What is the safest way to convert a base6 number into a WIF private key?

[findftp]

So I'm planning to throw 99 times with a dice and punch the number into a metal strip or engrave it into marble to produce some bullet proof single address wallet.

Before I go such lengths I want to make sure this approach works. So I want to test each step and even fill this address with a few satoshis and spend them as well before I fill it with more serious amounts.

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
The only way I found is through www.bitaddress.org, but I am not able to review the source and I don't want to rely at one source only.

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

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[hexafraction]

While I have not validated the source of bitaddress myself, it has been validated by others. You can also just generate a private exponent from dice rolls and encode it into Base58Check using an appropriate library and programming language. You'd only need to audit a single function, namely that for Base58Check encoding.

[tspacepilot]

So I'm planning to throw 99 times with a dice and punch the number into a metal strip or engrave it into marble to produce some bullet proof single address wallet.

  Wow, seriously?  Marble engraving?

Before I go such lengths I want to make sure this approach works. So I want to test each step and even fill this address with a few satoshis and spend them as well before I fill it with more serious amounts.

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
The only way I found is through www.bitaddress.org, but I am not able to review the source and I don't want to rely at one source only.

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

I assume you can figure out how to convert your number into 256bit hex?  If so, the following works fine for me:

Code:

b58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'

def base58encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = b58[n%58] + result
    n /= 58
  return result

# https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding
def base58CheckEncode(version, payload):
  s = chr(version) + payload
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(s).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  result = s + checksum
  leadingZeros = countLeadingChars(result, '\0')
  return '1' * leadingZeros + base58encode(base256decode(result))

def privateKeyToWif(key_hex, compressed=False):
  if compressed:
    key_hex=key_hex+'01'
  return base58CheckEncode(0x80, key_hex.decode('hex'))

^^^ That's python, but you could use another language if you want.  In the above, key_hex is a string.  Here's an example of me using it.:

Code:

>>> k="1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
>>> privateKeyToWif(k)
'5HwoXVkHoRM8sL2KmNRS217n1g8mPPBomrY7yehCuXC1115WWsh'
>>> privateKeyToWif(k, compressed=True)
'KwntMbt59tTsj8xqpqYqRRWufyjGunvhSyeMo3NTYpFYzZbXJ5Hp'

[dserrano5]

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
[…]

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

You're on a real operating system, right? If so, you can use bc, the calculator.

Code:

$ bc
bc 1.06.95
Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
For details type `warranty'. 
obase=16
ibase=6
10
6
11
7
12
8
13
9
14
A
15
B
16
B
36212631625312563
9FEE7990BF5

My paper wallets have been created from dice rolls. Chinese ones, so I'm free from any tinkering from the NSA .

[findftp]

So I'm planning to throw 99 times with a dice and punch the number into a metal strip or engrave it into marble to produce some bullet proof single address wallet.

  Wow, seriously?  Marble engraving?

I should expand on this.
I own a metal detector and for a hobby I go to public or private places to scan the soil for historic metallic artifacts.
Very often I find metal discs which people used as some sort of value token (coins )

I would like to bury this marble engraved bitcoin address in a public place (a park, a forest, a field) and make sure it's not detectable with a metal detector.
If I use metal I'm not so sure about my hobby collegues not finding it.
I think it would be pretty safe if only I know where it is burried (and some trusties).
It's not like I want to put all my coins on that address, just a few.
I like the idea that whatever happens to me or my trusties the address is still accesible.
I like the idea that it is possible for someone (a kid digging a hole) to find this thing in let's say 200 years and know what it is and what to do with it.

Before I go such lengths I want to make sure this approach works. So I want to test each step and even fill this address with a few satoshis and spend them as well before I fill it with more serious amounts.

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
The only way I found is through www.bitaddress.org, but I am not able to review the source and I don't want to rely at one source only.

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

I assume you can figure out how to convert your number into 256bit hex?  If so, the following works fine for me:

Code:

b58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'

def base58encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = b58[n%58] + result
    n /= 58
  return result

# https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding
def base58CheckEncode(version, payload):
  s = chr(version) + payload
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(s).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  result = s + checksum
  leadingZeros = countLeadingChars(result, '\0')
  return '1' * leadingZeros + base58encode(base256decode(result))

def privateKeyToWif(key_hex, compressed=False):
  if compressed:
    key_hex=key_hex+'01'
  return base58CheckEncode(0x80, key_hex.decode('hex'))

^^^ That's python, but you could use another language if you want.  In the above, key_hex is a string.  Here's an example of me using it.:

Code:

>>> k="1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
>>> privateKeyToWif(k)
'5HwoXVkHoRM8sL2KmNRS217n1g8mPPBomrY7yehCuXC1115WWsh'
>>> privateKeyToWif(k, compressed=True)
'KwntMbt59tTsj8xqpqYqRRWufyjGunvhSyeMo3NTYpFYzZbXJ5Hp'

Thanks for the code, I go and play with it.

[findftp]

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
[…]

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

You're on a real operating system, right? If so, you can use bc, the calculator.

Well, I hope linux mint 17.2 is real enough

Code:

$ bc
bc 1.06.95
Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
For details type `warranty'. 
obase=16
ibase=6
10
6
11
7
12
8
13
9
14
A
15
B
16
B
36212631625312563
9FEE7990BF5

My paper wallets have been created from dice rolls. Chinese ones, so I'm free from any tinkering from the NSA .

Great! This looks even more promising to me.
Thanks.

[findftp]

I assume you can figure out how to convert your number into 256bit hex? 

Yes, I could do it manually but dserrano5 above pointed me to function 'bc' which I can use on my linux machine.

If so, the following works fine for me:

Code:

b58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'

def base58encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = b58[n%58] + result
    n /= 58
  return result

# https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding
def base58CheckEncode(version, payload):
  s = chr(version) + payload
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(s).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  result = s + checksum
  leadingZeros = countLeadingChars(result, '\0')
  return '1' * leadingZeros + base58encode(base256decode(result))

def privateKeyToWif(key_hex, compressed=False):
  if compressed:
    key_hex=key_hex+'01'
  return base58CheckEncode(0x80, key_hex.decode('hex'))

^^^ That's python, but you could use another language if you want.  In the above, key_hex is a string.  Here's an example of me using it.:

So I've put that code into a file called 'bitoin.py'
Then I entered python and figured I had to import that code as a module(?)
I did this

Code:

import bitcoin

No problem so far.

Code:

>>> k="1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
>>> privateKeyToWif(k)
'5HwoXVkHoRM8sL2KmNRS217n1g8mPPBomrY7yehCuXC1115WWsh'
>>> privateKeyToWif(k, compressed=True)
'KwntMbt59tTsj8xqpqYqRRWufyjGunvhSyeMo3NTYpFYzZbXJ5Hp'

This is where I'm stuck.
I can enter the 'k', but then I get this:

Code:

>>> privateKeyToWif(k)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'privateKeyToWif' is not defined

What am I doing wrong?
I don't have any experience with python. (too many languages to know them all)

[siameze]

Throwing a dice is easy, but converting it into a WIF private key isn't.
[…]

Is there anyone who can give me some other suggestions?

You're on a real operating system, right? If so, you can use bc, the calculator.

Code:

$ bc
bc 1.06.95
Copyright 1991-1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
For details type `warranty'. 
obase=16
ibase=6
10
6
11
7
12
8
13
9
14
A
15
B
16
B
36212631625312563
9FEE7990BF5

My paper wallets have been created from dice rolls. Chinese ones, so I'm free from any tinkering from the NSA .

I like the bc method best, it reeks of simplicity. Thanks for the share.

[tspacepilot]

findftp, if I recall corrctly, to import a python script as a module you need to have it in a directory along with a file calld __init__.py (which is sometimes empty but can include init routines for classes).  To run the code snippet I sent you, you could do one of two things pretty easily:

1) open a python intepreter and just copy/paste in the function defs
2) run the python executable with the -i flag

But, actually, I went ahead and tried it and realized there were two missing methods (countLeadingChars, base256decode) and a missing import (hashlib) in the snippet I gave you.  Here's the entire snippet again with the missing methods included and a shebang line for good measure.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/env python

import hashlib
b58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'

def countLeadingChars(s, ch):
  count = 0
  for c in s:
    if c == ch:
      count += 1
    else:
      break
  return count

def base256decode(s):
  result = 0
  for c in s:
    result = result * 256 + ord(c)
  return result

def base58encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = b58[n%58] + result
    n /= 58
  return result

# https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding
def base58CheckEncode(version, payload):
  s = chr(version) + payload
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(s).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  result = s + checksum
  leadingZeros = countLeadingChars(result, '\0')
  return '1' * leadingZeros + base58encode(base256decode(result))

def privateKeyToWif(key_hex, compressed=False):
  if compressed:
    key_hex=key_hex+'01'
  return base58CheckEncode(0x80, key_hex.decode('hex'))

^^That should work for defining methods, if, say, you put that into a file called bitcoin.py you should now be able to do this to load those definitions and play at the intepreter:

Code:

tsp@computer:/tmp$ python -i bitcoin.py
>>> k="1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
>>> privateKeyToWif(k)
'5HwoXVkHoRM8sL2KmNRS217n1g8mPPBomrY7yehCuXC1115WWsh'
>>> privateKeyToWif(k,compressed=True)
'KwntMbt59tTsj8xqpqYqRRWufyjGunvhSyeMo3NTYpFYzZbXJ5Hp'
>>> 

Let me know if you're still stuck.

[findftp]

Let me know if you're still stuck.

Excellent.
I already found out the hashlib myself but you greatly helped me with the rest.
I tested it with a Base6 number, converted to 256hex through 'bc' and then your script.
The result was the same when I used the strings at bitaddress.org.

I'll donate you and dserrano5 some symbolic satoshis, thanks again.

[tspacepilot]

Excellent.
I already found out the hashlib myself but you greatly helped me with the rest.
I tested it with a Base6 number, converted to 256hex through 'bc' and then your script.
The result was the same when I used the strings at bitaddress.org.

I'll donate you and dserrano5 some symbolic satoshis, thanks again.

Glad you got it working!  I find that -i (to drop you into the interpreter after execution) particularly helpful when debugging python programs.

Satoshis always apprecated (profile address works fine), symbolic or otherwise

[findftp]

Excellent.
I already found out the hashlib myself but you greatly helped me with the rest.
I tested it with a Base6 number, converted to 256hex through 'bc' and then your script.
The result was the same when I used the strings at bitaddress.org.

I'll donate you and dserrano5 some symbolic satoshis, thanks again.

Glad you got it working!  I find that -i (to drop you into the interpreter after execution) particularly helpful when debugging python programs.

Satoshis always apprecated (profile address works fine), symbolic or otherwise

Do you also have a routine to create a bitcoin public address with python?

edit: I think this is what I was looking for

Too bad, way too much source code.
I'm still interested in a routine for public key generation

[tspacepilot]

Sure, to be fair, most of this code was from Ken Sherrif's bitcoins the hard way blog and the linked repo.  I did some modifications myself to make it generate both the compressed and compressed versions and I started modifying it to work on testnet.   Here's the entire script I've been playing with.  You can see that if you just run it it's going to generate a random bitcoin address.  However, if you do as we discussed before, calling it with python -i then you can call the methods you're interested in one-at-time.  Or, you could make your own script at the bottom.  Or, you could go ahead and convert it into a python module.  In any case, here's all the methods I've been using/playing around with.

The method you're looking for are privateKeyToPublicKey, see the bottom of the script for how I call it.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/env python2.7
# for my education, following along with bitcoins the hard way blog post:
# http://www.righto.com/2014/02/bitcoins-hard-way-using-raw-bitcoin.html
import random
import hashlib
import ecdsa
import struct

b58 = '123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz'

# Input is a hex-encoded, DER-encoded signature
# Output is a 64-byte hex-encoded signature
def derSigToHexSig(s):
  s, junk = ecdsa.der.remove_sequence(s.decode('hex'))
  if junk != '':
    print 'JUNK', junk.encode('hex')
  assert(junk == '')
  x, s = ecdsa.der.remove_integer(s)
  y, s = ecdsa.der.remove_integer(s)
  return '%064x%064x' % (x, y)



# Substitutes the scriptPubKey into the transaction, appends SIGN_ALL to make 
# the version of the transaction that can be signed
def getSignableTxn(parsed):
  first, sig, pub, rest = parsed
  inputAddr = base58CheckDecode(pubKeyToAddr(pub))
  return first + "1976a914" + inputAddr.encode('hex') + "88ac" + rest + "01000000"

# Returns [first, sig, pub, rest]
def parseTxn(txn):
  first = txn[0:41*2]
  scriptLen = int(txn[41*2:42*2], 16)
  script = txn[42*2:42*2+2*scriptLen]
  sigLen = int(script[0:2], 16)
  sig = script[2:2+sigLen*2]
  pubLen = int(script[2+sigLen*2:2+sigLen*2+2], 16)
  pub = script[2+sigLen*2+2:]
            
  assert(len(pub) == pubLen*2)
  rest = txn[42*2+2*scriptLen:]
  return [first, sig, pub, rest]   

# Verifies that a transaction is properly signed, assuming the generated scriptPubKey matches
# the one in the previous transaction's output
def verifyTxnSignature(txn):                    
  parsed = parseTxn(txn)      
  signableTxn = getSignableTxn(parsed)
  hashToSign = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(signableTxn.decode('hex')).digest()).digest().encode('hex')
  assert(parsed[1][-2:] == '01') # hashtype
  sig = keyUtils.derSigToHexSig(parsed[1][:-2])
  public_key = parsed[2]
  vk = ecdsa.VerifyingKey.from_string(public_key[2:].decode('hex'), curve=ecdsa.SECP256k1)
  assert(vk.verify_digest(sig.decode('hex'), hashToSign.decode('hex')))


# Verifies that a transaction is properly signed, assuming the generated scriptPubKey matches
# the one in the previous transaction's output
def verifyTxnSignature(txn):                    
    parsed = parseTxn(txn)      
    signableTxn = getSignableTxn(parsed)
    hashToSign = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(signableTxn.decode('hex')).digest()).digest().encode('hex')
    assert(parsed[1][-2:] == '01') # hashtype
    sig = derSigToHexSig(parsed[1][:-2])
    public_key = parsed[2]
    vk = ecdsa.VerifyingKey.from_string(public_key[2:].decode('hex'), curve=ecdsa.SECP256k1)
    assert(vk.verify_digest(sig.decode('hex'), hashToSign.decode('hex')))

# Takes and returns byte string value, not hex string
def varstr(s):
  return varint(len(s)) + s

# Returns byte string value, not hex string
def varint(n):
  if n < 0xfd: return struct.pack('<B', n)
  elif n < 0xffff: return struct.pack('<cH', '\xfd', n)
  elif n < 0xffffffff: return struct.pack('<cL', '\xfe', n)
  else: return struct.pack('<cQ', '\xff', n)


def base58encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = b58[n%58] + result
    n /= 58
  return result

def base58decode(s):
  result = 0
  for i in range(0, len(s)):
    result = result * 58 + b58.index(s[i])
  return result

def base256encode(n):
  result = ''
  while n > 0:
    result = chr(n % 256) + result
    n /= 256
  return result

def base256decode(s):
  result = 0
  for c in s:
    result = result * 256 + ord(c)
  return result

def countLeadingChars(s, ch):
  count = 0
  for c in s:
    if c == ch:
      count += 1
    else:
      break
  return count

# https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Base58Check_encoding
def base58CheckEncode(version, payload):
  s = chr(version) + payload
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(s).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  result = s + checksum
  leadingZeros = countLeadingChars(result, '\0')
  return '1' * leadingZeros + base58encode(base256decode(result))


def base58CheckDecode(s):
  leadingOnes = countLeadingChars(s, '1')
  s = base256encode(base58decode(s))
  result = '\0' * leadingOnes + s[:-4]
  chk = s[-4:]
  checksum = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(result).digest()).digest()[0:4]
  assert(chk == checksum)
  version = result[0]
  return result[1:]

def privateKeyToWif(key_hex, compressed=False):
  if compressed: 
    key_hex=key_hex+'01'
  return base58CheckEncode(0x80, key_hex.decode('hex')) 

def wifToPrivateKey(s):
  b = base58CheckDecode(s)
  return b.encode('hex')

def privateKeyToPublicKey(s, compressed=False):

  sk = ecdsa.SigningKey.from_string(s.decode('hex'), curve=ecdsa.SECP256k1)
  vk = sk.verifying_key

  if compressed:
    from ecdsa.util import number_to_string
    order = vk.pubkey.order
    # print "order", order
    x_str = number_to_string(vk.pubkey.point.x(), order).encode('hex')
    # print "x_str", x_str 
    sign = '02' if vk.pubkey.point.y() % 2 == 0 else '03'
    # print "sign", sign 
    return (sign+x_str)
  else: 
    return ('\04' + vk.to_string()).encode('hex')


def pubKeyToAddr(s,testnet=False):
  ripemd160 = hashlib.new('ripemd160')
  ripemd160.update(hashlib.sha256(s.decode('hex')).digest())
  if testnet:
    return base58CheckEncode(0x6F, ripemd160.digest())
  return base58CheckEncode(0, ripemd160.digest())

def makeRawTransaction(outputTransactionHash, sourceIndex, scriptSig, outputs):
  def makeOutput(data):
    redemptionSatoshis, outputScript = data
    return (struct.pack("<Q", redemptionSatoshis).encode('hex') +
           '%02x' % len(outputScript.decode('hex')) + outputScript)
  formattedOutputs = ''.join(map(makeOutput, outputs))
  return (
    "01000000" + # 4 bytes version
    "01" + # variant for number of inputs
    outputTransactionHash.decode('hex')[::-1].encode('hex') + # reverse OutputTransactionHash
    struct.pack('<L', sourceIndex).encode('hex') +
    '%02x' % len(scriptSig.decode('hex')) + scriptSig +
    "ffffffff" + # sequence
    "%02x" % len(outputs) + # number of outputs
    formattedOutputs +
    "00000000" # lockTime
  )

def makeSignedTransaction(privateKey, outputTransactionHash, sourceIndex, scriptPubKey, outputs, compressed=False):
  myTxn_forSig = (makeRawTransaction(outputTransactionHash, sourceIndex, scriptPubKey, outputs) + "01000000") # hash code
  s256 = hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(myTxn_forSig.decode('hex')).digest()).digest()
  sk = ecdsa.SigningKey.from_string(privateKey.decode('hex'), curve=ecdsa.SECP256k1)
  sig = sk.sign_digest(s256, sigencode=ecdsa.util.sigencode_der) + '\01' # 01 is hashtype
  pubKey = privateKeyToPublicKey(privateKey,compressed)
  scriptSig = varstr(sig).encode('hex') + varstr(pubKey.decode('hex')).encode('hex')
  signed_txn = makeRawTransaction(outputTransactionHash, sourceIndex, scriptSig, outputs)
  # verifyTxnSignature(signed_txn)
  return signed_txn


def addrHashToScriptPubKey(b58str):
    assert(len(b58str) == 34)
    # 76     A9      14 (20 bytes)                               88             AC
    return '76a914' + base58CheckDecode(b58str).encode('hex') + '88ac'

# private_key = hex(i)
#for i in range(1,100):
#  private_key = hex(i)[2:].zfill(64)
#  print privateKeyToWif(private_key), "2011-09-04T00:00:01Z"

import sys
import getopt

private_key = None

try:
  opts, args = getopt.gnu_getopt(sys.argv[1:], "dtr:", ["dec","testnet","mrt"])
except getopt.GetoptError as err:
  print(err)
  sys.exit(2)

testnet=False
deckey=False
mrt=False

for o,a in opts:
  if o in ("-t", "--testnet"):
    testnet=True
  if o in ("-d","--dec"):
    deckey=True 
  if o in ("-r","--mrt"):
    mrt=True 


if len(args)>0:
  if deckey: 
    private_key = args[0].zfill(64)
  else: 
    private_key = '%064x' % int(args[0],16)
else: private_key = ''.join(['%x' % random.randrange(16) for x in range(0,64)])

print "A private key: ", private_key

print "The uncompressed WIF: ",privateKeyToWif(private_key)
print "The WIF: ",privateKeyToWif(private_key, compressed=True)

public_key = privateKeyToPublicKey(private_key)
cpublic_key = privateKeyToPublicKey(private_key,compressed=True)
print "The uncompressed bitcoin pubkey: ", public_key
print "The bitcoin pubkey: ", cpublic_key
print "The uncompressed bitcoin address: ", pubKeyToAddr(public_key,testnet=testnet)
print "The bitcoin address: ", pubKeyToAddr(cpublic_key,testnet=testnet)

[findftp]

Lol, bussy for hours reading stuff and trying things.
Nice to figure out you can just feed this script a private hex key as an argument

But, always nice to learn the inner workings of bitcoin.
Thanks again, this was precisely what I wanted.

[dserrano5]

I'll donate you and dserrano5 some symbolic satoshis, thanks again.

Thank you!