Electrum Seed for imported wallet

[Aveatrex]

Hello guys,
I just wanted to ask why there isn't a seed given/created when you import a wallet using private keys? I imported my wallet with them and I did set a password but can't seem to find anything about a seed. Is that normal? If yes,is there a way to get a seed so that I have another way of backup of my funds?
Thank you in advance.

[Abdussamad]

Seed is for deterministic wallets where all the private keys are deterministically derived from the seed. In your case you imported a totally random private key.

My suggest is to create a new deterministic wallet and then sweep your private key. This way you get the seed backup you seek.

[bob123]

I just wanted to ask why there isn't a seed given/created when you import a wallet using private keys?
I imported my wallet with them and I did set a password but can't seem to find anything about a seed. Is that normal?

First, you have to understand how seeds work.
A mnemonic seed is a 'big random number'. This number is then encoded into words (your 12/18/24 word mnemonic seed).
All private keys inside a wallet created with this seed are derived from this 'big random number'.

You only have imported a private key. There is no way to find out if there is a seed which would reproduce this address.


So.. yes. It is normal.

If yes,is there a way to get a seed so that I have another way of backup of my funds?

The only way to 'get a mnemonic seed' is to create a new (HD) wallet. Most wallets nowadays are BIP39-compatible HD wallets.
So, to backup your coins with a mnemonic seed, choose a wallet software, create a new wallet, backup your seed and send your funds over to that wallet.

[Abdussamad]

FYI electrum's seed mnemonic is not bip39. You can only restore your wallet using electrum.

[Aveatrex]

Thank you guys for the clarification.
Just one more question if you please,what is exactly a bip39 wallet? I hear alot this word but can't really understand what it means nor what it adds to have a bip39 wallet.

[TryNinja]

Thank you guys for the clarification.
Just one more question if you please,what is exactly a bip39 wallet? I hear alot this word but can't really understand what it means nor what it adds to have a bip39 wallet.

This BIP describes the implementation of a mnemonic code or mnemonic sentence -- a group of easy to remember words -- for the generation of deterministic wallets.

Source: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki

[Xynerise]

Thank you guys for the clarification.
Just one more question if you please,what is exactly a bip39 wallet? I hear alot this word but can't really understand what it means nor what it adds to have a bip39 wallet.

It refers to BIP 39 which specifies a way to encode a private key in a mnemonic phrase.
Electrum uses a different encoding scheme so the two are not compatible.
Although Electrum's seed versioning system is superior, BIP39 is more popular.