GreyWallet

Control

Derivation

How a phrase becomes a specific account. Path, coin type, and why restore fails when the path is wrong.

Derivation is the rule that turns a recovery phrase into keys and addresses. The phrase is the root. The derivation path is the location in the tree. Change the path, and you land on a different account — even with the same phrase. That is why GreyWallet exposes the path during create and import.

What a path is

A typical BIP-44-style path looks like m / purpose' / coin_type' / account' / change / address_index. The apostrophe marks a hardened level. You do not need to memorize the standard to use GreyWallet, but you do need to treat the path as exact. One different number is a different account.

  • purpose — commonly 44' for BIP-44.
  • coin_type — the chain family. See coin types below.
  • account — the account index GreyWallet lets you set. This is the “Account index” in the app.
  • change and address_index — lower levels that produce receive addresses under that account.

Family defaults (SLIP-0044 coin types)

Each GreyWallet family has a default path. Typical coin types: Bitcoin 0, Litecoin 2, Dogecoin 3, Ethereum and other EVM (including Cronos) 60, Solana 501, Aptos and Movement 637, Sui 784, XRP 144, Tron 195. Treat these as defaults to review, not as a guarantee that every account you have ever used sits on the default. Some wallets historically used other paths. If yours did, enter that path on import.

When to edit the path

  1. 01

    Restore

    The original wallet used a custom path. Enter that path or the account will not appear. The phrase can be correct and the balances still empty.

  2. 02

    Place an account off the default

    You want this account off the family default on purpose. Set the path deliberately. Record it with the phrase and index.

  3. 03

    New wallet, no special requirement

    Keep the family default. Do not invent a path without a reason.

Path is not a password

A derivation path does not add a security grade on top of the phrase. Anyone with the phrase and the path can derive the same account. The path’s job is location: which branch of the tree you are using. GreyWallet cannot infer a path you did not save. Support cannot look it up.

Account index is the account' level of this path. It is documented separately because it is the control most wallets hide. See Account index.

← Recovery phraseAccount index →