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.
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