Discuss the evolution of mnemonic words from wallet.dat to HD wallet to OSKey, and analyze how to unify the key derivation path of the multi-chain ecosystem. This article originates from an article written by Foresight News, organized, compiled and written by Dongzhong.
(Preliminary summary: MetaMask will update the "helpless mnemonic" function, ConsenSys acquires Web3Auth to announce a new era of wallets)
(Background supplement: Los Angeles wildfires burned down wallets and mnemonics, how to prevent your crypto wealth from being burned to ashes? )

Contents of this article

Mnemonic is a standardized protocol that uses human-friendly natural language to store blockchain identities. Through standardization, it can be universally migrated between wallets from different manufacturers.

Let’s extract keywords, natural language and standardization. The natural language we use is Chinese, English, etc. The standardized instructions mean that the mnemonic phrase is universal between wallets and will not become inoperable just because the wallet is changed.

Wallet example

We take the MetaMask browser plug-in wallet as an example. MetaMask is currently the most widely used EVM ecological wallet. Most wallets function the same way. The wallet mainly implements two functions in the mnemonic phrase. When opening the wallet for the first time, the user will be asked to choose how to use it, generate a new mnemonic phrase or import a mnemonic phrase.

Generate mnemonics

Import mnemonics

Why are mnemonics needed

Here is a brief background introduction to the history of the wallet. We analyze the origin and role of mnemonics from history.

Qt Wallet

In the early days, there was no mnemonic phrase. If you need to back up your wallet, you need to back up a file wallet.dat. Every time there is a new transaction, a new private key will be generated in this file. If you forget to back up this file after a transaction or the file is damaged, and you import the previous backup for use, unfortunately some assets will be lost forever. This is the earliest blockchain wallet, a desktop software, now also called Bitcoin Core, and it looks like this.

HD Wallet

Everyone quickly felt that the method of backing up the wallet.dat file was unreliable, so BIP32 was created With the protocol, we no longer need to back up the wallet.dat file after every transaction, we only need to back up the root seed once. All private keys are derived from this root seed. After backing up once, you no longer have to worry about losing some assets.

Root seed mnemonic and derivation path

The root seed is a 128-256-bit random number, which is inconvenient to remember, so the BIP39 protocol was created. Display the root seeds in the form of mnemonics. Mnemonic phrases consist of 12-24 words.

The derivation path is the specific account number under the mnemonic phrase, such as m/44’/60’/0’/0/0 for Ethereum and m/44’/0’/0’/0/0 for Bitcoin. Manage multiple blockchain assets through one mnemonic phrase.

OSKey Introduction

OSKey, which stands for One Seed Key, is a key derivation scheme designed to unify and simplify the management of encrypted assets in a multi-chain world. Its core concept is "One Seed for All Chains, All for One Key", that is, "a set of mnemonic words travels through all chains, and all chains share a set of private keys." By using a fixed set of rules, OSKey is able to derive deterministic and compatible keys and addresses for different blockchains from a single mnemonic phrase.

OSKey derivation path

The OSKey scheme follows the hierarchical deterministic structure of BIP-44, but introduces a unique purpose field 10086’ to distinguish it from the traditional BIP-44 path (whose purpose is usually 44’). The derivation path of OSKey is as follows:

m / 10086′ / coin_type’ / account’ / change / address_index

What problem does OSKey solve?

In traditional multi-chain wallets, the derivation paths of different chains are often not uniform. For example, EVM-compatible chains typically use m/44’/60’/0’/0/0, while Solana uses m/44’/501’/0’. This inconsistency brings troubles to users and developers. Users may encounter path incompatibility issues when migrating assets between different wallets, leading to the illusion that assets are "lost."

OSKey provides a unified derivation standard for all supported chains by enforcing the use of 10086′ as the purpose field. Whether it is the EVM chain, Solana or other public chains in the future, keys will be generated under the framework of m/10086’/…. This ensures that users only need to back up a set of mnemonic words to restore and manage their assets on all chains in any wallet that supports OSKey, greatly improving the user experience and the convenience and security of asset management.

Summary

From wallet.dat to HD wallet, to the popularization of mnemonic words, every evolution is to allow users to manage their digital assets more safely and conveniently. The emergence of OSKey is the continuation and deepening of this concept. By unifying the derivation path, it solves a core pain point in the multi-chain ecosystem and lays a solid foundation for building a seamless and interoperable Web3 world.