRP addresses derived from the seed, to /illustrate/ what accounts are associated with the backed-up seed. Recovery of the seed to a [Trezor Safe 3] is simple, by entering the mnemonics right on the device.
We also support the backup of existing insecure and unreliable 12- or 24-word BIP-39 Mnemonic Phrases as SLIP-39 Mnemonic cards, for existing BIP-39 hardware wallets like the [Ledger Nano], etc.! Recover from your existing BIP-39 Seed Phrase Mnemonic, select "Using BIP-39" (and enter your BIP-39 passphrase), and generate a set of SLIP-39 Mnemonic cards. Later, use the SLIP-39 App to recover from your SLIP-39 Mnemonic cards, click "Using BIP-39" to get your BIP-39 Mnemonic back, and use it (and your passphrase) to recover your accounts to your Ledger (or other) hardware wallet.
Output of BIP-38 or JSON encrypted Paper Wallets is also supported, for import into standard software cryptocurrency wallets.
<./images/slip39.png>
[python-slip39] https://github.com/pjkundert/python-slip39.git
[SLIP-39 macOS/win32 App] https://slip39.com/app
[Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallet] https://wolovim.medium.com/ethereum-201-hd-wallets-11d0c93c87
[derivation path] https://medium.com/myetherwallet/hd-wallets-and-derivation-paths-explained-865a643c7bf2
[Trezor Safe 3] https://trezor.go2cloud.org/SHdf
[Ledger Nano] https://shop.ledger.com/pages/ledger-nano-x?r=2cd1cb6ae51f
Download the SLIP-39 App from slip39-download for Windows (.msi) or macOS (.dmg).
The Graphical User Interface (GUI) also supports Linux:
$ python3 -m pip install slip39[gui]
$ slip39-gui
$ python3 -m slip39 -v Personal # or run: slip39 -v Personal
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 First(1/1): Recover w/ 2 of 4 groups First(1), Second(1), Fam(2/4), Frens(2/6)
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 1st 1 sister 8 cricket 15 unhappy
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 2 acid 9 mental 16 ocean
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 3 acrobat 10 veteran 17 mayor
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 4 romp 11 phantom 18 promise
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 5 anxiety 12 grownup 19 wrote
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 6 laser 13 skunk 20 romp
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 7 cricket 14 anatomy
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 Second(1/1): Recover w/ 2 of 4 groups First(1), Second(1), Fam(2/4), Frens(2/6)
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 1st 1 sister 8 belong 15 spirit
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 2 acid 9 survive 16 royal
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 3 beard 10 home 17 often
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 4 romp 11 herd 18 silver
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 5 again 12 mountain 19 grocery
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 6 orbit 13 august 20 antenna
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 7 very 14 evening
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 Fam(2/4): Recover w/ 2 of 4 groups First(1), Second(1), Fam(2/4), Frens(2/6)
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 1st 1 sister 8 rainbow 15 husky
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 2 acid 9 swing 16 crowd
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 3 ceramic 10 credit 17 learn
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 4 roster 11 piece 18 priority
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 5 already 12 puny 19 hand
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 6 quiet 13 senior 20 watch
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 7 erode 14 listen
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 2nd 1 sister 8 holy 15 revenue
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 2 acid 9 execute 16 junction
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 3 ceramic 10 lift 17 elite
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 4 scared 11 spark 18 flexible
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 5 domestic 12 yoga 19 inform
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 6 exact 13 medical 20 predator
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 7 finger 14 grief
...
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 ETH m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 : 0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 BTC m/84'/0'/0'/0/0 : bc1q6u7qk0tepkxdm8wkhpqzwwy0w8zfls9yvghaxq
...
2022-01-26 13:55:30 slip39 Wrote SLIP39-encoded wallet for 'Personal' to: Personal-2022-01-26+13.55.30-ETH-0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1.pdf
Later, if you need to recover the Ethereum wallet, keep entering SLIP-39 mnemonics until the secret is recovered (invalid/duplicate mnemonics will be ignored):
$ python3 -m slip39.recovery -v # or run: slip39-recovery -v
Enter 1st SLIP-39 mnemonic: sister acid acrobat romp anxiety laser cricket cricket mental veteran phantom grownup skunk anatomy unhappy ocean mayor promise wrote romp
2021-12-29 13:24:25 slip39.recovery Could not recover SLIP-39 master secret with 1 supplied mnemonics: Insufficient number of mnemonic groups. The required number of groups is 2.
Enter 2nd SLIP-39 mnemonic: a bc
2021-12-29 13:24:53 slip39.recovery Could not recover SLIP-39 master secret with 2 supplied mnemonics: Invalid mnemonic word 'a'.
Enter 3rd SLIP-39 mnemonic: sister acid ceramic roster already quiet erode rainbow swing credit piece puny senior listen husky crowd learn priority hand watch
2021-12-29 13:24:58 slip39.recovery Could not recover SLIP-39 master secret with 3 supplied mnemonics: Invalid mnemonic word 'a'.
Enter 4th SLIP-39 mnemonic: sister acid ceramic scared domestic exact finger holy execute lift spark yoga medical grief revenue junction elite flexible inform predator
2021-12-29 13:25:14 slip39.recovery Recovered SLIP-39 secret with 3 (1st, 3rd, 4th) of 4 supplied mnemonics
2021-12-29 13:25:14 slip39.recovery Recovered SLIP-39 secret; To re-generate, send it to: python3 -m slip39 --secret -
32448aabb50cb6b022fdf17d960720df
Finally, regenerate the Ethereum wallet, perhaps including an encrypted JSON wallet file for import into a software wallet; note that the same Ethereum wallet address 0x8FBC...3bf1 is recovered:
$ python3 -m slip39 --secret 32448aabb50cb6b022fdf17d960720df --json -
2022-01-26 14:06:14 slip39 It is recommended to not use '-s|--secret <hex>'; specify '-' to read from input
2022-01-26 14:06:14 slip39 ETH m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 : 0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1
2022-01-26 14:06:14 slip39 BTC m/84'/0'/0'/0/0 : bc1q6u7qk0tepkxdm8wkhpqzwwy0w8zfls9yvghaxq
JSON key file password:
2022-01-26 14:06:21 slip39 Wrote JSON SLIP39's encrypted ETH wallet 0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1 derived at m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 to: SLIP39-2022-01-26+14.06.14-ETH-0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1.json
2022-01-26 14:06:21 slip39 Wrote SLIP39-encoded wallet for '' to: SLIP39-2022-01-26+14.06.14-ETH-0x8FBCe53111817DcE01F9f4C4A6319eA1Ca0c3bf1.pdf
The whole toolchain is suitable for pipelining:
$ python3 -m slip39 --text --no-card -q \
| sort -r \
| python3 -m slip39.recovery \
| python3 -m slip39 --secret - --no-card -q
2021-12-28 10:55:17 slip39 ETH m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 : 0x68dD9B59D5dF605f4e9612E8b427Ab31187E2C54
2021-12-28 10:55:18 slip39.recovery Recovered SLIP-39 secret with 4 (1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th) of 8 supplied mnemonics
2021-12-28 10:55:18 slip39 ETH m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 : 0x68dD9B59D5dF605f4e9612E8b427Ab31187E2C54
Here's an example of PDF containing the SLIP-39 recovery mnemonic cards produced:
If desired, you can output encrypted "Paper Wallets", compatible for import into standard software cryptocurrency wallets (BIP-38 for Bitcoin, etc., and standard JSON wallets for Ethereum):
FAQs
Standards-compliant SLIP-39 cryptocurrency seed generation and recovery, compatible with Trezor hardware wallets
We found that slip39 demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
Did you know?
Socket for GitHub automatically highlights issues in each pull request and monitors the health of all your open source dependencies. Discover the contents of your packages and block harmful activity before you install or update your dependencies.
Security News
In this segment of the Risky Business podcast, Feross Aboukhadijeh and Patrick Gray discuss the challenges of tracking malware discovered in open source softare.
Research
Security News
A threat actor's playbook for exploiting the npm ecosystem was exposed on the dark web, detailing how to build a blockchain-powered botnet.
Security News
NVD’s backlog surpasses 20,000 CVEs as analysis slows and NIST announces new system updates to address ongoing delays.