---
title: "How Bitcoin Private Keys Work (PDF)"
url: "https://bip39-phrase.com/list-keys/bitcoin-private-keys-bip39-phrase-2025-10-26/"
language: "en"
updated: "2025-10-26T00:00:00+00:00"
---

# How Bitcoin Private Keys Work

Every blockchain address has both a public key and a private key.

PDF document · Published October 26, 2025 

[ Open the PDF (8 pages, 115 KB) ](/list-keys/bitcoin%5Fprivate%5Fkeys-bip39-phrase%5F2025-10-26.pdf) 

## Contents

1. Bitcoin Private Keys
2. How Does a Private Key Work?
3. What Do Private Keys Look Like?

Topic: 

[Private Keys and Addresses: Formats Explained](/topics/keys-and-addresses/)

## Guides on the same subject

- [Bitcoin Private Key Format: WIF, Base58 and Hex Explained](/private-key-btc/)  
A Bitcoin private key is a 256-bit number, usually shown in WIF: Base58 with a version byte, compression flag and checksum. Encoding steps and test vectors.
- [Seed Phrase vs Private Key: What's the Difference?](/seed-phrase-vs-private-key/)  
A seed phrase backs up a whole HD wallet; a private key controls one address. See how words become keys, what each restores and which to back up.
- [xpub, ypub and zpub: Extended Public Keys Explained](/xpub-ypub-zpub/)  
What xpub, ypub and zpub mean: how an extended public key works, which address type each prefix stands for, how to convert them and why to keep them private.

One of the documents in the [Private Key PDF Archive](/list-keys/), listed on [archive page 2](/list-keys/2/).