Topic: Can we choose our own seed words? - page 2. (Read 429 times)

This is not the same.

Electrum will always generate a random seed phrase. You cannot pick your own seed phrase (although with Electrum you can use a different word list, although again, I would not recommend this). What you are describing is picking a passphrase, also known as a seed extension. The combination of your completely random seed phrase and your self picked passphrase will generate a wallet. Although you should strive to use long and random passphrases, using your family members' names here is less critical since you still have the security of your seed phrase to fall back on. So using family members' names for a passphrase is unlikely to lead to your coins being stolen in isolation, but pretty much defeats the point of using a passphrase if you are going to use one which is so weak and easily guessable.

To have security in cryptographic key pairs, you need to generate the private key as randomly as possible; not as arbitrarily as possible. Be that coin tossing, dice rolling, usage of the /dev/urandom, in order to be cryptographically secure, it has to be generated randomly. And humans suck in producing randomness.

I don't know why this topic is brought up every once in a while. It's wrong, and you're probably going to get robbed.

Yes you could choose your own seed phrase. When you will make a new wallet on Electrum you will be asked to add manual words in your seed phrase. This will be optional as you could also select the automated selected seed phrase. Answer to you query is mainly covered by last member's reply but i have a suggestion for you which is: you should not select your loved ones names as seed phrase because they can easily be guessed only if the attacker know you personally otherwise it will be hard for them.

You just don't have tot attach your personal life with crypto life and i think you are good to use your loved ones names but still you should atleast add two or one words other than them.

Another advice is: i read a topic here where someone used only one words as the whole seed phrase. So don't do that.

Yes, it is possible. No, you shouldn't do it.

Picking your own words from the BIP39 word list is bad enough. It's been endlessly proven that humans are not random and whatever sequence of words you pick will not be random. There is the issue of the checksum in the last word, but that is fairly easily solved simply by calculating the checksum and picking an appropriately matching word.

Picking specific words which have a meaning for you, such as the names of family members, is a monumentally stupid idea. This is really no different to a brainwallet, except instead of using the words or phrase to generate a single address you use them to generate the master private key for an HD wallet. Again, it is easily done, just really dumb. Anyone who knows you likely knows the names of your family members, and anyone who doesn't can probably get that information in <5 minutes from your social media profiles.

It doesn't matter. Bitcoin private keys provide 128 bits of security, which matches the amount of security provided by a properly generated 12 word seed phrase. It does not matter if you used a seed phrase with 5000 truly random words providing tens of thousands of bits of entropy - your resulting private keys would still have 128 bits of security.

Seed phrases are not meant to be remembered, and so picking something memorable is pointless. Generate a random seed phrase properly and write it down on paper.

I know it's a really stupid question but I was just curious. Is it really possible to choose your own seed words. I know it has various security holes and it is not advisable but I wanted to know if it's possible. If possible I would have used my loved ones names cause even if we forget things like we usually do we don't forget the people we love. Words have to be in correct order I'm aware of it.

I know seed words aren't just random words. They contain certain words from BIP39 word list (2048 words) and they hold a meaning. They are used to convert into binary seeds. The last seed word generates a checksum which validates the data.

Just imagine in term of randomness or uniqueness what if we used multiply language or names. Because there are more than 7,100 language spoken in this world and there are 195 country. So if we think of it, in every culture, area, city, country, people use different language different names and the names doesn't have to be meaningful like my username. How much randomness would it create! Not everyone can speak multiply language nor everyone have a good memory in remembering words. People tend to forget. But when I think of it it fills me with nothing but curiosity. That's all I wanted to say.

Article about the topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/rh2ip0/is_it_possible_to_pick_and_choose_the_wallet_seed/?rdt=58245

I don't know if this topic already exists or not but I just though of posting it anyway. So don't mind anyone and feel free to correct my mistakes.