Everything About Seed Phrases and Crypto Wallet’s Recovery
- Recovery seed, commonly known as a seed phrase, is a sequence of random words that helps recover crypto wallets.
- The seed phrase provides access to assets associated with the user’s crypto wallet even after losing one.
A seed phrase is an important tool that works as the master key of the user’s crypto wallet. In case someone accidentally deletes or loses their wallet, this recovery seed can be used to recover the wallet and their assets even after they lose their password or the device itself. A regular password is also helpful for a crypto wallet’s daily login, but a seed phrase works as a backup plan in an emergency.
What is Recovery Seed (Seed Phrase)?
A recovery seed, or a seed phrase, is used to unlock or access a wallet even when its holder has forgotten the credentials. This seed consists of a sequence of 12 to 24 random words that have generated when a wallet is created. This phrase is the last option in case of an emergency to recover a wallet, and that’s why it must be stored securely. These random words are nothing but cryptographic security codes.
If a cryptocurrency holder loses their wallet password, or if the wallet has lost itself, the person who owns the wallet can use the recovery phrase to access the assets and can also transfer them to another device if necessary. This recovery seed enables access not only to a wallet but also to the crypto it holds.
This feature helps them log back in from their device, whether it’s a computer or smartphone. If a user’s storage device gets corrupted or damaged, then this recovery method also proves to be handy. Seed phrases are also beneficial in setting up a new hardware wallet (Cold storage) that is not connected to the internet and keeps their crypto assets more secure while being offline.
How is a Recovery Seed Generated?
Recovery seeds are automatically generated by the user’s wallet whenever they create one. These are immutable, so they can’t be changed later. These seeds are a set of 12 to 24 normal words in the dictionary, like ‘coach’, ‘shuffle,’ ‘green,’ etc. Using random words instead of an extended alphanumeric code makes recovery easy and convenient to write down and enter the correct sequence without any possible error.
These seed phrases have a standard method known as BIP-39, which stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-39. This method was launched in 2013 and included a list of 2,048 words that could be used as seed phrases. With this amount of words, 2,048 to the power of 12 possible recovery seed combinations are there. This makes guessing these seeds next to impossible while providing the ultimate security option.
Difference Between Recovery Seed and Private Key
Recovery seeds and private keys are assumed to be similar, but they possess different properties and features of their own. They both provide access to their crypto wallet. Private keys are codes that automatically encrypt their transactions while proving their asset’s ownership.
It is managed by the wallet itself, so a user doesn’t have to manually enter it every time. while the recovery seed directly corresponds to a private key. In case someone gets access to their recovery seed by any chance, they can manipulate their private key and their assets as well. Both have to be kept secure in order to protect their cryptocurrencies and other beholding assets.
The Bottom Line
There are several security methods introduced with the increasing and wide adoption of cryptocurrencies. Recovery seeding is one of the crucial aspects of crypto security. It not only provides them with a convenient method of crypto storage but also makes their assets highly secure. If a user by any chance loses or forgets both their password and seed phrase, they will permanently lose their wallet, which serves as an effective security tool.