What Is BIP39 (Mnemonic Phrases)?
BIP39 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39) is the standard for converting a random seed into a human-readable list of words, known as a mnemonic phrase or passphrase. These 12, 18, or 24 words represent your entire wallet and can restore all your bitcoin.
Example Mnemonic Phrase
"witch collapse practice feed shame open despair creek road again ice least" - These 12 words, selected from a standardized 2,048-word dictionary, encode enough entropy to securely generate all your keys.
Key Characteristics
Human-Friendly Backup
Instead of backing up complex hexadecimal strings, BIP39 lets you write down common English words. This makes backup and recovery far more accessible and less error-prone for everyday users.
Strong Security
A 12-word phrase provides 128 bits of entropy, while a 24-word phrase provides 256 bits - both offering cryptographic security strong enough to protect your bitcoin indefinitely when stored properly.
BIP39 works seamlessly with BIP32 (HD wallets) to create a complete wallet recovery system. Your mnemonic phrase is converted into the master seed that generates all your private keys via BIP32's hierarchical derivation.
Quick Facts
- •Uses a standardized list of 2,048 words
- •12 words provide 128 bits of entropy
- •24 words provide 256 bits of entropy
- •The final word includes a checksum for error detection