Bitcoin Universe · Model 06

Anatomy of a wallet

A wallet holds secrets, not coins. Take one apart, layer by layer: the private key, the public key made from it, the spending rule, the address, the coins it watches for, and the signature that spends them.

Demonstration keys only

Demonstration only. Every key on this page comes from a recovery phrase published in the Bitcoin standards. Anyone can spend coins sent to these addresses. Never send real bitcoin to them, and never type your own recovery phrase or private key into any website.

KEYPUBLIC KEYSCRIPTADDRESSCOINSSIGN
Address type
Layer 1 of 6

Private key material

From key to address

The secret, the active layer, the data path and the signature Simulated coins and payment

Real: key derivation (BIP32 paths m/84', m/86', m/44'), elliptic-curve public keys, HASH160 and the Taproot tweak, scripts, address encodings (bech32, bech32m, Base58Check) and signatures, all checked against the official test vectors. Simulated: the coins the wallet tracks and the message that is signed. Not shown: descriptors, change addresses, fee estimation and how a real wallet stores its secrets.