What is a derivation path?
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min
In short
A derivation path is an address-like notation that says which key to pull out of a single seed. The same phrase with a different path gives a different account, which is why a restored wallet so often shows a zero balance. Nothing was lost — you are simply looking at another branch of the tree.
Key points
- A hierarchical notation such as m/44'/0'/0'/0/0
- Same phrase, different path, different address
- Each chain has its conventional path
- A zero balance after restore usually means the wrong path
Definition
A notation that points to one key's position in an HD wallet's key tree, where each slash-separated level encodes a purpose, coin type, account and index.
The format is specified. In BIP44 style, m/44'/0'/0'/0/0 reads as purpose / coin type / account / external-or-change / index. Coin type 0 is Bitcoin, 60 is Ethereum, and changing that number alone yields an entirely unrelated key. The apostrophe marks hardened derivation, a stricter and safer variant.
The classic incident is restoring a hardware wallet's phrase into different software. Bitcoin's address formats — legacy, SegWit, Taproot — conventionally use different paths, so funds sent to a bc1 address simply do not appear if the new app is looking at the legacy path. Most wallets let you change the path in settings.
On Ethereum, m/44'/60'/0'/0/0 is near-universal, though a few wallets historically used their own. When migrating, check the path in the old app and set the same one in the new. Changing paths destroys nothing; select the right one and the balance reappears.
Watch out for
- · A zero balance is not the moment to start moving funds around — check the path first
- · Wallets with bespoke paths are harder to migrate away from if the product is discontinued
- · Any site offering to 'find your path' by having you type the phrase is a scam