<p>It is not possible to know whether all private keys can be generated with BIP 39 as the only way to do that would be to generate all possible mnemonics and record what private keys they produce. The number of mnemonics and the number of private keys is so large that this is impossible to do - that is what makes them secure.</p>
<p>Otherwise, we do not know for sure whether the private keys generated are uniformly random. However, it's a reasonable assumption that they are. The hash functions in use, although they have the same issue of not knowing for certain, are widely used and believed to be uniformly random. If this assumption is true, then the private keys generated should be uniformly random as well, which means that BIP 39 should produce every possible private key.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-14T18:05:25.630Z
2023-12-14T18:05:25.630Z
Ava Chow
<p>A common bitcoin meme is to post an image of the BIP39 wordlist with a caption &quot;Here is access to all of the bitcoin in the world, you’re welcome.&quot;.</p>
<p>Is this strictly true? Does the set of all 12+24 permutations of the BIP39 words generate all possible valid private keys?</p>

<private-key><mnemonic-seed>
Is the "BIP39 words contain all the bitcoin in the world" meme correct?
JourneyIntoBTC
# Is the "BIP39 words contain all the bitcoin in the world" meme correct?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-12-14)

A common bitcoin meme is to post an image of the BIP39 wordlist with a caption "Here is access to all of the bitcoin in the world, you’re welcome.".

Is this strictly true? Does the set of all 12+24 permutations of the BIP39 words generate all possible valid private keys?

**Tags:** private-key, mnemonic-seed


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-12-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It is not possible to know whether all private keys can be generated with BIP 39 as the only way to do that would be to generate all possible mnemonics and record what private keys they produce. The number of mnemonics and the number of private keys is so large that this is impossible to do - that is what makes them secure.

Otherwise, we do not know for sure whether the private keys generated are uniformly random. However, it's a reasonable assumption that they are. The hash functions in use, although they have the same issue of not knowing for certain, are widely used and believed to be uniformly random. If this assumption is true, then the private keys generated should be uniformly random as well, which means that BIP 39 should produce every possible private key.


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