When my 13-year-old asked, “What if someone just guesses my wallet words?”, I smiled. It sounds simple. You’ve got twelve words. You try…Continue reading on Coinmonks »When my 13-year-old asked, “What if someone just guesses my wallet words?”, I smiled. It sounds simple. You’ve got twelve words. You try…Continue reading on Coinmonks »

How Impossible Is It to Guess a Crypto Wallet?

2025/11/10 14:21
Press enter or click to view image in full size
Photo by Scott Lord on Unsplash

When my 13-year-old asked, “What if someone just guesses my wallet words?”, I smiled. It sounds simple. You’ve got twelve words. You try multiple combinations until one works, like brute-forcing a password, right?

Let’s see what that really means.

The Magic Word List

Every Cardano or Bitcoin wallet password is created with words from the same dictionary: a list of 2048 words.

Pick twelve of those words and you get a “seed phrase.” That phrase unlocks a wallet.

So there are
2048 × 2048 × 2048 × … (twelve times)
possible combinations.

That’s 2¹³², or about 5 × 10³⁹ different ways.
That’s a five followed by thirty-nine zeros.

Picture a beach made of sand. Now zoom in so each grain of sand has its own tiny beach inside it. If you tried to count every grain within every grain, you’d finish counting sand grains long before you ran out of wallet phrases.

So How Many Wallets Actually Exist?

Around five million people have Cardano wallets.
Five million sounds big, but compared to 5 × 10³⁹ it’s like a drop of water in every ocean on Earth.

Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact service@support.mexc.com for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.

You May Also Like

Fed Decides On Interest Rates Today—Here’s What To Watch For

Fed Decides On Interest Rates Today—Here’s What To Watch For

The post Fed Decides On Interest Rates Today—Here’s What To Watch For appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Topline The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will conclude a two-day policymaking meeting and release a decision on whether to lower interest rates—following months of pressure and criticism from President Donald Trump—and potentially signal whether additional cuts are on the way. President Donald Trump has urged the central bank to “CUT INTEREST RATES, NOW, AND BIGGER” than they might plan to. Getty Images Key Facts The central bank is poised to cut interest rates by at least a quarter-point, down from the 4.25% to 4.5% range where they have been held since December to between 4% and 4.25%, as Wall Street has placed 100% odds of a rate cut, according to CME’s FedWatch, with higher odds (94%) on a quarter-point cut than a half-point (6%) reduction. Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, both Trump appointees, voted in July for a quarter-point reduction to rates, and they may dissent again in favor of a large cut alongside Stephen Miran, Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers’ chair, who was sworn in at the meeting’s start on Tuesday. It’s unclear whether other policymakers, including Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid and St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, will favor larger cuts or opt for no reduction. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in his Jackson Hole, Wyoming, address last month the central bank would likely consider a looser monetary policy, noting the “shifting balance of risks” on the U.S. economy “may warrant adjusting our policy stance.” David Mericle, an economist for Goldman Sachs, wrote in a note the “key question” for the Fed’s meeting is whether policymakers signal “this is likely the first in a series of consecutive cuts” as the central bank is anticipated to “acknowledge the softening in the labor market,” though they may not “nod to an October cut.” Mericle said he…
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/18 00:23