<p>You can use any BIP39 compatible software to enter a mnemonic (12-24 words) and turn it into a seed. Seed is just a number between 1 and 2^256. You can then use this seed to create a Master Private Key. This key then serves as the root of a chain used to create other private keys based on a derivation path.</p>

<p>The whole process is deterministic so same mnemonic and same path will always lead to the same key. Once you have a normal private key you can import it to any bitcoin client and access the funds as usual.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-05T19:45:48.110Z
So, it is NOT mandatory to access the whole HD wallet in order to spend funds from a specific private key inside that wallet, right? I mean, if I have only one of the wallet's private keys, I can spend the funds by using a wallet created at [blockchain.com](https://www.blockchain.com/) for example?
User X
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-06T13:39:52.753Z
@UserX That's right. Check out the Derived addresses table in the bottom of your link. It lists one normal private key for each derivation path.
Mike D
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T09:57:06.080Z
2018-06-04T09:57:06.080Z
Mike D
<p>I'm new to bitcoin and I've recently been reading on the concept of <strong>wallet</strong>. If I understand correctly, a wallet is a collection of one or more pairs <strong>address + private key</strong> (an address is where BTC can be sent to, and a private key is used to spend BTC from its associated address). I'm not sure if there is something between the private key and the address known as <strong>public key</strong>.</p>

<p>If I understand correctly, the difference between <strong>nondeterministic wallets</strong> and <strong>deterministic wallets</strong> is that with non-HD wallets each pair "address + private key" is generated separately, whereas with HD wallets all pairs "address + private key" are generated with a single list of words known as <strong>seed</strong>. </p>

<p>I'm interested in HD wallets but I know almost nothing about them and all the terminology I've found on the internet is very confusing to me. I've found terms like <strong>BIP39 Mnemonic</strong>, <strong>BIP39 Passphrase</strong>, <strong>BIP39 Seed</strong>, <strong>BIP32 Root Key</strong>, <strong>Master Private Key</strong>, <strong>Derivation Path</strong>, <strong>BIP44</strong>, <strong>m/44'/0'/0'/0/0</strong>, and so on (see <a href="https://iancoleman.io/bip39/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">iancoleman.io/bip39</a>, for example). I'd like to be able to organize this into something that makes sense and I can understand.</p>

<p>Once I've created an HD wallet and I have a list of pairs "address + private key", how can I access it and spend funds from a specific private key from the list? Which software shoud I use and what is the easiest way to do it without compromising security?</p>

<bip32-hd-wallets><seed><mnemonic-seed><bip>
Using seed to send bitcoin from a wallet's specific private key
User X
# Using seed to send bitcoin from a wallet's specific private key

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-03)

I'm new to bitcoin and I've recently been reading on the concept of **wallet**. If I understand correctly, a wallet is a collection of one or more pairs **address + private key** (an address is where BTC can be sent to, and a private key is used to spend BTC from its associated address). I'm not sure if there is something between the private key and the address known as **public key**.

If I understand correctly, the difference between **nondeterministic wallets** and **deterministic wallets** is that with non-HD wallets each pair "address + private key" is generated separately, whereas with HD wallets all pairs "address + private key" are generated with a single list of words known as **seed**.

I'm interested in HD wallets but I know almost nothing about them and all the terminology I've found on the internet is very confusing to me. I've found terms like **BIP39 Mnemonic**, **BIP39 Passphrase**, **BIP39 Seed**, **BIP32 Root Key**, **Master Private Key**, **Derivation Path**, **BIP44**, **m/44'/0'/0'/0/0**, and so on (see [iancoleman.io/bip39](https://iancoleman.io/bip39/), for example). I'd like to be able to organize this into something that makes sense and I can understand.

Once I've created an HD wallet and I have a list of pairs "address + private key", how can I access it and spend funds from a specific private key from the list? Which software shoud I use and what is the easiest way to do it without compromising security?

**Tags:** bip32-hd-wallets, seed, mnemonic-seed, bip


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-06-04. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

You can use any BIP39 compatible software to enter a mnemonic (12-24 words) and turn it into a seed. Seed is just a number between 1 and 2^256. You can then use this seed to create a Master Private Key. This key then serves as the root of a chain used to create other private keys based on a derivation path.

The whole process is deterministic so same mnemonic and same path will always lead to the same key. Once you have a normal private key you can import it to any bitcoin client and access the funds as usual.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So, it is NOT mandatory to access the whole HD wallet in order to spend funds from a specific private key inside that wallet, right? I mean, if I have only one of the wallet's private keys, I can spend the funds by using a wallet created at [blockchain.com](https://www.blockchain.com/) for example?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 That's right. Check out the Derived addresses table in the bottom of your link. It lists one normal private key for each derivation path.  

---

