Bitcoin: Having Address format, infer derivation path or BIP used

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Understanding Derivation Paths and BIP in Bitcoin

While researching Bitcoin, I came across a problem I wanted to ask: How can I determine which derivation path a particular 1xxxxxxxxxxxxx address was generated on?

To answer this question, let’s dive into the world of Bitcoin’s private key management system, specifically derivation paths.

What are derivation paths?

In Bitcoin, each user has multiple wallets that use different derivation paths to manage their private keys. A derivation path is a string that represents how a private key should be derived from a seed. The seed is a random number that is used to generate the first derivation from the private key.

What does a 1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx address mean?

A 1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx address, such as “1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”, represents a wallet on the Bitcoin network that uses a particular derivation path. The “1” indicates that this is a private key, and xxxxxxxxx represents the derivation path.

How ​​do I determine the derivation path of an address 1xxxxxxxxxxxx?

To determine which derivation path a particular address 1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx was generated from, you need to understand the Bitcoin protocol. Here’s how:

• Find the hash

  : First, find the seed hash used to generate the private key. You can use tools like bc (the Bitcoin command-line tool) or gethash to generate and verify hashes.

• Derivate the derivation path: Use the Bitcoin deriveaddress command-line tool with the -p option, followed by the seed hash obtained in step 1. This will print the derivation path of the private key that corresponds to the addresses 1xxxxxxxxxxxx.

Here’s an example:

gethash  | bitcoin-derive --privatekey -p 2

Assuming that `seed_hash'' is a hash of the seed used to generate the private key. The result is a string representing the derivation path, such asm/0’/0’/1’/0′.

• Check the derived path: Make sure the resulting derivation path matches the path you expect.

Conclusion and Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)

The Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) provide additional guidance on private key management, including derivation paths. The BIP-0016 standard defines a specific derivation path m/0'/0'/1' for generating a public key from a private key.

Once you understand how to calculate the derivation path for the address 1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx using Bitcoin tools and protocols, you can ensure that your wallet or transaction is actually using the correct derivation path.

I hope this explanation helps! Let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification.