Just recently, Bitcoin developer Entero Positivo released an open-source tool called "BIP 39 Colors" which converts BIP 39 mnemonic words into a set of colors and also enables the reverse conversion from colors to mnemonics. By converting mnemonics into color combinations, it provides a more intuitive and easy-to-remember way to store and recover cryptocurrency wallets.

How does this tool specifically achieve these functions? And how will it affect the storage method of mnemonics? This article will briefly introduce the information and uses of this tool, as well as the potential impact it may have.

What is BIP 39?

BIP 39 was born in 2013 and later became the most popular and commonly used mnemonic format. Its mnemonics are phrases consisting of 12 to 24 words and support encoding of 128-bit and 256-bit random numbers. It also allows the addition of checksum and passphrase to protect private keys. The word list is fixed and contains a total of 2048 words.

The main purpose of BIP 39 is to improve the reliability and security of the mnemonic generation and recovery process. This standard specifies how to generate mnemonics from an entropy pool and requires that mnemonics must meet certain entropy and checksum requirements to ensure their security and uniqueness.

What changes does BIP 39 Colors make to mnemonics?

The developer states that the tool is capable of converting mnemonics consisting of 12 to 24 words into a set of hexadecimal color codes. The codes not only represent the original words but also record the original word positions - which means you can store these colors anywhere: on the walls of your home, as the background color of a blog, or even on children's doodles. They can also be stored in random order and restored to the original BIP 39 mnemonics at any time. "A sentence containing 12 or 24 written words is very obvious, and now many people know what it represents," the developer said.

The author also suggests that for security reasons, users should not use the tool on internet-connected devices. The complete open-source code is available for download on Github, and users can even create their own colors manually using their computers.

More than just colors

In fact, there is more than one encryption method for mnemonic words, not just colors. Although BIP 39 has word lists in 7 languages other than English, most people still prefer to use English mnemonic words in practice. This makes it possible to convert and store mnemonic words between languages to improve security.

Of course, you can also customize the way of conversion to turn mnemonic words into anything easy to remember. However, the problem often lies in the fact that once the method of recovering mnemonic words is forgotten or cracked, it is basically the same as losing the wallet.

Summary

BIP 39 Colors redefine the conversion of mnemonic words based on colors, providing a new cold storage method. With BIP 39 Colors, users can convert mnemonic words into colors and store them in different places. This method is more secure and reliable compared to traditional paper backups or digital backups. In addition, BIP 39 Colors provides open-source code for use in offline environments, minimizing the possibility of malicious actions by tool developers. Overall, BIP 39 Colors offers an innovative and user-friendly way to convert mnemonic words, adding more options for backing up and recovering Bitcoin wallets.