Skip to main content

Wallet Key Pair

To use Mina on Mainnet or to fully participate in a Mina test network, the first step is to generate a wallet key pair that consists of a public key and a private key. The public key identifies each block producer on the network.

In some cases, you want to generate more than one wallet key pair. For example, to run a block producer most securely, it is advisable to have accounts on both hot and cold wallets. See Hot and Cold Block Production.

Always give out your public keys. Mina will never ask you for your private keys. Be sure that your private keys are stored safely.

caution

Never give out your private key.

If you lose your private key or if a malicious actor gains access to your private key, you will lose access to your account and lose your account funds.

Generate a wallet keypair​

The supported tools for generating wallet key pairs are:

Using mina advanced generate-keypair​

Preparations​

  1. Create a folder on your system where you can store the key files. By convention, the ~/keys folder:

    mkdir ~/keys

  2. Ensure the permissions are set properly for this folder to prevent unwanted processes from accessing these files:

    chmod 700 ~/keys
caution

Make sure to set a new and secure password for the commands below. Mina will never ask you for this password. Do not share this password with anyone.

Using Docker​

If you don't have Mina installed locally, you can use Docker. Start an interactive shell with your keys directory mounted:

docker run -it --rm --entrypoint /bin/bash \
       --volume "$YOUR_KEY_DIR":/root/keys \
       minaprotocol/mina-daemon:3.3.0-8c0c2e6-bullseye-mainnet

All mina commands below can then be run directly inside the container.

Generate your wallet keypair​

Run the mina advanced generate-keypair command:

mina advanced generate-keypair --privkey-path ~/keys/my-wallet

When prompted, type in the password you intend to use to secure this key. Do NOT forget this password. If already set, the tool uses the password from the MINA_PRIVKEY_PASS environment variable instead of prompting you.

Two files are created for your public/private key pair:

  • ~/keys/my-wallet: the encrypted private key
  • ~/keys/my-wallet.pub: the public key in plain text

Finally, ensure the permissions are set properly for the private key file to prevent unwanted processes from accessing it.

chmod 600 ~/keys/my-wallet

Be sure to store the private key file and password you used in a secure place, such as a password manager.

Ledger Hardware Wallet​

You can use your Ledger Nano S hardware wallet to securely store your Mina private keys. To get started, install the Mina app on the Ledger Hardware Wallet.

Mina Signer​

You can also use Mina Signer to generate key pairs and sign transactions.

Validate your private key​

Now that you've created your key, validate that it works. Use the mina advanced validate-keypair command to verify that you can sign a transaction.

mina advanced validate-keypair --privkey-path ~/keys/my-wallet

Next steps​

Now that you have created a public/private key pair, you are ready to connect to the network or share your public key.