I would like to create plain text private keys for Monero that can be encrypted/decrypted using a process similar to BIP38. (https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0038.mediawiki)
Is such a thing possible with Monero today, or would it need to be developed further?
Simplewallet may also need the ability to import these types of keys without having the mnemonic seed.
Well you could get your Monero 256 hexadecimal private key from here: https://xmr.llcoins.net/addresstests.html Field#3 (Do not confuse with Field #2) And then use https://www.bitaddress.org to Bip38 encrypt the 256 hex private key. Once you have your Bip38 address like this: 6PRKb345MjC34YBJMxcp5drjqe72GVVt2QsiwjN2bhLe14tfshLYSBKdS7, all you have to do is decrypt it in bitaddress with your password, scroll down to find "Private Key Hexadecimal Format (64 characters [0-9A-F]" in bitaddress. Copy that back over to Field#3 of llcoins and presto you've got everything including your mnemonic key!
Example: (test and see if you get the same thing)
mnemonic:
lush pivot online aglow musical prying object heron nail faked drowning asylum icon dinner cycling furnished gumball wives nimbly money fewest toilet gained gesture furnished
Generates this Private Spend Key:
cf9f56f31b34b42067c93d2f5cb431dbfb2596f9ad0b8a9ea855c7bfebaae802
Bip 38 it to:
6PRKb345MjC34YBJMxcp5drjqe72GVVt2QsiwjN2bhLe14tfshLYSBKdS7
with Password:
bip38moneros
Decrypt the 6PRKb34.... address with password: bip38moneros and walla:
Bitaddress decrypted "Private Key Hexadecimal Format (64 characters [0-9A-F]": (Will be all CAPS)
CF9F56F31B34B42067C93D2F5CB431DBFB2596F9AD0B8A9EA855C7BFEBAAE802
Oh one last thing download these websites to an airgapped machine and verify their signatures to be safe.
Monero can be made to be compliant with the spirit of BIPs 32, 38, 39 and 44. The main issue is BIP 32, 39 and 44 public keys and addresses can't be synthesized using traditional Bitcoin methodologies.
BIP 38 has two capabilities. Both are concisely documented at https://github.com/libbitcoin/libbitcoin/wiki/Altcoin-Version-Mappings#bx---key-encryption-commands.
Extended AES256Encrypt and AES256Decrypt most definitely can be supported for encoding and decoding deterministic Monero private spend keys, only a matter of development and merging into the master branch. The Monero Team will need to decide upon the prefix to be used other than 6P taken by Bitcoin, see https://github.com/libbitcoin/libbitcoin/wiki/Altchain-Encrypted-Private-Keys#sample-map.
A bit more thought needs to be given to the other BIP 38 "EC Multiply Mode", essentially being a Casascius without being a money transmitter. This capability looks promising, but no guarantees without a little further investigation.
Update: Posted C++ source code on Github for the ./xmr command used used at the end of this piped command sequence. Not a cross platform developer, but the code compiles on a Mac Homebrew environment using Xcode. With the ./xmr command, both BIP 38 modes can be supported using this. The ./xmr command can also be applied to create Monero brainwallet that can be the foundation for a BIP 38 wallet, even supporting BIP 38 "EC Multiply Mode" for those wanting to mint or print and do not want to be classified as money transmitters.
% echo -n "This brain wallet sucks" | bx base16-encode | bx sha256 | bx mnemonic-new | bx mnemonic-to-seed -p "My Password" | bx hd-new -v 76066276 | bx hd-private -d -i 44 | bx hd-private -d -i 128 | bx hd-private -d -i 0 | bx hd-to-ec | ./xmr
Seed : 70371fbdba4072dbff8c9350414cf9a903776791792d575557b697cb09952951
Private Spend Key : cf1352ec36511623d07cbd21e86a9e4103776791792d575557b697cb09952901
Private View Key : fd38a51dda45a8ff44042525477a572b93d3219d3751ca49f5aeb7f8278cdc0c
Public Spend Key : ec8cc4f1f0622946bd24a41dc7a4d01964f4f6a878e0e8bf0ce0eb7214174979
Public View Key : 853a5e0aa455820991cd8801ac7be09dbf347b8be875d208f08d97faf7fefb3b
Monero Address : 4Ab2kg2ZXrgCqFp3HAnJfy5FMiPKtNaCFYxRnRpkWiG8MKuDfDLo67K2bqX9gXszpfTPLs6ng4YAd2Vj6wthUhk67icBjbC
Electrum Seed Words : onward easy cistern puddle giddy ladder foxes ingested morsel vocal glide observant guide among online jargon wonders fudge emails daytime wobbly army jeers jigsaw ladder
% bx ec-to-ek -v 0 "Your BIP38 Password" cf1352ec36511623d07cbd21e86a9e4103776791792d575557b697cb09952901
6PYXHLAR2khgrRd5GgSStNJhYMH5p8Ug52yUzt86CseG2ee3A3z9Mb9EWY
% bx ek-to-ec "Your BIP38 Password" 6PYXHLAR2khgrRd5GgSStNJhYMH5p8Ug52yUzt86CseG2ee3A3z9Mb9EWY
cf1352ec36511623d07cbd21e86a9e4103776791792d575557b697cb09952901
One method is to use this tool (made by Luigi from Monero core team).
As described on the page, this works as following:
In the "CN Add" method, the key is hashed with CryptoNight, then interpreted as a private key/scalar and added to the hex seed. The resulting mnemonic looks exactly the same as an unencrypted one.
Main benefit is that the result of encryption will be another valid seed mnemonic! You could even put some funds there to trick someone into thinking it's the real deal, while to access your main stash you'd need to decrypt it - but only you'd know this ;)
I have no idea whether this is equivalent to BIP 38, but you can encrypt your seed into another valid seed by using a passphrase, by running the encrypted_seed command in monero-wallet-cli. You will be prompted for a passphrase, and get the encrypted seed. When you restore the seed next, you'll get a prompt for that optional passphrase.
This system uses the CN_Add method from luigi1111 that JollyMort mentions above. Also note that this does not make your seed magically secure, so treat it as secret information even when encrypted.
The seed is a particular encoding of a secret key, so encoding the seed this way is equivalent to encrypting a secret key.
