If there is no time to read
- A seed phrase is not a password but the key itself. It cannot be changed and cannot be recovered.
- Never type it anywhere except when setting up a wallet. Support never asks for it.
- Keep it on paper or metal, not in photographs and not in notes.
The twelve or twenty-four words a wallet produces when you create it look like an ordinary passphrase. That is misleading: they work on a fundamentally different principle, and the familiar rules about passwords do not apply.
How it differs from a password
| Password | Seed phrase | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A key to your record at a service | The key itself, from which every address is derived |
| Who checks it | The service's server | Nobody: the mathematics works anywhere |
| Can it be changed | Yes, at any moment | No — only by moving everything to a new wallet |
| Can it be recovered | Yes, by email or support | No. Not at all. By anyone |
| Does a second factor help | Yes | No: whoever knows the phrase is the owner |
| If someone learns it | You change the password | The funds leave within minutes |
Where to keep it
Never
- A photograph in your phone gallery
- A note, a document, a cloud folder
- A message to yourself in a messenger
- A password manager synced through the cloud
- A printout emailed to yourself
Acceptable
- Paper in a safe or with someone you trust
- A metal plate — survives fire and water
- Two copies in different places
- The phrase split into parts, if there are enough parts
A photograph is the most common way to lose everything: the gallery syncs to the cloud, the cloud ends up in a breach, and the phrase lands in a public database alongside holiday snapshots.
Schemes aimed at the phrase
- “Your wallet requires verification”. A pop-up or an email with an input form. A real wallet verifies nothing.
- Support in your direct messages. Quick and polite — the same trick as everywhere else.
- A ready-made wallet with money in it. “Here is the phrase, there is a balance, help me withdraw it.” The funds leave automatically along with whatever you add for the fee.
- A fake app. A copy of a known wallet from search results or a link. Install only from the official store.
- Help with recovery. Anyone offering to restore lost access is a scammer by definition: it cannot be restored.