<p>So far as I know this isn't possible.</p>
<p>The mnemonic phrase is hashed to get a seed number. Hashing algorithms are one-way algorithms.</p>
<p>See <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BIP39</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>To create a binary seed from the mnemonic, we use the PBKDF2 function with a mnemonic sentence (in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the password and the string &quot;mnemonic&quot; + passphrase (again in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the salt. The iteration count is set to 2048 and HMAC-SHA512 is used as the pseudo-random function. The length of the derived key is 512 bits (= 64 bytes).</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>This seed can be later used to generate deterministic wallets using BIP-0032 or similar methods.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>Related:</p>
<p><a href="https://crypto.stackexchange.com/q/77513/52982">is PBKDF2 reversible?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-09T19:47:41.527Z
2021-10-09T19:47:41.527Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I've generated a private key using <a href="https://github.com/exploitagency/vanitygen-plus" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>vanitygen</code> command</a> by:</p>
<pre><code>$ ./vanitygen 11
Difficulty: 256
Pattern: 11                                                                    
Address: 114beUkusDnzqxif5BbESZMNo6T5N27...
Privkey: 5JeApQGQCCEp1K3rjXr8vDcEWMFw2Agzj2YZnN51zZC37Sw7...
</code></pre>
<p>Is it possible to convert a generated Privkey to BIP39 mnemonic words or entropy (hex)?</p>
<p>As the app/wallet which I'm using only accept BIP39 mnemonic words to import a wallet and I would like to create a wallet using a <code>vanitygen</code> utility.</p>

<private-key><mnemonic-seed><vanitygen>
Is it possible to you convert privkey to BIP39 mnemonic (or entropy)?
kenorb
# Is it possible to you convert privkey to BIP39 mnemonic (or entropy)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-09)

I've generated a private key using [`vanitygen` command](https://github.com/exploitagency/vanitygen-plus) by:

```
$ ./vanitygen 11
Difficulty: 256
Pattern: 11                                                                    
Address: 114beUkusDnzqxif5BbESZMNo6T5N27...
Privkey: 5JeApQGQCCEp1K3rjXr8vDcEWMFw2Agzj2YZnN51zZC37Sw7...

```

Is it possible to convert a generated Privkey to BIP39 mnemonic words or entropy (hex)?

As the app/wallet which I'm using only accept BIP39 mnemonic words to import a wallet and I would like to create a wallet using a `vanitygen` utility.

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


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-10-09. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

So far as I know this isn't possible.

The mnemonic phrase is hashed to get a seed number. Hashing algorithms are one-way algorithms.

See [BIP39](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki)

> To create a binary seed from the mnemonic, we use the PBKDF2 function with a mnemonic sentence (in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the password and the string "mnemonic" + passphrase (again in UTF-8 NFKD) used as the salt. The iteration count is set to 2048 and HMAC-SHA512 is used as the pseudo-random function. The length of the derived key is 512 bits (= 64 bytes).

> This seed can be later used to generate deterministic wallets using BIP-0032 or similar methods.

---

Related:

[is PBKDF2 reversible?](https://crypto.stackexchange.com/q/77513/52982)


---

