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Role of Checksums in Ethereum Mnemonic Phrases
When creating a mnemonic phrase for Ethereum, they often use a combination of words to store their private keys. Common practice is to include additional characters at the end of each word, known as checksums. This ensures that even if someone obtains the entire original phrase, he will not be able to reconstruct the original 24-word phrase without knowing the corresponding checksums.
But what will happen if we take a closer look at the structure of these seeds? In this article, we will look at whether the 24th character in the Ethereum mnemonic phrase is actually a checksum or just another word.
Mnemonic structure of the opening phrase
A typical Ethereum mnemonic start phrase consists of 24 words. Here is an example:
a1 b2 c3 d4 e5 f6 d7 z8 i9 k10 k11 l12 m13 k14 o15 p16 f17 l18 c19 t20 u21 v22 w23 x24
The first 20 characters are the actual mnemonic phrase, and the last three characters are the checksums.
Check last three characters
Let’s take a closer look at the example you gave. The last three characters of your opening phrase:
x24
At first glance, it may seem that these symbols can be a checksum. However, we need to check whether they actually conform to the expected format.
According to the Ethereum documentation, checksums must consist of 4 hexadecimal numbers separated by a colon (:), and each number must contain exactly 4 digits (for example, “x24:1234567890abcdef”).
Using this rule, let’s try to extract the checksum from your original phrase:
x24 : x43 : x2d : x65
The resulting string does not match the expected format. Four-digit hexadecimal numbers separated by a colon do not exist.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be noted that the 24th symbol in the Ethereum mnemonic phrase is not a checksum, but the second word. Checksums must consist of the last three characters of the mnemonic phrase, but your example shows that they do not follow this format.
If you are creating a mnemonic passphrase for Ethereum, be sure to include all 20 words and make sure that each word contains exactly four hexadecimal digits in its checksum. This will help to avoid confusion and problems when trying to restore the original mnemonic phrase.
Additional Tips
To avoid such problems, consider the following recommendations:
- Use a cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generator (CSPRNG) to generate the seed phrase.
- Include all 20 words in the opening sentence.
- Ensure that the checksum of each word contains exactly four hexadecimal digits.
- Keep your original phrase safe and secure.
By following these guidelines, you can ensure the integrity of your mnemonic phrase and avoid potential problems when using it for Ethereum transactions.
