<blockquote>
<p>how did Electrum create a new address?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Electrum, and most modern wallets are Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallets. They derive a series of private-keys from the &quot;master private-key&quot;.</p>
<p>If you always start with the same seed phrase you get the same master private-key. Electrum uses its own unique method for seed phrases. Most wallets with seed-phrases use a different method described in BIP-39</p>
<p>If you use the same &quot;derivation path&quot;, your wallet will always generate the same sequences of private-keys (that is the &quot;deterministic&quot; part) from the master private key.</p>
<p>Different wallet developers sometimes use different derivations-paths. But many of the wallets these developers produce allow the user to specify the derivation-path as part of initial configuration - this allows for compatibility between wallets.</p>
<p>For each private-key there is a public-key. Each public-key corresponds to a Bitcoin-address (in the commonest types of Bitcoin transactions).</p>
<hr />
<p>References</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html" rel="noreferrer">Electrum Seed Phrases</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0039" rel="noreferrer">Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Deterministic_wallet" rel="noreferrer">Deterministic Wallets</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0032" rel="noreferrer">Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 32</a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/extended-keys" rel="noreferrer">Extended keys</a></p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-15T08:31:21.870Z
Great answer! Does that mean that if I restore a wallet on another computer - using the same derivation path - I will get same addresses generates and all fund will be found in the chain? I know there might be an issue with empty blocks of addresses and gap limit. But otherwise it should just work having multiple wallet using the same master key? Right?
Riri
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-15T10:39:16.313Z
@Riri: Yes exactly right.
RedGrittyBrick
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-14T22:34:21.613Z
2021-03-14T22:51:37.010Z
2021-03-14T22:51:37.010Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I've started using Electrum and created my first wallet. I saved the private key seed on a piece of paper.</p>
<p>I also created a new address by going to the Receive tab and clicking &quot;New Address&quot;. I successfully used that address to transfer my coins from my exchange, and they show up in Electrum under the Coins tab. I did this twice successfully with 2 different addresses on the same wallet.</p>
<p>What confuses me is this: how did Electrum create a new address? How is that address related to my private key/seed? When I go to Wallet Information the Master Public Key is completely different from the public keys of the addresses I used in the transactions. If I use a different computer, and I enter my seed phrase into Electrum, will it find my coins? If so, how does it do that based on just my private key?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>

<address><electrum><bip32-hd-wallets><address-generation><seed>
How are Electrum addresses connected to my private key?
Taimoor Ahmad
# How are Electrum addresses connected to my private key?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-14)

I've started using Electrum and created my first wallet. I saved the private key seed on a piece of paper.

I also created a new address by going to the Receive tab and clicking "New Address". I successfully used that address to transfer my coins from my exchange, and they show up in Electrum under the Coins tab. I did this twice successfully with 2 different addresses on the same wallet.

What confuses me is this: how did Electrum create a new address? How is that address related to my private key/seed? When I go to Wallet Information the Master Public Key is completely different from the public keys of the addresses I used in the transactions. If I use a different computer, and I enter my seed phrase into Electrum, will it find my coins? If so, how does it do that based on just my private key?

Thanks.

**Tags:** address, electrum, bip32-hd-wallets, address-generation, seed


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-03-14. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

> how did Electrum create a new address?

Electrum, and most modern wallets are Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallets. They derive a series of private-keys from the "master private-key".

If you always start with the same seed phrase you get the same master private-key. Electrum uses its own unique method for seed phrases. Most wallets with seed-phrases use a different method described in BIP-39

If you use the same "derivation path", your wallet will always generate the same sequences of private-keys (that is the "deterministic" part) from the master private key.

Different wallet developers sometimes use different derivations-paths. But many of the wallets these developers produce allow the user to specify the derivation-path as part of initial configuration - this allows for compatibility between wallets.

For each private-key there is a public-key. Each public-key corresponds to a Bitcoin-address (in the commonest types of Bitcoin transactions).

---

References

* [Electrum Seed Phrases](https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html)
* [Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0039)
* [Deterministic Wallets](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Deterministic_wallet)
* [Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 32](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0032)
* [Extended keys](https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/extended-keys)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Great answer! Does that mean that if I restore a wallet on another computer - using the same derivation path - I will get same addresses generates and all fund will be found in the chain? I know there might be an issue with empty blocks of addresses and gap limit. But otherwise it should just work having multiple wallet using the same master key? Right?  
> **username_1**: @username_2: Yes exactly right.  

---

