Extended seed phrase safe for future updates?

BlackHatCoiner

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

I have an extended seed phrase, more than 12 words. Is it safe for future updates in the bitcoin network? Or is it possible that this feature will be disabled in the future so I can’t access my wallet anymore?

Being afraid that the seed phrase won't be valid in the future would be the same for wallet import formatted private keys. The answer is yes, it's safe as long as you have the function to derive the keys. Electrum's derivation function can be found in github, but the method is written on multiple projects. For example, Coding Enthusiast's Denovo has implemented it too. (ElectrumMnemonic.cs)

So even if electrum shut down their website and removed all of their repositories, you could still derive your private keys by using the csharp script above, properly.

BrewMaster

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

Is it safe for future updates in the bitcoin network? Or is it possible that this feature will be disabled in the future so I can’t access my wallet anymore?

something nobody mentioned is that "updates in bitcoin network" don't affect the seed phrase electrum uses because the seed algorithm and the key derivation algorithms are not part of the consensus rules. they are specific to the wallet you are using and won't change as the bitcoin protocol changes.

Abdussamad

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There is nothing to indicate that electrum will be getting rid of the seed extension feature in the future.

DireWolfM14

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 07:07:15 AM

Yeah I guess it's not really a cold storage then, I created it with wi-Fi on and it was connected to the Internet for a few days. But that first one is now deleted. Maybe I can create another one completely off-line and transfer the coins

If you're confident your computer is safe then I might not be an issue. The question is how confident are you that the computer wasn't infected before creating your wallet? I've had a hot wallet on my main PC for years, and haven't had any issues. But I'm extremely careful, and even more paranoid.

If you want a truly "cold" wallet, then the best approach is to take every precaution you can. My favorite method is to use a machine with a newly installed, open-source OS (Ubuntu.) Once the OS is set up the way I like it I will install Electrum, but before I create or restore a wallet I will disable all the networking hardware and USB ports in the bios, then lock the bios with a password. Once I'm confident the machine is secure, only then will I restore or create a wallet. The machine will never get connected to internet or any other computer again unless it gets purged first. If I need to sign a transaction it will be transferred between my online machine and the off-line machine using cameras and QR codes.

Charles-Tim

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 07:07:15 AM

Yeah I guess it's not really a cold storage then, I created it with wi-Fi on and it was connected to the Internet for a few days. But that first one is now deleted. Maybe I can create another one completely off-line and transfer the coins

Ah! Yes, you need to take off all internet connections before creating cold wallet. It is even called airgapped device because such device which you use to create the wallet are better to be formatted and free from malware, it should act like new device also in which no internet connection enabled.

BlockCheney

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Yeah I guess it's not really a cold storage then, I created it with wi-Fi on and it was connected to the Internet for a few days. But that first one is now deleted. Maybe I can create another one completely off-line and transfer the coins

ranochigo

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:51:21 AM

For the first few days it was a normal Electrum Wallet. Then I made it a read only wallet and deleted the first one

There is little point when you're generating the wallet on an online computer and making it a watch-only wallet afterwards. It'll only protect you if your computer gets compromised afterwards (assuming you deleted the wallet properly without any means to recover it). It does nothing if the malware is already in your computer, which is more often than not the case.

BlockCheney

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For the first few days it was a normal Electrum Wallet. Then I made it a read only wallet and deleted the first one

ranochigo

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

I have my bitcoins in cold storage but I am using a read-only wallet with Electrum. Is that safe from hackers?

Depends. How did you generate the wallet? Did you properly segregate your cold wallet from any internet connection? Did you validate your Electrum instance?

Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

My other question is:
I have an extended seed phrase, more than 12 words. Is it safe for future updates in the bitcoin network? Or is it possible that this feature will be disabled in the future so I can’t access my wallet anymore?

Your seed phrase is used to generate the private key, you will always be able to generate the private keys for the corresponding addresses. There is no way to disable this feature; the seeds generated by Electrum is only supported by Electrum but since the method of generating the BIP32 seed (and subsequently the addresses) is known, there is no risk of you not having access to your coins. Of course, barring any sudden network changes that prohibits the address standard you're using which probably won't happen.

Charles-Tim

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Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

I have my bitcoins in cold storage but I am using a read-only wallet with Electrum. Is that safe from hackers?

Yes. Your watch-only is safe because it does not store seed phrase, neither did it store any private key, only your master public key was imported and stored which can not be used to access your Bitcoin. As the name denote, watch-only, it can not be used to sign a transaction.

Quote from: BlockCheney on June 03, 2021, 06:21:40 AM

I have an extended seed phrase, more than 12 words. Is it safe for future updates in the bitcoin network? Or is it possible that this feature will be disabled in the future so I can’t access my wallet anymore?

The 12 words are not extended words, it is the seed phrase. Store it very well as it will be required for wallet recovery. You should not bother about any changes in the future, even if there are certain implemention, it should not affect the seed phrase recovery process. But always keep watch of what is going on about Bitcoin best answered this.

BlockCheney

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Hello,

I have my bitcoins in cold storage but I am using a read-only wallet with Electrum. Is that safe from hackers?

My other question is:
I have an extended seed phrase, more than 12 words. Is it safe for future updates in the bitcoin network? Or is it possible that this feature will be disabled in the future so I can’t access my wallet anymore?

Topic: Extended seed phrase safe for future updates? (Read 148 times)