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Topic: How do paper wallets work? - page 2. (Read 1304 times)

full member
Activity: 174
Merit: 253
June 11, 2013, 03:13:16 AM
#7
1. Throw a coin 256 times, to get the private key, one side represents 1, the other coin's side represents 0. This will give you highly random 256bit key in binary format. Example: 1000111100110100010100010100011011100100100010100000111110000010110011000010010 1111100111101010011011111011100110010011001001011101101011110000011101101100010 1001110011110110010001100111010110001010100000010000001001110111011111111101100 1000110000011000001

2. Turn this binary into hex format:
1000 = 8
1111 = F
0011 = 3
0100 = 4
and so on...
You get: 8F345146E48A0F82CC25F3D4DF73264BB5E0ED8A73D919D62A0409DDFF6460C1

3. Turn hex format into base58 format:
5JuMYZ24eYPvjdXNWdDDz4eA9MC3ekgwHMUwpK41J5ANd2t2LE1
Address: 1KxKa6tGYJNUgHLQbDiT9PXAJcYhm7PC76

There you have your mega secure coin randomized offline paper wallet Bitcoin key and address.

Thanks, nice explanation Smiley
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
June 11, 2013, 02:45:08 AM
#6
1. Throw a coin 256 times, to get the private key, one side represents 1, the other coin's side represents 0. This will give you highly random 256bit key in binary format. Example: 1000111100110100010100010100011011100100100010100000111110000010110011000010010 1111100111101010011011111011100110010011001001011101101011110000011101101100010 1001110011110110010001100111010110001010100000010000001001110111011111111101100 1000110000011000001

2. Turn this binary into hex format:
1000 = 8
1111 = F
0011 = 3
0100 = 4
and so on...
You get: 8F345146E48A0F82CC25F3D4DF73264BB5E0ED8A73D919D62A0409DDFF6460C1

3. Turn hex format into base58 format:
5JuMYZ24eYPvjdXNWdDDz4eA9MC3ekgwHMUwpK41J5ANd2t2LE1
Address: 1KxKa6tGYJNUgHLQbDiT9PXAJcYhm7PC76


There you have your mega secure coin randomized offline paper wallet Bitcoin key and address.
legendary
Activity: 4522
Merit: 3426
June 11, 2013, 02:04:08 AM
#5
That's a good article. I didn't realize bitaddress.org doesn't need internet access to work. That's good to know. But I still can't quite wrap my mind around how a public/private pairing works.

Here's my question:

Suppose I am offline, with a computer that loaded bitaddress.org but have no access to the internet at all. I generate/print a public/private key pair. Then, on another computer, I send 1 BTC to the public address. At this point I have "loaded" my paper wallet correct? That 1 BTC is now in that public address.

My question is, where/how is that public address associated with my private key besides on the piece of paper I printed? How can me entering in the private key possibly grant me access to the public address if the associated key pair is created separate from the bitcoin network? (I obviously do not have a full grasp on how the blockchain/confirmation system works, but I do want to understand this concept)

The public key is derived from the private key. If you know the private key, you can figure out the public key, but not the other way around. If you have a private key, you can prove that you control the public key, and that is what allows you to spend the money at that address.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
June 10, 2013, 11:53:13 PM
#4
That's a good article. I didn't realize bitaddress.org doesn't need internet access to work. That's good to know. But I still can't quite wrap my mind around how a public/private pairing works.

Here's my question:

Suppose I am offline, with a computer that loaded bitaddress.org but have no access to the internet at all. I generate/print a public/private key pair. Then, on another computer, I send 1 BTC to the public address. At this point I have "loaded" my paper wallet correct? That 1 BTC is now in that public address.

My question is, where/how is that public address associated with my private key besides on the piece of paper I printed? How can me entering in the private key possibly grant me access to the public address if the associated key pair is created separate from the bitcoin network? (I obviously do not have a full grasp on how the blockchain/confirmation system works, but I do want to understand this concept)
newbie
Activity: 22
Merit: 0
June 10, 2013, 10:53:02 PM
#3
I had the same question, thanks for the link
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 10
June 10, 2013, 10:49:41 PM
#2
The best article I've read on the topic was written by Coding In My Sleep: http://codinginmysleep.com/bitcoin-cold-storage-in-plain-english/

Quote
What is actually going on with a key pair? How can there be an association between the two addresses without there being an equation to decipher the private key using the public key?

To directly answer your question, offline webpages are a convenient way to generate a private/public key pair without a trace:
Quote
First, bitaddress.org is an excellent and accessible tool. Despite looking like a normal web page with multiple tabs, the whole thing is written in such a way that once it’s loaded it never needs internet access again. You can go to the page, completely disconnect your computer from the net and it will still work.

I recommend reading the whole article. Hope this helps.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
June 10, 2013, 10:31:00 PM
#1
I'm interested in learning how a private key/ public key pair can be created independent from internet access, and still correspond correctly while being safe from being figured out if someone else knows the public key.

What is actually going on with a key pair? How can there be an association between the two addresses without there being an equation to decipher the private key using the public key?

I'm posting this in the newbie forum because I don't know where else this question would be appropriate.

Thanks!
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