Can someone explain what exactly is derived address?

0

Let's say my mnemonic words are

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When I used https://iancoleman.io/bip39/#english, the section, Derived Address, showed me a lot of addresses. Among them, I found an address that my wallet showed, but the address would change time to time?

Why does my address change?

I understand that Derived Address are children of Account Extended Private/Public Keys, but why isn't my wallet showing me all of those addresses that I can use?

What is the maximum number of Derived Address for m / 44 / 0 / 0 / 0 / * ?

Are all the address valid and working? Meaning, can I send a payment to any of the address from the Derived Address and will I still get the cryptocurrency?

If I import any listed Derived Private Key to another wallet, can I use the funds in there?

Carol Ward

Posted 2019-04-16T19:19:51.013

Reputation: 131

Answers

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Your address does not change. Probably your wallet is showing you only those addresses that have non-zero balance. It is called derived addresses because they are generated iterating over the index number according to the BIP-44 derivation.

What is the maximum number of Derived Address for m / 44 / 0 / 0 / 0 / * ?

That is capped by the index number, which is 32 bits. So you will be able to generate 4,294,967,296 addresses. However, the the first 4,294,967,296/2 = 2,147,483,648 are reserved for non-hardened derivation and the other half is reserved for hardened derivation.

Are all the address valid and working? Meaning, can I send a payment to any of the address from the Derived Address and will I still get the cryptocurrency?

Yes, if you control the private key related to the address, you control the bitcoins sent to that address. Using the seed words, any decent wallet would be able to generate addresses using the BIP-44 derivation and the private keys that control them.

If I import any listed Derived Private Key to another wallet, can I use the funds in there?

Private keys derived from the extended private key is no different from other private keys. So if you import that private key into a wallet, you will be able to control the funds sent to the address generated from that private key.

Ugam Kamat

Posted 2019-04-16T19:19:51.013

Reputation: 5 180

Maybe saying that "they change" is a bad way to put it. Time to time, when I look at the request address, the address "change" within the Derived Address pool. Is that normal? – Carol Ward – 2019-04-16T20:02:00.433

Yes. Using a different index number will generate a completely new address. Once a transaction is made to any receiving address, your wallet will keep a note of it so that it can be used to spend funds – Ugam Kamat – 2019-04-16T20:04:28.803

But as a user, I'm not exposed to which receiving address has fund in it because the wallet takes care of the micro details, is that right? – Carol Ward – 2019-04-16T20:08:31.457

@CarolWard Also the derivation path you have cited m / 44 / 0 / 0 / 0 / ? is non-hardened. Wallets will use a hardened derivation path m/44'/0'/0'/0' to prevent leak of extended public key if a child private key is known. – Ugam Kamat – 2019-04-16T20:08:37.230

@CarolWard Yes, any decent wallet takes care of those details. It scans the blockchain for funds sent to the addresses. – Ugam Kamat – 2019-04-17T06:30:06.570

Asked: 2019-04-16T19:19:51.013

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Active: 2019-04-16T20:15:21.720