Key Formats

Wire supports multiple key formats for both private and public keys. Understanding these formats is important when working with wallets, accounts, and transactions.

Overview

Wire uses elliptic curve cryptography for key generation. The two primary curves supported are:

• K1 (secp256k1): The same curve used by Bitcoin. This is the default and most commonly used curve.
• R1 (secp256r1): Also known as P-256 or prime256v1. Used by hardware security modules and iPhone's Secure Enclave.

Key Format Types

Legacy Format (WIF)

The legacy format uses Wallet Import Format (WIF) encoding for private keys and a custom Base58 encoding for public keys.

Key Type	Prefix	Example
Private Key	5 (K1)	5KQwrPbwdL6PhXujxW37FSSQZ1JiwsST4cqQzDeyXtP79zkvFD3
Public Key	SYS	SYS6MRyAjQq8ud7hVNYcfnVPJqcVpscN5So8BhtHuGYqET5GDW5CV

info

The WIF format was inherited from Bitcoin. For technical details on WIF encoding, see Wallet Specification.

New Format (Prefixed)

The new format uses explicit prefixes that indicate the key type and curve:

Key Type	Prefix	Example
K1 Private Key	PVT_K1_	PVT_K1_2bfGi9rYsXQSXXTvJbDAPhHLQUojjaNLomdm3cEJ1XTzMqUt3V
K1 Public Key	PUB_K1_	PUB_K1_6MRyAjQq8ud7hVNYcfnVPJqcVpscN5So8BhtHuGYqET5BoDq63
R1 Private Key	PVT_R1_	PVT_R1_Dj4hMNXEmZUXeDoYAN5BixgozwcT63DYakH9y6mnLP8UBZvhr
R1 Public Key	PUB_R1_	PUB_R1_85ZevNAVuWTrEHKt4v2agyLccgUaP3H97t4kPaYBRjL6itkdm1

The new format is recommended because:

• It's self-describing (you can tell the curve type from the prefix)
• It's consistent across all key types
• It avoids confusion with other blockchain key formats

Converting Between Formats

You can convert K1 keys between legacy and new formats using the clio convert commands.

note

Conversion commands are only available for K1 keys. R1 keys are always generated in the new format (PVT_R1_, PUB_R1_).

Convert Private Key

# Legacy to new format
clio convert k1_private_key 5KQwrPbwdL6PhXujxW37FSSQZ1JiwsST4cqQzDeyXtP79zkvFD3

Output:

Private key: 5KQwrPbwdL6PhXujxW37FSSQZ1JiwsST4cqQzDeyXtP79zkvFD3
Private key: PVT_K1_2bfGi9rYsXQSXXTvJbDAPhHLQUojjaNLomdm3cEJ1XTzMqUt3V

Convert Public Key

# Legacy to new format
clio convert k1_public_key SYS6MRyAjQq8ud7hVNYcfnVPJqcVpscN5So8BhtHuGYqET5GDW5CV

Output:

Public key: SYS6MRyAjQq8ud7hVNYcfnVPJqcVpscN5So8BhtHuGYqET5GDW5CV
Public key: PUB_K1_6MRyAjQq8ud7hVNYcfnVPJqcVpscN5So8BhtHuGYqET5BoDq63

Generating Keys

Generate K1 Keys (Default)

# Legacy format (default)
clio create key --to-console

# New format (recommended)
clio create key --k1 --to-console

Generate R1 Keys

clio create key --r1 --to-console

Generate Keys Directly in Wallet

# K1 key (default)
clio wallet create_key

# Explicitly specify K1
clio wallet create_key K1

# R1 key
clio wallet create_key R1

Importing Keys

Both legacy and new format keys can be imported into wallets:

# Import legacy format
clio wallet import --private-key 5KQwrPbwdL6PhXujxW37FSSQZ1JiwsST4cqQzDeyXtP79zkvFD3

# Import new format
clio wallet import --private-key PVT_K1_2bfGi9rYsXQSXXTvJbDAPhHLQUojjaNLomdm3cEJ1XTzMqUt3V

Security Considerations

danger

• Never share your private keys
• Never commit private keys to version control
• Never use the development key (5KQwrPbwdL6PhXujxW37FSSQZ1JiwsST4cqQzDeyXtP79zkvFD3) for production accounts
• Store private keys securely and maintain backups

Reference

• Wallet Specification - Technical details on WIF encoding
• clio create key
• clio wallet create_key
• clio wallet import
• clio convert k1_private_key
• clio convert k1_public_key