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name: bitcoin-libraries-hdwallet-py description: | hdwallet (Python): HD wallet generator + key derivation. Multi-coin, BIP32/39/44/49/84/86/141. USE WHEN: deriving keys for many cryptocurrencies, scripting key generation in Python. allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Glob

hdwallet (Python)

Pure Python HD wallet library supporting many BIP standards across many cryptocurrencies.

Repo: github.com/hdwallet-io/python-hdwallet (homepage hdwallet.io). The project moved out of the author's personal namespace into the hdwallet-io org; the pre-v3 URL github.com/meherett/python-hdwallet is today a fork of that repo rather than upstream (checked September 2026).

Latest release: v3.6.1 (August 2025); still maintained, with commits on master through February 2026 (checked September 2026).

Install

pip install 'hdwallet>=3'      # 3.6.1 as of September 2026
pip install 'hdwallet[cli]>=3' # plus the `hdwallet` CLI

v3.0.0 (November 2024) was a full rewrite and broke the v2 API. Code written against v2 needs pip install 'hdwallet<3' (last v2 release: 2.2.1, December 2022) or a port to the v3 API below.

Quick example

from hdwallet import HDWallet
from hdwallet.cryptocurrencies import Bitcoin
from hdwallet.hds import BIP84HD
from hdwallet.mnemonics import BIP39Mnemonic
from hdwallet.derivations import BIP84Derivation, CHANGES

hdwallet: HDWallet = HDWallet(
    cryptocurrency=Bitcoin,
    hd=BIP84HD,
    network=Bitcoin.NETWORKS.MAINNET
).from_mnemonic(
    mnemonic=BIP39Mnemonic(mnemonic="abandon abandon ... about")
).from_derivation(
    derivation=BIP84Derivation(
        coin_type=Bitcoin.COIN_TYPE,
        account=0,
        change=CHANGES.EXTERNAL_CHAIN,
        address=0
    )
)

print(hdwallet.address())       # bc1q... (BIP84HD defaults to P2WPKH)
print(hdwallet.private_key())
print(hdwallet.public_key())

Features

• BIP32 derivation (any path, via CustomDerivation(path=...)).
• BIP39 mnemonic (plus Algorand, Electrum-V1/V2, Monero mnemonics).
• BIP44/49/84/86 standard accounts, plus BIP141 semantics.
• Cardano (CIP1852), Electrum and Monero hierarchies.
• WIF, xprv/xpub serialization; BIP38 only via the [cli] extra (separate bip38 package, not the hdwallet import surface).
• Multi-currency: 200+ chains (project's own count, v3.6.1).
• Address types: P2PKH, P2SH, P2TR, P2WPKH, P2WPKH-in-P2SH, P2WSH, P2WSH-in-P2SH, plus non-Bitcoin encodings.

Use cases

• Tooling for key derivation across multiple chains.
• Educational / quick prototypes.
• Server-side bulk key generation (NOT recommended for production signing; use HW or HSM).

Common pitfalls

• Server-side key generation has obvious risks (random source, memory leakage, etc.).
• Multi-currency = different default paths per chain; verify yours.
• v2 idioms (from hdwallet.symbols import BTC, HDWallet(symbol=BTC), from_path(...), p2wpkh_address()) do not work on v3. hdwallet/symbols.py still exists in 3.6.1, so the import succeeds and the failure surfaces later, at the constructor.
• from_mnemonic() takes a mnemonic object (BIP39Mnemonic(...)), not a bare string.
• No BIP85: the library has never shipped sub-seed derivation (absent from the 2.2.1, 3.6.1 and master source trees, checked September 2026). Use a dedicated BIP85 implementation.
• master bumped the PyNaCl floor to >=1.6.2 citing CVE-2025-69277 (January 2026); no tagged release carries that bump as of September 2026.

See also

• python-bitcoinlib/SKILL.md
• bdk-python/SKILL.md
• ../../wallets/hd/SKILL.md
• ../../cryptography/bip32/SKILL.md