What Is a Brain Wallet & How to Create a Secure One?
There are many types of wallets in the market, such as HD wallets and Multi-Sig wallets, designed to secure crypto funds.
However, these wallets can be so secure that even the owner may struggle to access their funds due to the complexity of the passphrase (also known as a recovery phrase or seed phrase) used by the wallet.
To address this challenge, the concept of a Brain Wallet emerged, allowing users to create their own passphrase.
What Is Brain Wallet?
A wallet’s main function is to store your crypto funds securely by safeguarding the Private key, which ensures you are the owner of the funds, and the Public key, which is used to send and receive funds.
The Public key is derived from the Private key, so if the Private key is compromised, your funds are at risk.
Typically, wallets use a passphrase to protect the Private key — a 12 to 24-word sentence or phrase used to generate the Private key.
If the passphrase is lost or forgotten, accessing your funds can become impossible.
You can lose the passphrases in some natural calamities like flood fire or just put it somewhere and forget later where you put it, and the passphrase is even harder to remember.
So what if the passphrase chosen by you is used to create a Private key?
The Brain Wallet made this idea become a reality.
A Brain wallet is nothing but a wallet that uses the passphrase created by the user for creating Private and Public keys; these passphrases are easy to remember because a user created it and, at the same time, hard to crack by any third party.
Basically, Brain Wallet allows you to create the passphrase instead of creating one automatically, but you have the responsibility to create a strong passphrase.
How Does a Brain Wallet Work?
As mentioned above, a Brain Wallet lets you choose the passphrase instead of using one automatically generated by the wallet.
A passphrase typically contains a series of random words, ranging from 4 to 24 words long. It could be anything meaningful to you, such as an important date, number, or phrase that only you know.
Once you input your chosen passphrase into the Brain Wallet, it hashes the passphrase using the SHA-256 script algorithm, which is considered nearly impossible to reverse-engineer. This hash is then used to create both the Private and Public keys.
With your Private and Public keys generated, you can securely store your funds, knowing that the keys are protected by a passphrase stored only in your mind.
How To Create a Bitcoin Brain Wallet?
You can use Bitcoin wallet software like Electronium, Mycelium, and Armory to create Brain wallet.
However, in this post, I’ll show you how to create a Bitcoin Brain Wallet using two platforms.
The first method is through Bitaddress.org.
Bitaddress is a platform that is made for creating a paper wallet that also allows you to create a Bitcoin brain wallet.
The process is simple: just enter and confirm your passphrase and your Private and Public keys will appear on the screen.
The second method is using Brainwallet.io.
The Brainwallet.io differs from Bitaddress by offering a layer of protection to your passphrase called “SALT”. Also, they ensure that all the records you type are not recorded on any servers.
The “SALT” feature allows you to add extra elements like a username, password, or personal information to the passphrase, making it even harder for third parties to crack.
After filling in the passphrase and Salt, click on the generate button, and your wallet's Private and Public keys arrive on the screen.
You can easily use the Private and Public keys to send and receive Bitcoin funds, but before creating a Brain wallet, you should consider some security advice to secure your Brain wallet.
- Avoid using easily guessable passphrases like your name, date of birth, or favorite book quotes. Instead, combine two or three unrelated elements.
- Use a BIP32 generator for your Brain Wallet, as it employs a slow hashing method that is more resistant to attacks.
- Consider using the Mnemonic Pegging technique to help remember your passphrase.
Now you know what a Brain Wallet is and how to create one, and here I listed some Advantages of a Brain Wallet.
Advantages Of Brain Wallet
Hard to hack
Only you know the passphrase, and there are no written records, reducing the risk of online hacking.
Easy to Use
Unlike other wallets, a Brain Wallet doesn’t depend on software or hardware, making it easier to set up and use.
Ok, these are the advantages of Brain Wallet, but as you know, nothing in this world is perfect as well as Brain Wallet.
So here are some Disadvantages of Brain Wallet.
Disadvantages of Brain Wallet
Depends on Your Mental Health
If you suffer from conditions like amnesia or dementia, you risk losing access to your funds.
Life at Stake
If someone discovers you have significant funds in a Brain Wallet, you could become a target for kidnapping.
No Backups
Since the passphrase is stored only in your memory, there’s no written backup. If you forget your mnemonic phrase, your funds are lost forever.
Final Thought…
A Brain Wallet is a great solution for securely storing your Bitcoins.
However, it’s crucial to create a strong passphrase to minimize the risk of attacks.
Keep in mind that there are programs continuously running, trying to crack passphrases by combining frequently used words, common names, and other variations.
So, always prioritize security when creating your Brain Wallet.
