# Derivation paths in Leather
### Introduction
\
In simple terms derivation paths are used to systematically derive public keys from a private key. For example if you have seed phrase say 1. And you want to derive private keys from that. You would make a format for multiple keys. With just one layer the format would be:
*Add one to derive next private key*:
\- So the first key is 1 + 0
\- Next key 1 + 1
\- And so on
The derivation path for Bitcoin taproot addresses starts with m/86'/ basically a prefix for a type of chain so that the keys generated are specific to that chain then you have four more layers (coin\_type', account', change and account\_index) so that you have flexibility in differentiating between different wallets, accounts and invoices. This is the standard format for derivation paths:
m / purpose' / coin\_type' / account' / change / address\_index
Below are the exact derivation paths that are commonly used by the Leather wallet.
### For Bitcoin balance native segwit is used.
\
Account 1: m/84'/0'/0'/0/0\
Account 2: m/84'/0'/1'/0/0
…\
Account 500: m/84'/0'/499'/0/0
### For Ordinals the taproot address is used
\
Account 1: m/86'/0'/0'/0/0\
Account 2: m/86'/0'/1'/0/0
…\
Account 500: m/86\`/0\`/499\`/0/0
### Regenerated Taproot addresses (Ordinal inscriptions)
Special case, prior to March 20th 2023 the wallet would use regenerated addresses for storing Ordinal inscriptions. As the wallet detected activity on one address the next fresh address would be generated for deposits. Note that the wallet has also always supported several Ordinal Inscriptions on the same address it was simply deemed safer and more private to store them on individual addresses.\
\
Account 1: m/86'/0'/0'/0/0,1,2,3 etc. for example this could include ordinals on m/86'/0'/0'/0/9 and m/86'/0'/0'/0/78\
Account 2: m/86'/0'/1'/0/0,1,2,3 etc.
…\
Account 500: m/86'/0'/499'/0/0,1,2,3 etc.\
### For Stacks
\
Used for storing STX and other Stacks assets such as SIP009 NFT’s, SIP010 fungible tokens or SIP013 semi-fungible tokens.\
Account 1: m/5757'/0'/0'/0/0\
Account 2: m/5757'/0'/0'/0/1
…\
Account 500: m/5757'/0'/0'/0/499\
### Stacks address with Ledger
Note: (Unused) Stacks addresses added/generated with Ledger live will follow this path:\
\
Account 1: m/5757'/0'/0'/0/0\
Account 2: m/5757'/0'/1'/0/0
…\
Account 500: m/5757'/0'/499'/0/0\
\
Ledger will also reveal addresses on the path (m/5757'/0'/0'/0**/*****1***) typically used by the Leather wallet if they have STX balance (= a used address). \
\
When adding addresses in Ledger live, the ones with balance created with Leather+Ledger (or the Hiro Wallet prior) will be available for adding to access in Ledger live directly but their derivation paths deviate from the scheme used for Bitcoin in order to maintain legacy compatibility. Ledger in this case is using the 'standard' scheme. There is an issue on the Leather repo suggesting this may be changed in the future so that Leather follows the same scheme as Ledger for additional accounts:
\
Knowing the derivation paths of your assets also means you can determine if addresses are compatible with other wallets and if so where to find the assets exactly.
---
# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://leather.gitbook.io/guides/accounts/derivation-paths-in-leather.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.