[Guide] How to create your customized Bitcoin-Address (vanitygen) – step by step

[1miau]

Maybe you have seen a Bitcoin address where the first letters are a word, similar like this:

1fudCz15sHGR8L2YQnaG4JVMjMQpaDo37
1BTCTUnYLskK7N9nXb17wf6oVYMYrX5WHG
1DogemNVw8AZnMf3cB4L1wijGnr9DVKzia
1Fomo7V86nWrjdv6JzU7yavtp5hfzZWsZr
1NewbornSeatQVC9vegVHnxVseNAhhxewb⁽¹⁾


Such addresses are vanity addresses and theoretically, it’s possible to generate every word with a few exceptions, but the number of the selected letters is limited. The reason is because you can use a tool and generate as many addresses as you like until you have found one with the desired combination of letters. The longer your prefix, the less likely a quick hit. Upper case letters are more likely to find than lower case letters. For example, the prefix 1Bitmover would take 2 months for 50% chance. The lower case 1bitmover is 58 times less likely. ⁽²⁾
A few letters are excluded, because these are generally not part of Bitcoin addresses to avoid possible confusions:

l (letter lower L)
I (letter upper I)
O (letter upper O)
0 (number 0)

as well as all umlauts


There are several ways to generate a unique Bitcoin address. However, I recommend using the official version with vanitygen, uploaded by samr7 on Github. There are other ways offered on websites to create a vanity address, but I don’t recommend creating such an address on a website. If you create your address by a third party (the website), there is a possibility that someone can get access to your private keys. There have been problems in the past where bitcoins were stolen from such vanity addresses created on websites because if someone knows your private key he has a chance to steal your Bitcoins from your wallet.
Therefore, please make sure to use the original version, which can be found on Github and you can run it without internet connection. Every website offering a service to create a vanity addresses without split key is dangerous.


That's how it works:

1. Download vanitygen:

First you have to go to Github and download the original files from samr7, you can follow this link:

https://github.com/samr7/vanitygen


You can download the latest version:

vanitygen-0.22-win.zip

The latest version is available here: https://github.com/downloads/samr7/vanitygen/vanitygen-0.22-win.zip






2. Turn off internet connection while generating your Bitcoin address

It’s also possible to create a vanity address when your internet connection is active, but for security reasons no internet connection is recommended. It would be even safer if you run the program on a computer that was never connected to the internet, but you can decide for yourself which security level is sufficient. It's always recommend to prefer high security standards to avoid any problems resulted by hacks because it's always possible that your device is compromised.
If you want maximal security you can generate your vanity address via split-key.


3. Open the Command Prompt / PowerShell

You can start the Command Prompt by a right-click on the Windows icon in the lower left corner of your screen and select Command Prompt (Administrator) or simply using the key combination Windows + R

or

if you do it like that you can skip #4 if you open the Command Prompt directly from where your vanity files are stored:


1. Go to the folder where vanitygen/oclvanitygen is stored.
2. Using Command Prompt: Press CTRL+SHIFT+Right Click on an empty space within the folder (not on the executable/files), click "Open command window here". Now the Command Prompt opens. ^[1]
2. Using Power Shell: Press SHIFT+Right Click on an empty space within the folder (not on the executable/files), click "Open PowerShell window here". Now PowerShell (Command Prompt) opens. ^[2]
3. You can start directly to enter the details you want, like described in step 5.

(source: nc50lc [1], nc50lc [2])


4. Enter paths

This will open the Command Prompt window and start settings for the bitcoin address generation process.

The paths depend on where you have stored your vanitygen files. I have saved these on C:\ in the folder BTC, subfolder vgen. I have to enter the following code to find the vanitygen.exe file:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>cd/
C:\ >cd/BTC/vgen
C:\BTC\vgen>vanitygen.exe

Folder BTC
Subfolder vgen
File name vanitygen.exe

You can try vanitygen.exe or use the file oclvanitygen.exe, it’s up to you which one you prefer. The difference between them is that vanitygen is CPU-based and oclvanitygen GPU-based. For our 4-digit combination, don’t matter if case-sensitive or case-insensitive, vanitygen is sufficient on a normal PC, oclvanitygen tends to be faster, if it works. For the technical background you'll find more information in the original article from 2011: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=25804.0.

Now this should look like this (with the corresponding paths where you have saved your subfolders and files):





When you have entered the file name of the .exe file in the Command Prompt, press Enter.


5. Creation of the address

Now you see a list showing an overview of the available parameters to customize your address:





There are much more comments, if you have time you can try them but for our test a few commands are enough. As an example, I’ll show how to create a Bitcoin address with the first letters "test", everything written in lower case to generate a Bitcoin address that starts with 1test.

There are a few general things to keep in mind: the longer your prefix, the longer the search will take. This is not a problem with 4 digits, but it will take exponentially more time if there are more digits. In particular, if you want exactly the specified upper and lower case (case sensitive), the search takes longer than if upper and lower case would not matter (case insensitive).
If it’s ok for you to have mixed letters, both upper and lower case (TeSt, teST…), you can change it by adding the -i (case insensitive) command.

To create the 1test address, we need the following commands:

-o C:\BTC\vgen\test.txt  (saving the found private and public keys in a text file)
1test  (your selected prefix)

Your command should look like this now:

C:\BTC\vgen>vanitygen.exe -o C:\BTC\vgen\test.txt 1test





If you are ready and have done the steps above, press Enter.





Now, the tool is searching for a public key with corresponding prefix (rate: 1.17 million keys per second). 50% in 2.4 minutes means your probability is 50% to find a public key with 1test in the next 2.4 minutes. The 5.1% is the probability of having found a hit in the already calculated keys so far.

If there is a hit, it will be shown and the search will be stopped. For the next time you can also add the comment -k, to search for multiple hits until you close vanitygen.
Please also be careful and don't exaggerate it, if your PC or laptop may be overtaxed if the performance is not very high and may damage it. Our example of a 4-digit prefix should not be a problem, but with more digits difficulty will increase exponentially to find an address.





And surprise surprise, after a short time (around 2 minutes) vanitygen was successful and found an address:

1testgTQyiDMvtN67kj1w6R6J9dbo6bwd

and following associated private key:

5K9qCsz17Bd1UxtS7HQWc2rKz6ssNaBHMzK8pJvYiDGVYvUSEWg

The result is also stored as .txt file in our folder BTC:





Of course, I won’t use this 1test address because now everyone knows the private key and could steal Bitcoins from it. Therefore: don’t publish your private key anywhere.


6. Save your generated public and private key

Security is always very important when it comes to Bitcoin. Keep your generated private key very safe, because it’s like the password to your Bitcoins. You can write it down on a sheet of paper, store it in a safe place and save it also on an USB stick that you only use for your private keys.


7. Done!

Now, you have successfully created your own Bitcoin address. If you want to access it (like via Electrum) you can have a look here. Make sure to test your address before you send large sums of Bitcoin to it. There is no way to figure out your private key afterwards if you have made a mistake.

In addition, I have created another vanity address, but I don’t tell you the private key:

1miau7e4tFSAGR4TkAJ8n32UMm2yLB9EH



If you like, you can post your customized vanity address here (but please without private key if you are planning to use it).


© 1miau
11.01.2019


Additional links:

Security advice from LoyceV
Vanitygen: Vanity bitcoin address generator/miner release 2011 [v0.22]
Rare address hall of fame


⁽¹⁾ generated by LoyceV
⁽²⁾ on hardware of LoyceV


Update 04/04/2019:

Member Jean_Luc has developed another vanity-address-generator and published it on GitHub: https://github.com/JeanLucPons/VanitySearch

It's much faster than vanitygen and supports besides P2PKH legacy addresses (1..) also SegWit addresses P2SH (3...) and bech32 (bc1q...).

You can check out his announcement on Bitcointalk here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5112311.0.



Translations

Language	translated by	Title
___________________________	_____________________	_______________________________________________________________________
Română (Romanian)	GazetaBitcoin	[GHID] Cum îți creezi o adresă Bitcoin personalizată (vanitygen) – pas cu pas
Deutsch (German)	1miau	So legt ihr euch eine persönliche Bitcoin-Adresse an (vanitygen)
中文 (Chinese)	ericz	一步步创建个性化BTC地址
Pilipinas	Wintersoldier	[Guide] Paaano bumuo ng customized Bitcoin-Address (vanitygen) – step by step
Polski	Tytanowy Janusz	[TUTORIAL] Spersonalizowany adres Bitcoina
العربية (Arabic)	khaled0111	كيفية الحصول على عنوان بيتكوين مميز
Nigeria (Naija)	Chilwell	[Guide]How you go create your customized Bitcoin-Address (vanitygen)–stepbystep

Reserving new translations is currently not available.

[1714078210]

1714078210

[1714078210]

1714078210

[LoyceV]

Nice guide for beginners! Can I add some comments?

Maybe you have seen a Bitcoin address where the first letters are a word, similar like this:

1bitcoinFhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT
1FUDfm8Fhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT
1satoshi8Fhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT

You probably know it already, but these are not valid Bitcoin addresses. Can you replace them by real examples (you can find some here)?

2. Turn off internet connection while generating your Bitcoin address

It’s also possible to create a vanity address when your internet connection is active, but for security reasons no internet connection is recommended. It would be even safer if you run the program on a computer that was never connected to the internet, but you can decide for yourself which security level is sufficient.

Unplugging your internet connection is not enough. Be paranoid and assume your PC is compromised with malware that patiently waits until you go online again. Even if it was never connected to the internet before, you shouldn't connect it afterwards either.
One option to work around this would be using a split key approach, in which the key is generated from an offline LIVE Linux system, and never touches your online PC.

You can write it down on a sheet of paper, store it in a safe place and save it also on an USB stick that you only use for your private keys.

Make sure to TEST IT before funding the address. Don't end up like this case.

There are other ways offered on websites to create a vanity address, but I don’t recommend creating such an address on a website. If you create your address by a third party (the website), there is a possibility that someone can get access to your private keys.

This warning can be a bit bigger: If someone knows your private key, you don't own it and it will get stolen! Any website that offers you vanity addresses without using split key is a SCAM.

Some links to add:
Vanitygen: Vanity bitcoin address generator/miner [v0.22]
Rare address hall of fame

If you like, you can post your customized vanity address here (but please without private key if you are planning to use it.)

My best one:
1NewbornSeatQVC9vegVHnxVseNAhhxewb

[bitmover]

That's a very nice guide indeed.

I never made one for me because I am too paranoid with security. I agree with Loycev,  turning off internet is not enough.

But I think I will make one for me 1bitmover .... Or a 3bitmover...

Sadly vanity gen doesn't work with segwit addresses
Nulius made this for generating a segwit vanity address. I never tested:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2934774.0

[LoyceV]

But I think I will make one for me 1bitmover ...

On my hardware, 1Bitmover would take 2 months for 50% chance. The lower case 1bitmover is 58 times less likely.
That may be worth adding to the OP too: some starting characters are more likely than others.

[1miau]

Nice guide for beginners! Can I add some comments?

Yes, contributing comments are always welcome!

Maybe you have seen a Bitcoin address where the first letters are a word, similar like this:

1bitcoinFhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT
1FUDfm8Fhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT
1satoshi8Fhq5qD3dDfHw6Lq4xdm81q15uT

You probably know it already, but these are not valid Bitcoin addresses. Can you replace them by real examples (you can find some here)?

You are right, I just typed some random combinations to show what I mean. Tomorrow, I'll replace them and create real vanity addresses where the checksum will match. Prefix 1FUD, 1fomo or similar. I can also add some from the hall of fame or your special ones.

2. Turn off internet connection while generating your Bitcoin address

It’s also possible to create a vanity address when your internet connection is active, but for security reasons no internet connection is recommended. It would be even safer if you run the program on a computer that was never connected to the internet, but you can decide for yourself which security level is sufficient.

Unplugging your internet connection is not enough. Be paranoid and assume your PC is compromised with malware that patiently waits until you go online again. Even if it was never connected to the internet before, you shouldn't connect it afterwards either.
One option to work around this would be using a split key approach, in which the key is generated from an offline LIVE Linux system, and never touches your online PC.

Thanks, I'll add more text later to my OP and also link your comment here.

You can write it down on a sheet of paper, store it in a safe place and save it also on an USB stick that you only use for your private keys.

Make sure to TEST IT before funding the address. Don't end up like this case.

Good comment, it's always important to test if before someone plans to send a larger sum to it. I'll also add it to my OP.

There are other ways offered on websites to create a vanity address, but I don’t recommend creating such an address on a website. If you create your address by a third party (the website), there is a possibility that someone can get access to your private keys.

This warning can be a bit bigger: If someone knows your private key, you don't own it and it will get stolen! Any website that offers you vanity addresses without using split key is a SCAM.

Added

If you like, you can post your customized vanity address here (but please without private key if you are planning to use it.)

My best one:
1NewbornSeatQVC9vegVHnxVseNAhhxewb

Nice one, how long did it take?  

But I think I will make one for me 1bitmover ...

On my hardware, 1Bitmover would take 2 months for 50% chance. The lower case 1bitmover is 58 times less likely.
That may be worth adding to the OP too: some starting characters are more likely than others.

Do you know which ones and why? I'll add it also to my OP.

That's a very nice guide indeed.

I never made one for me because I am too paranoid with security. I agree with Loycev,  turning off internet is not enough.

But I think I will make one for me 1bitmover .... Or a 3bitmover...

Sadly vanity gen doesn't work with segwit addresses
Nulius made this for generating a segwit vanity address. I never tested:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2934774.0

I read from LoyceV that he has a list of seldom Bitcoin vanity addresses which he is still searching. Maybe he can include your 1bitmover / 1Bitmover /1BitMover because when he runs it, vanitygen will search all keys anyways.

[khaled0111]

@LoyceV
How much time does it take to generate such address:
1HappyTenthBirthdayBitcoinxvYeM9e

[LoyceV]

1NewbornSeatQVC9vegVHnxVseNAhhxewb

Nice one, how long did it take?  

It takes 25,000 years for 50% chance on my hardware, meaning I can never create another one. And that's another tip: I use a long list of prefixes, 15,000+. I have "1Newborn" on my list, the "Seat" was a coincidence.
Using a long list makes is much more likely to find at least one of the rare prefixes.

Do you know which ones and why? I'll add it also to my OP.

I can't reproduce the details of "why", but you can quite easily test it: just take a prefix and change the first character.
Adding more "ones" (1111111) makes it much harder to find too.

I read from LoyceV that he has a list of seldom Bitcoin vanity addresses which he is still searching. Maybe he can include your 1bitmover / 1Bitmover /1BitMover because when he runs it, vanitygen will search all keys anyways.

Added:

Code:

1Bitmover
1BitMover
1bitmover
1bitMover

Note this:

I don't run it often anymore, but eventually I'll find one. Just to show off of course, as you shouldn't trust anyone else's keys.

@LoyceV
How much time does it take to generate such address:
1HappyTenthBirthdayBitcoinxvYeM9e

This takes about 3 seconds to create a burn address.
1LoseYourLooseCoinsHerexxxy396iE3 for example.

[bitmover]

@LoyceV
How much time does it take to generate such address:
1HappyTenthBirthdayBitcoinxvYeM9e

Lol that is probably not possible to create. All this processing power should be used to mine. You would spend years with a very powerful software and spend too much energy.

The smaller the faster .

I would like to know more about some characters being easier than others. How does this works Loycev? Can you tell more about it?

[khaled0111]

This takes about 3 seconds Tongue
1LoseYourLooseCoinsHerexxxy396iE3

No seriously, some btc were sent from that address to Satoshi's genesis address on the 10th anniversary.
It is not a burn address.
Thank you @vit05

[vit05]

This takes about 3 seconds Tongue
1LoseYourLooseCoinsHerexxxy396iE3

No seriously, some btc were sent from that address to Satoshi's genesis address on the 10th anniversary.
It is not a burn address.

He has not sent anything. This address receives some Bitcoins. One address send bitcoins to 1HappyTenthBirthdayBitcoinxvYeM9e and to the genesis 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa on the same day.

Other fun address that has send some tip to the genesis:

1TheTimeso3Jan2o1911111111116yErJ
1JustMakeBitcoinGreatAgain161GVpC
1WeCanDoTheWorLdBetter111115SaNzZ

[1miau]

Do you know which ones and why? I'll add it also to my OP.

I can't reproduce the details of "why", but you can quite easily test it: just take a prefix and change the first character.
Adding more "ones" (1111111) makes it much harder to find too.

Ok, nice to know, also added to my OP. And I've added some real addresses.

I read the OP, and will read it again carefully to comprehensively catch your ideas.
By now, I am curious that whether the approach will create higher secured address than others created in Blockchain.info's BTC wallets or not.
Would you mind clarifying a little  bit more about the most advantages of vanity address, please.

The split-key process and the guide to turn off Internet connection before creating vanity address, spliting keys are valuable one.

Security of your vanity address depends on how you create it. If you create it while your internet connection is active it might be insecure and I don't recommend it. Like LoyceV said, security is very important and it also depends on how much BTC you want to send to it.
If you import it in Electrum, it won't be safer than Electrum anyways...

Creating vanity addresses is normally not the first reason of getting an address, which is much safer than others. It's more a reason that you create an unique address and can use it for example for small payments. However, it's still possible to create very secure addresses with vanitygen but in my opinion the main reason vanity generators were developed for the ability to genereate customized addresses and add a prefix.

[madnessteat]

~snip~

I saw such unique addresses, but did not know how to generate them. Yet I understood, decided to translate your theme to Russian language thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5096861.msg49216753#msg49216753

I'll try to run vanitygen next weekend on my mining rig. I think I'll need to monitor the equipment if you say the generator needs more performance.

Thank you for your efforts.

[MaoChao]

Just for info: vanitygen generate uncompressed public key (65 bytes long, transactions size will be a bit larger).
https://github.com/OmniLayer/omniwallet/wiki/Converting-between-Compressed-and-Uncompressed-Addresses-and-Private-Keys

[Velkro]

Maybe you have seen a Bitcoin address where the first letters are a word, similar like this:
1fudCz15sHGR8L2YQnaG4JVMjMQpaDo37
1BTCTUnYLskK7N9nXb17wf6oVYMYrX5WHG
1DogemNVw8AZnMf3cB4L1wijGnr9DVKzia
1Fomo7V86nWrjdv6JzU7yavtp5hfzZWsZr

Good option for beign sure vanity address is secure. It demands a lot of work and some knowledge even going step by step with your guide.
There are always people that are not so technically gifted and they need easy alternatives (there are many).
Its compromise between security and ease of use.

Great job tho, very detailed guide.

[mk4]

Oh look, a guide that's actually good and different, not like the typical "how to earn merit" and "how to make quality post" topic. Way to go OP. +1

[LoyceV]

WARNING
User Velkro is a scammer!
Velkro's post (2 posts above this one) promotes his scamsite in his signature. I think it's a big mistake not to show trust on this board, that's why he loves posting in threads like this one, hoping to steal more Bitcoins from naive users.
Check his red trust for Reference links to at least several Bitcoins worth of theft.


NEVER trust a private key created by someone else!

[1miau]

WARNING
User Velkro is a scammer!
Velkro's post (2 posts above this one) promotes his scamsite in his signature. I think it's a big mistake not to show trust on this board, that's why he loves posting in threads like this one, hoping to steal more Bitcoins from naive users.
Check his red trust for Reference links to at least several Bitcoins worth of theft.


NEVER trust a private key created by someone else!

Thanks for your warning, I completely agree with you.

Another reason to show trust to people from outside of the forum (not logged in) and when they click on your reference link show them all trust ratings. Therefore, here are the reference links:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1476782.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=552395.0

[khaled0111]

I would like to translate it and post it on my local board if you don't mind!

Update:

Hey!
Yes, if you want you can translate it  
But don't forget to add a disclaimer to avoid problems of rule 33

Done: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5099219.0
Thank you

[1miau]

I would like to translate it and post it on my local board if you don't mind!

Hey!
Yes, if you want you can translate it  
But don't forget to add a disclaimer to avoid problems of rule 33

[1miau]

UP

feel free to post your created address here (not the private key)