<p>If you have the parent public key and the (non hardened) index you can generate the child public key and verify that it matches. You can’t do it without the index I’m afraid since the derivation involves a one way hashing step.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-10T18:04:31.450Z
Ohh okay then I'll go with the indexes itself. Thanks 
gokul656
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-09T18:23:06.933Z
2022-07-09T18:23:06.933Z
Mike D
<p>To derive child keys, two conditions have to be met / satisfied:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The extended parent public key is available (public key &amp; chain code)</p>
</li>
<li><p>The derivation path uses non-hardened indexes</p>
</li>
<li><p>(optional) know the derivation path; if you don't know it, it will take you time to iterate through the various combination (i.e. brute force), but typically they are simply incremented, so it shouldn't be costly.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Reference <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#public-parent-key--public-child-key" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Public parent key → public child key</a> in BIP-0032.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-09T21:26:35.840Z
2022-07-09T21:26:35.840Z
miketery
<p>I have a extended private key, I'm creating multiple child private key / public key pair. If want to verify that the child public is derived from the parent public key. Can I do that? Thanks in advance!</p>

<private-key><bip32-hd-wallets><public-key>
Can I verify a child public key derived from its parent public key without involving any private keys and child index?
gokul656
# Can I verify a child public key derived from its parent public key without involving any private keys and child index?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-06)

I have a extended private key, I'm creating multiple child private key / public key pair. If want to verify that the child public is derived from the parent public key. Can I do that? Thanks in advance!

**Tags:** private-key, bip32-hd-wallets, public-key


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-07-09. Score: 3

If you have the parent public key and the (non hardened) index you can generate the child public key and verify that it matches. You can’t do it without the index I’m afraid since the derivation involves a one way hashing step.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ohh okay then I'll go with the indexes itself. Thanks   

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### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-09. Score: 0

To derive child keys, two conditions have to be met / satisfied:

1. The extended parent public key is available (public key & chain code)
2. The derivation path uses non-hardened indexes
3. (optional) know the derivation path; if you don't know it, it will take you time to iterate through the various combination (i.e. brute force), but typically they are simply incremented, so it shouldn't be costly.

Reference [Public parent key → public child key](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawiki#public-parent-key--public-child-key) in BIP-0032.


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