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MMGen = Multi-Mode GENerator
============================
***Note: This is the source code repository of the MMGen wallet system. For an
easier way to install MMGen, check out the prebuilt bootable USB images on the
[MMGenLive][8] home page.***
# MMGen = Multi-Mode GENerator
##### a Bitcoin cold storage solution for the command line
### Description
@ -10,30 +14,29 @@ scripts work in tandem with a reference Bitcoin Core daemon (bitcoind) running
on both an online and an offline computer to provide a robust solution for
securely storing, tracking, sending and receiving Bitcoins. To track address
balances without exposing keys on the online computer, MMGen relies on Bitcoin
Core's newly included watch-only address support. Ordinary Bitcoin addresses
can also be tracked and spent, creating an easy migration path from other
wallets.
Core’s watch-only address support. Ordinary Bitcoin addresses can be tracked
and spent too, creating an easy migration path from other wallets.
MMGen is designed for reliability by having the reference Bitcoin Core daemon,
rather than less-tested third-party software, do all the "heavy lifting" of
tracking and signing transactions. It's also designed for privacy: unlike some
other online/offline wallet solutions, MMGen plus Bitcoin Core is a **completely
self-contained system** requiring no external Internet resources except for the
Bitcoin network itself to do its work: no third parties are involved, and thus
no information regarding which addresses you're tracking is leaked to the
outside world.
rather than less-tested third-party software, do all the “heavy lifting” of
tracking and signing transactions. It’s also designed for privacy: unlike some
other online/offline wallet solutions, MMGen plus Bitcoin Core is a completely
self-contained system that makes **no connections to the Internet** except for
the Bitcoin network itself: no third parties are involved, and thus no
information about which addresses you’re tracking is leaked to the outside
world.
Like all deterministic wallets, MMGen can generate a virtually unlimited number
of address/key pairs from a single seed. Your wallet never changes, so you need
back it up only once. Transactions are signed offline: your seed and private
keys never touch an online computer.
At the heart of the MMGen system is the seed, the "master key" providing access
At the heart of the MMGen system is the seed, the “master key” providing access
to all your Bitcoins. The seed can be stored in five different ways:
1. as a password-encrypted wallet. For password hashing, the crack-resistant
scrypt hash function is used. Scrypt's parameters can be tuned on the
command line to make your wallet's password virtually impossible to crack
scrypt hash function is used. Scrypt’s parameters can be tuned on the
command line to make your wallet’s password virtually impossible to crack
should it fall into the wrong hands. The wallet is a tiny, six-line text
file suitable for printing or even writing out by hand;
@ -48,7 +51,7 @@ to all your Bitcoins. The seed can be stored in five different ways:
tunable parameters, making it much harder to crack than standard SHA-256
brainwallets; or
5. as "incognito data", an MMGen wallet encrypted to make it indistinguishable
5. as “incognito data”, an MMGen wallet encrypted to make it indistinguishable
from random data. This data can be hidden in and retrieved from a
random-data filled disk partition or file at an offset of your choice.
This makes it possible to hide a wallet in a public location -- on cloud
@ -60,26 +63,25 @@ The best part is that all these methods can be combined. If you forget your
mnemonic, for example, you can regenerate it and your keys from the stored
wallet or seed file. Correspondingly, a lost wallet can be regenerated from the
mnemonic or seed or a lost seed from the wallet or mnemonic. Keys from a
forgotten brainwallet can be recovered from the brainwallet's corresponding
forgotten brainwallet can be recovered from the brainwallet’s corresponding
wallet file.
#### Why MMGen is not a BIP32 wallet
Most popular deterministic wallets use the elliptic-curve-based BIP32 or
Electrum protocols to generate their key/address pairs. MMGen, on the other
hand, uses a much simpler system: a simple SHA-512 hash chain with double
SHA-256 branches. One advantage of this system is that you can recover your
keys from an MMGen seed without the MMGen program itself using standard
command-line utilities. But the most important advantage is security:
elliptic-curve wallets are not only cryptographically weaker than hash-bashed
ones but have a dangerous flaw -- their 'master public key' feature allows an
attacker to recover any key in the wallet from a single compromised key (for a
detailed discussion of this problem, see Vitalik Buterin's article
[Deterministic Wallets, Their Advantages and Their Understated Flaws][7]).
Though the master public key feature of BIP32 and Electrum wallets is undeniably
convenient, MMGen makes up for its absence by allowing you to save a virtually
unlimited number of Bitcoin addresses for future use in an address file, which
addresses may safely be made public.
hand, uses a much simpler system: a SHA-512 hash chain with double SHA-256
branches. One advantage of this system is that you can recover your keys from
an MMGen seed without the MMGen program itself using standard command-line
utilities. But the most important advantage is security: elliptic-curve wallets
are not only cryptographically weaker than hash-bashed ones but have a dangerous
flaw -- their “master public key” feature allows an attacker to recover any key
in the wallet from a single compromised key (for a detailed discussion of this
problem, see Vitalik Buterin’s article [Deterministic Wallets, Their Advantages
and Their Understated Flaws][7]). Though the master public key feature of BIP32
and Electrum wallets is undeniably convenient, MMGen makes up for its absence by
allowing you to save a virtually unlimited number of Bitcoin addresses for
future use in an address file, which addresses may safely be made public.
### Download/Install
@ -108,3 +110,4 @@ Donate: 15TLdmi5NYLdqmtCqczUs5pBPkJDXRs83w
[5]: https://github.com/mmgen/mmgen/wiki/MMGen-Signing-Key
[6]: https://github.com/mmgen/mmgen/wiki/MMGen-command-help
[7]: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/8396/deterministic-wallets-advantages-flaw/
[8]: https://github.com/mmgen/MMGenLive