Understand derivation paths

Learn how derivation paths structure wallet keys and accounts from a single seed.

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), TON accounts.

• The BIP32-Ed25519 standard for Cardano accounts.

• The BIP32-Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets standard for Bitcoin 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	Address 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'
Bitcoin	Legacy (BIP-44)	m/44'/0'/0'/0/0
	Native SegWit (BIP-84)	m/84'/0'/0'/0/0
	Taproot (BIP-86)	m/86'/0'/0'/0/0

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*

(*): 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

For unified account

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)	/1 or //1
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)*	/1/0 or //1//0

(*): Level 2 accounts will be supported for accounts in SubWallet only. Further derivations from this level will not be supported on any wallets

For solo account

You can derive your solo accounts to Level 2 accounts only.

Level 3 accounts and onwards will not be supported on any wallets.

Level 2 accounts will be supported in SubWallet only.

Substrate account

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	//1
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	//1//0

EVM account

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/44'/60'/0'/0/1
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/44'/60'/0'/0/1/0

TON account

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/44'/607'/1'
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/44'/607'/1'/0'

Cardano account

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/1852'/1815'/1'
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/1852'/1815'/1'/0'

Bitcoin account

1. Legacy address

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/44'/0'/1'/0/0
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/44'/0'/1'/0/0/1

1. Native SegWit address

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/84'/0'/1'/0/0
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/84'/0'/1'/0/0/1

1. Taproot address

Account needed to be derived	Derivative account(s)	Derivation path
Parent account (F0)	Level 1 account (F1)	m/86'/0'/1'/0/0
Level 1 account (F1)	Level 2 account (F2)	m/86'/0'/1'/0/0/1