A Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) wallet has some nice features such as easier backup (instead of needing to backup multiple keystore files and the passwords for each of them).
Are there any implementations of an HD wallet for Ethereum?
4 Answers
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The Lightwallet creates addresses that don't start with 0x. Are they usable? Commented Feb 7, 2016 at 1:35
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For example: I requested 5 addresses from Lightwallet and got: ["8473513ec4b53c6ebe353ab3327c05cc6daad823", "9e89deeca8ddbe7dfd338e64f9dc2e652a95160f", "4fb62834520cff47b9e6d60d9b15299a83cd5521", "2bcf3763459672734b6792f5de250a7cd989fb0a", "d85785cfef3492f7ba6535de8c08a1676075b094"] My comment is related to: ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/505/… Commented Feb 7, 2016 at 1:46
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@AlanWunsche Yes they are usable. Ethereum didn't "standardize" on whether the 0x should be prepended to regular hex addresses, so some libraries and block explorers don't include the 0x. I fixed the "Source" link on ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/505/… and you can see the user still got their funds.– eth ♦Commented Feb 7, 2016 at 2:50
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LightWallet has not been through a comprehensive security review at this point. It is still experimental software, intended for small amounts of Ether to be used for interacting with smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Do not rely on it to store larger amounts of Ether yet– rahulCommented Aug 27, 2017 at 13:58
I only know the mobile Jaxx app wallet for now that can handle Ethereum HD accounts all linked under a mnemonic. It can also handle bitcoin. It's my favorite wallet app for the moment if you only want to receive and send ether and not interact with contracts.
Note that Jaxx is still in beta, so use it with small amounts.
Bitcoin operates under a UTXO (unspent transaction output) system, which necessitates new addresses for each transaction. Ethereum, in contrast, operates on an account based system. While it would be possible to deterministically generate a tree of accounts from a single seed in Ethereum, there's really no need to, because a single account can handle all of your transactions.
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3but wouldn't that be a concern for privacy? i wouldn't want everyone being able to trace back to my source address. at least Bitcoin can obsure it with HD addresses. or am I wrong on this? Commented May 11, 2016 at 17:34
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1You're correct, an HD type approach would provide additional privacy. I'm not aware of anything currently doing that, however. Commented May 11, 2016 at 18:15
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2@NickJohnson Suppose you are using Mist or say an HD client that allowed you to create multiple accounts. You then receive 1 ether into each account (2 total to be clear) and you now want to transfer the entire 2 ether back out to some account. Do all the current eth clients do this as 2 transactions ? i.e. is there a wallet (or library) that looks at all your accounts and works out which account(s) it should use to pay a given TX?– walCommented Oct 26, 2017 at 11:52
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2A single Bitcoin address can also handle all of you transactions (you just keep setting the "change" address to the same UTXO every trx).– SantaCommented Dec 24, 2017 at 17:51
If I understand that right, then you can create HD-wallet yourself using this tool by Ian Coleman.