Generate a new private key

This post was first published on April 6, 2024 and was last updated April 19, 2024. It will take roughly 1 minute to read.

#onchain

Sometimes you just want to quickly generate a new wallet address without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

Provided you have OpenSSL installed on your system, you can create a new private key in one simple command: openssl rand -hex 32

This will generate 32 random bytes in hexadecimal format, which can be used as a private key. The output will be a 64-character hexadecimal string, like this:

e1d4f2c8a1b9c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d1e2f3a4b5c6d7e8f9a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0

You can then use this private key to derive a public key and generate a wallet address. Just remember to keep your private key secure, anyone who has access to it can control your wallet and the associated funds.

Important

The private key used in this example is valid, but should not be used by anyone, as it has been shared publicly in this post.