Seed phrase

A seed phrase, also called a mnemonic or recovery phrase, is a set of 12 or 24 English words that encodes the master private key of a cryptocurrency wallet. It follows a specification called BIP-39, which uses a fixed dictionary of 2048 words. From that phrase, the wallet software derives every private key for every address the wallet uses, across every supported chain.

This has a critical consequence: anyone who has the seed phrase has the wallet. The phrase does not need to be stolen from a specific device — if it appears in cloud storage, in a screenshot, in an email, in a chat, in a password manager that later gets breached — the wallet is compromised. Malware routinely scans for BIP-39 word patterns on infected devices.

The correct handling is to write the seed phrase down on paper or metal, store it physically in one or two secure locations (ideally geographically separated), and never enter it into any device that has network access — including into wallet apps that "verify" it after setup. The only legitimate time to type a seed phrase is when recovering a wallet on a trusted device.

Never take a photo of your seed phrase. Never store it in a plain text file, cloud drive, or note-taking app. Never share it with support, "verification" flows, or airdrop claim sites — those are all scams. A wallet you own does not need your seed phrase to prove ownership; it needs your signature.