Seed (Recovery) Phrase
What Is Seed (Recovery) Phrase?
What is a recovery phrase? A recovery phrase (also known as seed phrase, secret recovery phrase, or wallet recovery phrase) is the string of 12 to 24 words assigned explicitly to your cryptocurrency wallet address to access it.
What Recovery Phrase Looks Like
A recovery phrase consists of random keywords generated by the crypto wallet. There are two types of recovery phrases. There are the ones of 12 strings, and the one of 24 strings.
Differences Between Recovery Phrases & Traditional Passwords?
There are several differences between a wallet recovery phrase and a regular traditional password.
- The recovery phrase can only be generated by the wallet app and not by the user.
- Recovery phrases are picked randomly by the wallet app and are also impossible to crack. Creating random phrases makes the wallet more secure.
- The company that creates the wallet app does not keep records of each wallet recovery phrase on its server. So the chances of a wallet address recovery phrase being cracked are close to zero.
- What are the risks of recovery phrases?
- You might only see it once during account setup, so it is advisable to save it or write it down immediately and store it safely and securely.
- Anyone can access your cryptocurrency wallet as long as they have your recovery phrase.
- Your wallet can not be retrieved, and you forfeit your cryptocurrencies if you lose or delete your wallet app without saving your recovery phrase.
- Recovery phrases can not be recovered. So you should always keep your recovery phrase or passphrase somewhere safe and secure because if lost, it is unrecoverable.
How Can You Safely Store Recovery Phrase?
There are diverse ways you could store your recovery phrase depending on what type of person you are. Seriously, the way people store their recovery phrase varies depending on whether they care about the wallet, how much they value the cryptocurrencies inside it, and even how much crypto they’ve got there. However, here are some tips on how or where to store your recovery phrase.
- One great way to store your recovery phrase is in the distributed ledger style — simply writing down your recovery phrase, then putting it into an envelope, then distributing it and storing it in several locations.
- Some people also store their recovery phrases by writing them down, enveloping them, and digging a hole to store them there.
- Another great way to store your recovery phrase is by copying it and pasting it into your Google Drive or iCloud.
Key takeaway
You should always keep your recovery phrase safe and secured. Moreover, you should know that losing or deleting your wallet doesn’t mean you can’t recover your wallet address. At any point in time, one can restore the content of their wallets, as long as you have access to your recovery phrase.