<p>I understand not all private keys are usable as they fall outside of Secp256k1, but do they really matter when the master node or path being derived in BIP44 generates a private key which isn't usable as those nodes (keys at that node) are not supposed to hold funds?</p>

<p>Or is it just the actual address (external/internal chain of addresses under an account) that matters as those are the ones supposed to hold funds?</p>

<p>Or hitting a private key outside of Secp256k1 somehow translate into child keys being outside of Secp256k1 as well?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-25T04:35:26.993Z
AFAIK, it's not about BIP44. It's about BIP32 child key derivation. A child privkey is not a hash, it's actually derivated thru elliptic curve calculations.
Chris Chen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-25T11:40:40.633Z
@ChrisChen You probably misunderstood. I meant to ask about nodes (which are essentially private keys) which will never hold funds and simply used as a node in structure of BIP32 (here BIP44)
Ashfame
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-25T15:46:36.230Z
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#Private_parent_key_rarr_private_child_key What is the term in BIP32 that you're referring to as keys at that node?
MCCCS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-25T16:04:36.290Z
@MCCCS Basically childs are what I am referring as nodes here.
Ashfame
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-25T17:25:51.103Z
"In case parse256(IL) ≥ n [where n is the curve order] or ki = 0, the resulting key is invalid, and one should proceed with the next value for i. (Note: this has probability lower than 1 in 2^127.) "So if child privkey is too large you should do that.
MCCCS
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T06:58:31.417Z
@MCCCS I get that but its only for actual childs that gonna hold funds. For other childs, that are just being used to derive other childs, does it really matter for them to be valid is my question
Ashfame
<private-key><development><bip44>
Do invalid keys in BIP44 path matter?
Ashfame
# Do invalid keys in BIP44 path matter?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-24)

I understand not all private keys are usable as they fall outside of Secp256k1, but do they really matter when the master node or path being derived in BIP44 generates a private key which isn't usable as those nodes (keys at that node) are not supposed to hold funds?

Or is it just the actual address (external/internal chain of addresses under an account) that matters as those are the ones supposed to hold funds?

Or hitting a private key outside of Secp256k1 somehow translate into child keys being outside of Secp256k1 as well?

**Tags:** private-key, development, bip44

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: AFAIK, it's not about BIP44. It's about BIP32 child key derivation. A child privkey is not a hash, it's actually derivated thru elliptic curve calculations.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 You probably misunderstood. I meant to ask about nodes (which are essentially private keys) which will never hold funds and simply used as a node in structure of BIP32 (here BIP44)  
> **username_2**: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#Private_parent_key_rarr_private_child_key What is the term in BIP32 that you're referring to as keys at that node?  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Basically childs are what I am referring as nodes here.  
> **username_2**: "In case parse256(IL) ≥ n [where n is the curve order] or ki = 0, the resulting key is invalid, and one should proceed with the next value for i. (Note: this has probability lower than 1 in 2^127.) "So if child privkey is too large you should do that.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 I get that but its only for actual childs that gonna hold funds. For other childs, that are just being used to derive other childs, does it really matter for them to be valid is my question  

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## 0 answers

