Seed Phrase (Recovery Phrase)

A seed phrase (also called a recovery phrase, mnemonic phrase, or backup phrase) is the most critical piece of information in cryptocurrency self-custody. It's a human-readable representation of the cryptographic key that controls all the addresses in your wallet.

When you create a new cryptocurrency wallet, the software generates a random seed phrase — typically 12 or 24 words from a standardized list of 2,048 words (BIP-39 standard). This phrase mathematically derives all the private keys for every address in your wallet, across all supported blockchains.

Anyone who has your seed phrase has complete control of your funds. There is no password reset, no customer support, and no way to recover stolen funds. This makes protecting your seed phrase the single most important security practice in crypto.

Best practices for seed phrase security: Write it on paper or stamp it into metal (fire/water resistant). Store it in a secure location like a safe or safety deposit box. Never store it digitally — not in photos, notes apps, cloud storage, or password managers. Never enter it into any website or app that asks for it (phishing scams). Consider splitting it across multiple locations using Shamir's Secret Sharing.

If you lose your seed phrase and lose access to your wallet (device breaks, password forgotten), your funds are permanently inaccessible. There are no exceptions to this — it's a fundamental property of how blockchain cryptography works.