Cryptocurrency wallets are tools used to interact with blockchain networks. The earliest Bitcoin wallets were non-deterministic ordinary wallets. Ordinary wallets refer to traditional wallets that do not use hierarchical determinism (HD) technology. In ordinary wallets, each address is generated by an independent private key and there is no direct correlation. Identity wallets, referred to as HD wallets, are deterministic cryptocurrency wallets. The characteristic of deterministic wallets is that all key pairs are generated by the same seed. The advantage is that one seed can restore all private keys, which is very convenient for backup and recovery. Many investors are very concerned about which HD wallet or ordinary wallet is more suitable for them. Next, let the editor of Coin Circle explain to you in detail what is the difference between HD wallets and ordinary wallets?
What are the differences between HD wallets and regular wallets?
HD wallets and regular wallets have different wallet structures. Due to the different methods of generating private keys corresponding to different wallet structures, wallets can be divided into non-deterministic wallets and deterministic wallets based on this distinction. Non-deterministic wallets, also known as random wallets, are regular wallets characterized by the lack of any relationship between private keys. The earliest Bitcoin wallets were of this type. At that time, to back up all addresses in the wallet, it was necessary to back up the private key of each key pair separately, making backup management extremely troublesome. Thus, deterministic wallets emerged as a solution.
Deterministic wallets, also known as seed wallets, are characterized by all key pairs being generated from the same seed. The benefit of deterministic wallets is that a single seed can restore all private keys, making backup and recovery very convenient. It is worth noting that the seed randomly generated by deterministic wallets is derived from a series of determined, irreversible operations to produce a series of key pairs. Why emphasize determinism and irreversibility? Because determinism ensures that all child key pairs can be generated from a seed, while 'irreversible' ensures that the seed cannot be inferred from the child key pairs.
Identity wallets, referred to as HD wallets, where HD stands for Hierarchical Deterministic, meaning it is based on hierarchical determinism. It is called a hierarchical deterministic wallet because the structure of deriving private keys is tree-like; a parent key can derive a series of child keys, and each child key can further derive a series of grandchild keys, and so on, infinitely. Specifically, a random number is used to generate the master private key, which is no different from the private key generation process of other types of wallets.
The important differences between HD wallets (Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet) and regular wallets are as follows:
1. Private Key Generation Method: HD wallets use a deterministic method to generate private keys and addresses. They derive a series of private keys and addresses from a single seed, rather than creating an independent private key for each address. Regular wallets generate a separate private key for each address.
2. Backup and Recovery: HD wallets only need to back up the seed once to restore all private keys and addresses of the wallet. This makes backup and recovery much simpler. In contrast, regular wallets require separate backup and management of each address's private key, which is relatively cumbersome.
3. Wallet Management: HD wallets use a hierarchical structure, where each level has a specific purpose. For example, HD wallets using the BIP32 standard have levels such as master private key, master public key, child private keys, and child public keys. This structure simplifies and organizes wallet management. Regular wallets do not have a similar hierarchical structure, and there is no direct association between each address.
4. Privacy Protection: HD wallets provide better privacy protection. Because they use a deterministic method to generate addresses, external observers cannot easily determine the relationships between addresses. Regular wallets have a separate private key and address for each address, which may make it easier to infer the relationships between addresses.
The above content is a detailed explanation of the differences between HD wallets and regular wallets by Yaoguang. Overall, HD wallets are suitable for users who need to frequently generate new addresses or require more advanced wallet management features. Compared to regular wallets, they offer more advanced wallet management functions, such as better backup and recovery mechanisms, simplified wallet management, better privacy protection, and more convenient address management. If users only need a simple wallet to receive and send cryptocurrencies without overly complex wallet management and operational features, then a regular wallet may meet their needs.#BTC冲破9万 #tp钱包 #LUCIC