What Is a Seed Phrase & How Do You Back It Up?

Being able to store your assets on your own, without any third party involved, is one of the core principles of Bitcoin. However, this also comes with the responsibility of safeguarding your wallet. If you lose access to it, there is a solution to help you recover your BTC—a seed phrase. 

Read on to learn what a seed phrase is, how it works, its role in Bitcoin wallets, and how you can back up this lifeline to your funds. 

What Is a Seed Phrase?

A seed phrase, also known as backup seed phrase, mnemonic phrase, or recovery phrase, is a list of random 12 or 24 words that Bitcoin wallets such as Xverse use to recover access to your assets in case the wallet is damaged or lost. 

For instance, if you’re using the Xverse mobile wallet and lose your phone, you can download Xverse on your new device, choose the option to restore an existing wallet and enter the 12-word seed phrase for your initial wallet. That way, you can regain access to your Xverse wallet and all the assets held therein. 

Self-custodial offline and online wallets require you to write down your secret phrases and store them securely offline. 

Remember, anyone who knows your seed phrase can access and steal your bitcoin. Therefore, digitally stored seed phrases can be stolen more easily. 

What Is the Use of a Seed Phrase?

Seed phrase play an essential role in Bitcoin wallets as they help you to make sure you can always access your assets. 

More specifically, seed phrases have three main uses. 

Providing security

A seed phrase is the main access key to your Bitcoin wallet. Recovery phrases use advanced cryptographic algorithms, including the random selection of seed words to offer you protection against malicious attempts to access your Bitcoin assets. 

A user-friendly backup solution

Seed phrases provide a reliable and secure mechanism for you to regain access to your Bitcoin assets in case of damage, loss, or theft of your devices. 

By storing the recovery phrase securely, you can easily restore your wallet on a new device. Also, seed phrases rely on easy human-readable words.

Providing wallet interoperability

Seed phrases are compliant with the BIP39 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 39) standard, which details how Bitcoin wallets generate a list of words to create a seed phrase. 

By leveraging the BIP39 standard, Bitcoin wallets like Xverse guarantee interoperability and compatibility among different wallets. Therefore, BIP39-compatible wallets allow you to seamlessly move between different wallet providers. 

How Does a Seed Phrase Work? 

Self-custodial wallets typically generate a seed phrase for users during setup. The seed phrase usually consists of 12 or 24 words randomly generated and selected from a predefined list of 2048 English words. 

Each Bitcoin wallet is linked to one seed phrase which is also used to generate private keys.

Once a seed phrase is generated, it’s displayed for the user to write it down and securely store it. To use a seed phrase in a new device, install the wallet and choose the option to restore an existing wallet. 

Entering your seed phrase will automatically restore access to your bitcoin. Otherwise, avoid entering your seed words anywhere else online, as criminals might use this to trick you and steal your funds.

Remember, anyone who has access to your seed phrase can access your funds. As such, it’s important to store your seed phrase in a secure location only known to you as compromised recovery phrases can lead to the loss of your funds. 

What Is the Best Way to Store Your Seed Phrase?

When it comes to Bitcoin seed phrases, you have to adhere to the best practices to secure your funds. 

One common seed phrase storage best practice is to simply write down your seed phrase on a piece of paper and store it safely in a safety deposit box or physical safe. 

Alternatively, you can engrave your seed phrase on a metal plate if you want durability. There are several products available in the market that allow you to do this. 

If for some reason you still opt to store it digitally, consider getting an encrypted digital storage. This can be a cloud drive, local drive, or USB that you’d need to encrypt before storing your seed phrase. 

However, always remember that storing your seed phrase digitally substantially increases the risk of losing your funds.

How to Back Up Your Seed Phrase From Your Xverse Wallet

Backing up your seed phrase using a wallet like Xverse is both easy and simple. 

Xverse is a self-custodial wallet that gives you full control of your Bitcoin assets. The wallet gives you a secret phrase that will help you restore your wallet if you change devices or lose your current one.

To back up your wallet, go to your Xverse wallet app and click on ‘Settings’, then ‘Security’, and select the ‘Backup Wallet’ option. 

Enter your PIN, if you have set one.

Next, Xverse will prompt you to write down your seed phrase and then click on ‘Verify’ to back up your recovery phrase. 

And that’s it! That’s how to back up your seed phrase from your Xverse wallet.

Download Xverse to create your Bitcoin wallet today. 

FAQs

Can seed phrases be hacked?

Yes, it’s possible to hack a seed phrase. But the only way a seed phrase can be stolen is via human error. Storing your seed phrase in an accessible manner online or offline can make it susceptible to hacks by bad actors. 

What is the difference between private keys and seed phrases?

Although interconnected and often used interchangeably, private keys and seed phrases are different. Both the seed phrase and private key allow access to your assets, but the private key is derived from the seed phrase and consists of a long string of letters and numbers, which is hard to remember. In contrast, the seed phrase is made up of easily remembered words. Private keys are used by wallet software to access your funds, while the seed phrase allows recovery of your funds if you lose access to your wallet.

Where can you hide your seed phrase? 

There are many places where you can store your seed phrase, which is limited only by your imagination. While the seed phrase can be written down on paper or engraved on a metal plate, make sure it’s stored in a secure place where you won’t forget it and can always access it.

How long is a seed phrase?

A seed phrase, also known as a recovery, secret, or mnemonic phrase, is usually 12 or 24 words long. The number of words, which are randomly generated, depends on the wallet provider. In either case, both 12 and 24-word length seed phrases are considered to provide sufficient safety.

How do you get the seed phrase from a private key? 

You can’t get a seed phrase from a private key. Typically, seed phrases are generated first when you are setting up your wallet and then used to obtain private keys for your Bitcoin wallet. Simply put, you can generate a private key from a seed phrase but not a seed phrase from a private key.