BIP44 Derivation Path

BIP44 is the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal that standardizes how hierarchical-deterministic (HD) wallets organize the billions of keys they can derive from a single seed. Building on BIP32, it defines a five-level path so that different wallet software can interoperably find the same addresses from the same recovery phrase.

The five levels

The path format is m / purpose' / coin_type' / account' / change / address_index. Purpose is fixed at 44' to signal this standard. Coin type gives each cryptocurrency its own subtree (0' for Bitcoin), keeping coins from mixing. Account splits funds into independent identities, like separate bank accounts. Change is 0 for receiving addresses and 1 for internal change addresses. Address index enumerates the individual addresses. The apostrophes mark hardened derivation, which strengthens isolation between branches.

Why it matters for recovery

Standardized paths are why you can restore a wallet from its seed in a completely different application and still see your funds. Variants like BIP49 (m/49') and BIP84 (m/84') extend the same idea to nested-SegWit and native-SegWit address types, while BIP86 covers Taproot. A mismatch in expected path is a common reason a correct seed appears to show an empty wallet, so sovereign holders should record which standard their wallet uses.

BIP44 keys descend from the seed you protect with backups such as Shamir's Secret Sharing (SLIP39), and the addresses it produces are ultimately public-key hashes computed with HASH160.