Derive a new account from an existing account

Generate derived accounts linked to your original one, simplifying management and enhancing security on SubWallet.

Understand derivative accounts

What is a derivative account?

Derivative accounts are accounts created by deriving the original account (parent account).

Derivative accounts share the exact seed phrase as the original account but use different paths.

You can use a derivative account as the original account to make transactions.

Default derivation paths

Currently, SubWallet uses:

• The BIP-44 standard for Substrate (Polkadot), EVM (Ethereum), and TON accounts.

• The BIP32-Ed25519 standard for Cardano accounts.

Each account has a default derivation path based on its type. Here's the default derivation path for each type of original account:

Account type	Default derivation path
Substrate (Polkadot)	Empty
EVM (Ethereum)	m/44'/60'/0'/0/0
TON	m/44'/607'/0'
Cardano	m/1852'/1815'/0'

If you're using a unified account, it will include all of the above paths.

Currently, SubWallet supports creating derived accounts from these account types:

• Unified account

• Solo account: Substrate, EVM*, TON & Cardano account.

(*): With EVM accounts, you can only create derived accounts from parent accounts imported into SubWallet via seed phrase.

Other account types (watch-only, Ledger, and QR-signer) are not supported.

Supported derivative accounts

You can create multiple derivative accounts from an original account (parent account). Each account from these can create more derivative accounts.

To differentiate them, in this document, these accounts will be categorized based on their derivative levels. For example, parent accounts will be known as "Level 0 accounts" or "F0 accounts".

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Shortened derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	/0 or //0
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)*	/0/0 or //0/0
Level 2 account (F2)	Level 3 account (F3)**	/0/0/0 or //0/0/0

(*): Level 2 accounts will be supported for Substrate accounts only

(**): Level 3 accounts and onwards will not be supported on any wallets

Create a new account derived from an existing one

Step 1: Open the SubWallet extension and click on the account name to access the account selection tab.

Step 2: In the account selection tab, you can choose to create a derived account using either of the following ways:

• Click the "Create a new account" button

• Click the pen icon next to the account you want to derive

Choose your preferred tab to continue.

Click the pen icon

Step 3: In the Account details tab, click the "Derive" button at the bottom of the screen to start deriving a new account.

Step 4: Enter a valid derivation path and a name for your derived account. Once done, click "Create account".

Step 5: You've successfully created a derived account! Head over to your account list to see it.

You can create solo derivative accounts from a unified account by customizing the derivation path to align with the ecosystem's formatted derivative path.

Click the button

Step 3: Choose the "Derive from an existing account" button to derive a new account.

Step 4: Choose the account you want to derive from.

Step 5: Enter a valid derivation path and a name for your derived account. Once done, click "Create account".

Step 6: You've successfully created a derived account! Head over to your account list to see it.

You can create solo derivative accounts from a unified account by customizing the derivation path to align with the ecosystem's formatted derivative path.