Archived article · Original source date: 2024-08-12
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Many self-custody wallets use a standardized list of words to encode entropy from which wallet keys are derived. The phrase may restore multiple accounts, not just the address currently visible in the wallet.
What a recovery phrase controls
A recovery phrase does not merely unlock one application. Compatible wallet software can use it to derive the same private keys, so possession of the phrase can be equivalent to control of the associated assets.
A wallet password, biometric check, or device PIN may protect the local app, but it generally cannot stop an attacker who has already obtained the recovery phrase and restores it elsewhere.
When to enter it
Enter a recovery phrase only when intentionally creating or restoring a wallet through a verified wallet flow. Never enter it into a website, token claim, support chat, form, unsolicited application, or transaction prompt.
Backup principles
- Keep backups private, durable, and protected from both theft and physical loss.
- Avoid screenshots, ordinary cloud notes, email drafts, chat messages, and unencrypted files.
- Do not invent a manual word-splitting scheme unless you understand how loss, duplication, ordering, and inheritance will be handled.
- Consider a tested hardware-wallet, multisignature, passkey, social-recovery, or professionally designed backup model when appropriate.
- Verify recovery with a low-value wallet or the wallet vendor's documented process before relying on a backup.
If exposure is suspected
Treat a photographed, typed into an untrusted device, shared, or otherwise exposed phrase as compromised. Create a new wallet from fresh recovery material on a trusted device and transfer assets after independently verifying the destination and required transaction details.
No storage method removes every risk. Plan for device failure, fire or water damage, theft, coercion, incapacity, and inheritance without revealing the complete recovery secret to unnecessary parties.