Create Crypto Wallets

Overview

hdwallet is a Python library and CLI for generating Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) wallets. It supports 200+ cryptocurrencies and lets you go from entropy/mnemonic/seed all the way down to derived private keys, public keys, and addresses, following standard protocols (BIP32/39/44/49/84/86/141, SLIP10, Cardano, Monero, Electrum, etc.) so keys stay compatible with other wallets and services.

Setup Instructions

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install python-dotenv hdwallet[cli]

Usage Instructions

There are two ways to use hdwallet: the hdwallet CLI (fastest for one-off wallet generation) or the Python API (from hdwallet import HDWallet, best when the result needs to be consumed by other code).

Core concepts

A wallet is derived from one of these "master key" sources (pick exactly one):

• Entropy — random bytes (hex), e.g. -e/--entropy
• Mnemonic — human-readable seed phrase, e.g. -m/--mnemonic
• Seed — raw seed bytes (hex), e.g. -s/--seed
• Extended key — -xprv/--xprivate-key or -xpub/--xpublic-key
• Raw private/public key — -prv/--private-key / -pub/--public-key
• WIF — -w/--wif

From the master key, hdwallet derives keys/addresses using an HD standard (-h/--hd, default BIP44) for a given cryptocurrency (-sym/--symbol, default BTC) and network (-n/--network, default mainnet), following a derivation path controlled by -ac/--account, -ch/--change, -ad/--address (or a raw -d/--derivation path).

CLI: discovering options

hdwallet --help
hdwallet list cryptocurrencies      # list all supported cryptocurrency symbols
hdwallet list languages             # list supported mnemonic languages
hdwallet list strengths             # list valid entropy strengths (e.g. 128, 160, 192, 224, 256)

CLI: generating a new mnemonic and entropy

# Generate raw entropy (hex)
hdwallet generate entropy --client BIP39 --strength 128

# Generate a BIP39 mnemonic phrase (12 words for 128-bit strength)
hdwallet generate mnemonic --client BIP39 --words 12 --language english

# Generate a seed from a mnemonic
hdwallet generate seed --client BIP39 --mnemonic "abandon abandon ... about"

CLI: creating a wallet (hdwallet dump)

hdwallet dump derives and prints one wallet's keys/address as JSON. Supply exactly one master-key source flag plus the cryptocurrency/HD/network/derivation options you want:

# New Bitcoin wallet from a freshly generated mnemonic
MNEMONIC=$(hdwallet generate mnemonic --client BIP39 --words 12)
hdwallet dump --symbol BTC --hd BIP44 --network mainnet --mnemonic "$MNEMONIC"

# Ethereum wallet, account 0, address index 0, from an existing mnemonic
hdwallet dump --symbol ETH --hd BIP44 --mnemonic "$MNEMONIC" --account 0 --address 0

# Derive multiple addresses for the same wallet by changing --address
hdwallet dump --symbol BTC --mnemonic "$MNEMONIC" --address 1

Key dump flags:

The output JSON typically includes fields such as cryptocurrency, symbol, network, hd, entropy, mnemonic, seed, root_xprivate_key, root_xpublic_key, xprivate_key, xpublic_key, private_key, wif, public_key, chain_code, address, and the derivation path.

CLI: batch export (hdwallet dumps)

hdwallet dumps is like dump but designed for deriving many addresses/rows at once and exporting as CSV or JSON — useful for generating a range of addresses for one wallet:

hdwallet dumps --symbol BTC --mnemonic "$MNEMONIC" --format json
hdwallet dumps --symbol BTC --mnemonic "$MNEMONIC" --format csv --include-header --delimiter ","

Extra flags vs. dump: -f/--format (csv default or json), -in/--include and -ex/--exclude (pick/drop output fields), -inh/--include-header (CSV header row), -de/--delimiter (CSV delimiter).

Python API

For programmatic wallet generation, use the HDWallet class:

from hdwallet import HDWallet
from hdwallet.hds import BIP44HD
from hdwallet.cryptocurrencies import Bitcoin
from hdwallet.entropies.bip39 import BIP39Entropy, BIP39_ENTROPY_STRENGTHS
from hdwallet.mnemonics.bip39 import BIP39Mnemonic

# 1. Generate fresh entropy, then a mnemonic from it
entropy = BIP39Entropy.generate(strength=BIP39_ENTROPY_STRENGTHS.ONE_HUNDRED_TWENTY_EIGHT)
mnemonic = BIP39Mnemonic.from_entropy(entropy=entropy)  # 12-word phrase

# 2. Build the HD wallet for Bitcoin using BIP44 derivation
wallet: HDWallet = HDWallet(
    cryptocurrency=Bitcoin,
    hd=BIP44HD,
    network="mainnet",
).from_mnemonic(mnemonic=BIP39Mnemonic(mnemonic=mnemonic))

# 3. Read the derived keys/address
print(wallet.mnemonic())        # the mnemonic phrase — BACK THIS UP, it recovers the whole wallet
print(wallet.private_key())     # derived private key (hex)
print(wallet.public_key())      # derived public key (hex)
print(wallet.address())         # derived address for the configured account/change/address index
print(wallet.xprivate_key())    # extended private key (xprv...)
print(wallet.xpublic_key())     # extended public key (xpub...)

Other HDWallet constructors for recovering/loading an existing wallet instead of generating a new one: HDWallet.from_entropy(entropy), HDWallet.from_seed(seed), HDWallet.from_xprivate_key(...), HDWallet.from_xpublic_key(...), HDWallet.from_private_key(...), HDWallet.from_public_key(...), HDWallet.from_wif(...), HDWallet.from_derivation(...).

To enumerate supported cryptocurrencies in code:

from hdwallet.cryptocurrencies import CRYPTOCURRENCIES
print(CRYPTOCURRENCIES.classes())  # list of all supported Cryptocurrency classes

Security

• The mnemonic/entropy/seed/private key is the wallet. Anyone with it has full control of funds. Never print these to shared logs, commit them to version control, or send them over an insecure channel.
• Prefer deriving from a mnemonic you generate once and store securely, rather than regenerating entropy per-session — regenerating creates a brand-new, unrelated wallet each time.
• If writing wallet material to disk, restrict file permissions (e.g. chmod 600) and keep the file out of any directory tracked by git (add it to .gitignore).
• Use a dedicated wallet with a minimal balance for agentic/automated use to limit exposure if the key is ever leaked.

Resources

• Clawhub skill: keepass-cli — store the mnemonic/private keys generated here in a local, password-protected KeePass (.kdbx) database instead of plaintext files. Use it to create an entry per wallet (e.g. title hdwallet:<symbol>:<address>) with the mnemonic/private key in the password/notes field, so secrets are encrypted at rest rather than left in shell history or loose JSON files. Directly install via openclaw skills install @beocca/keepass-cli