Private Keys vs Seed Phrases- What They Are and Why They Matter

[Cookdata]

Exactly securing your seed phrase is most important thing you can do with your cryptocurrency. This phrase is like master password for your digital wallet and if you lose it you will likely lose all your coins. People mostly only realize importantance of it after they have already lost it. That is why it is so crucial to learn about crypto security and safely storing your seed phrase before you start investing. If you careless like writing phrase on a piece of paper that gets lost or storing it where hackers can find it can lead to you losing all your money.

If I lose my seed phrase, is there any way I can get my wallet back? Usually, seed phrases are 12 or 24. If I accidentally lose one of them, is there any way I can get my wallet back?

The simple answer is, 'You can't get your wallet back'. If you properlybqck up your seed phrase on a metal plate, the risk of any accident you can think of is very low to lose the recovery phrase. Your seed phrase are your only way to have access to your Bitcoin, that's why when you create a wallet for the first time, the warnings you get is to make sure you back.uour seed phrase, if you lose them you will forever lose access to any Bitcoin deposit with any wallet address associated with that seed phrase.

The first thing you need to do anytime you create a wallet is to make sure you back the seed phrase, here are some good tips to secure your seed phrase:

Securing your seed phrase with washers - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5389446.0
Seed Backup tools - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5263482.0

This will guide how to properly secure your seed phrase.

[Chikito]

Securing your seed phrase is the most important part of your crypto journey  because  if anything bad happens to it that might be the end of those coins in your wallet especially when  you do not  have an additional  backup elsewhere. Most person only  understand the importance of their seed phrase after they've  lost it and that is why it's  important  we equip ourselves  with knowledge  before kick starting anything  especially  when it has to do with finance. The worst thing that can happen to a crypto enthusiasts is after staking enough crypto then he ends up losing his seed phrase because of carelessness or the account  got hacked  because of poor storage medium.

Exactly securing your seed phrase is most important thing you can do with your cryptocurrency. This phrase is like master password for your digital wallet and if you lose it you will likely lose all your coins. People mostly only realize importantance of it after they have already lost it. That is why it is so crucial to learn about crypto security and safely storing your seed phrase before you start investing. If you careless like writing phrase on a piece of paper that gets lost or storing it where hackers can find it can lead to you losing all your money.

If I lose my seed phrase, is there any way I can get my wallet back? Usually, seed phrases are 12 or 24. If I accidentally lose one of them, is there any way I can get my wallet back?

The bitcoiners must have plan B. You must not have only 1 backup. You must have at least 2 backups to avoid an unexpected incident. I am stamping mnemonic seed on steel plat, and also write them on another plat and keep it on another place (safe box). So if that main plat broken or something, I have the back up to access my btc.

I also keep the private key on flash disk where I never use it online on my PC.

[BlackBoss_]

The bitcoiners must have plan B. You must not have only 1 backup. You must have at least 2 backups to avoid an unexpected incident. I am stamping mnemonic seed on steel plat, and also write them on another plat and keep it on another place (safe box). So if that main plat broken or something, I have the back up to access my btc.

I also keep the private key on flash disk where I never use it online on my PC.

Plan B can be in many practice from having income from your jobs, having emergency fund to use just in case, storing your bitcoin in different wallets, then making multiple wallet backups. If you don't have many wallets to store your bitcoin, and only store bitcoins in a single wallet, you can lose all bitcoins in a single accident.

Then a next step is your recommendation, making multiple wallet backups in order to have different options for wallet recovery that is important for your bitcoin fund. The initial wallet can have technical or physical issue anytime, and have other backups to use vital.

[Okuri]

Seed phrase can be 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 words long.

This means if your phone gets lost or spoils, you can still recover your wallet, so as far as you have your seed phrase with you. Just think of seed phrase as the master key to all your wallet.

You can have wallet on computer or have a hardware wallet.

Seed phrase is important because it can generates the private key which can be used to recover your coins or to spend the coins.

Nice tip! A hardware wallet is safer for long-term storage, while a computer wallet works for quick access—just keep security in mind!

[Fiasem20]

It would be unwise of a newbie not having knowledge about backing up of seed phrase and private keys.When I got into the cryptocurrency space newly I was told never to disclose my seed phrase to people and not to store them online,and that information got into my brain, that's the reason why newbies should be careful about the information they read online,some information could affect them positively or negatively.
Desiring to know about the security measures on how to keep your holdings safe from scammers it's actually a nice move anyone could take most especially the newbies.Lastly,backup your seed phrase and private keys offline and have duplicates of them incase they got destroyed or lost.

[Coyster]

If I lose my seed phrase, is there any way I can get my wallet back? Usually, seed phrases are 12 or 24. If I accidentally lose one of them, is there any way I can get my wallet back?

If you lose your seed phrase and you have no additional backup anywhere, then you have lost your funds forever. Your seed phrase is your recovery tool and without it you cannot recover your wallet. It is best to have more than one backup, so if you lose one, you can recover your wallet with the other and move your funds to a new wallet.

Lastly,backup your seed phrase and private keys offline and have duplicates of them in case they got destroyed or lost.

With HD wallets there is no need to back up private keys anymore. All you have yo back up is your seed phrase and that's that.

[Iamgoat]

It would be unwise of a newbie not having knowledge about backing up of seed phrase and private keys.When I got into the cryptocurrency space newly I was told never to disclose my seed phrase to people and not to store them online,and that information got into my brain, that's the reason why newbies should be careful about the information they read online,some information could affect them positively or negatively.
Desiring to know about the security measures on how to keep your holdings safe from scammers it's actually a nice move anyone could take most especially the newbies.Lastly,backup your seed phrase and private keys offline and have duplicates of them incase they got destroyed or lost.

I know how important it is for every bitcoinrr to acquire the knowledge of seed phrases and private keys but I can tell you for free, it's not everyone will be able to learn these things we're talking about because it is not everyone who will have the interest to even learn these things as much as it is encouraged to do so. Some bitcoin users might only end up using bitcoin on centralized exchanges and may not see the need to use these seed phrases or private keys but I can also tell people how important it is because recently I just have a serious challenge with a centralized platform called KuCoin who held my funds in my wallet and could not allow me to withdraw it. It was there and then I understood the importance of decentralized exchanges.

[hd49728]

I know how important it is for every bitcoinrr to acquire the knowledge of seed phrases and private keys but I can tell you for free

What's free knowledge you shared here, honestly?

it's not everyone will be able to learn these things we're talking about because it is not everyone who will have the interest to even learn these things as much as it is encouraged to do so.

It's whether they want to learn or not. If they want to learn, they are surely able to learn it as it is not too hard for learning. Oppositely, if they don't want to learn, it does not mean they are not able to learn.

Some bitcoin users might only end up using bitcoin on centralized exchanges and may not see the need to use these seed phrases or private keys but I can also tell people how important it is because recently I just have a serious challenge with a centralized platform called KuCoin who held my funds in my wallet and could not allow me to withdraw it. It was there and then I understood the importance of decentralized exchanges.

You said like you are careful and experienced but your story means you were careless and ignored many advice like the others. You ignored warnings, practiced like don't see risk of centralized exchanges before your account gets problems and you struggled to withdraw your fund.

Where did you share your story and problem with Kucoin exchange?
I'd like to read more details on it.

[Juicyhome]

Private keys and Seed phrases are like your whole life in crypto, if you mess with it, you're gone. Protect it just the way you protect your self. In life you won't go to places that are harmful to you, or a place where  you are not comfortable. That's how the private keys and Seed phrases are in this digital asset. Do not keep in any how, you must store it in a place where only you can acces. Never be careless with it, because if a third party see it, they can access your account and withdraw your portfolio from your wallet. Value it the way you value your life, as a beginner the first thing you should be conscious of is how to protect and keep your secrets passwords before you can buy any digital assets.

In the past have lost assets because of my carelessness, till date I lost the wallet,I can't find where I wrote my wallet passwords and I didn't share it with my trusted brother.  Have learnt my lesson, I share my secret seeds with my brother even when it's against the rules. I still find trust in him, if you have a trusted ally you can as well share it with him in case of tomorrow.

[Salahmu]

Plan B can be in many practice from having income from your jobs, having emergency fund to use just in case, storing your bitcoin in different wallets, then making multiple wallet backups. If you don't have many wallets to store your bitcoin, and only store bitcoins in a single wallet, you can lose all bitcoins in a single accident.

Then a next step is your recommendation, making multiple wallet backups in order to have different options for wallet recovery that is important for your bitcoin fund. The initial wallet can have technical or physical issue anytime, and have other backups to use vital.

Does keeping it in different multiple wallet means storing it in another person smartphone or generating those wallet on the smartphone you are using?, part of the safest way of keeping somebody's Bitcoin is using only one wallet because what storing in different wallet does is that you could easily loss control at any time but if is one your priority will  not be much because the only thing you would be putting your heads on is the safety of that single wallet. Instead of the risk of having other people to have different part of your wallet backup the person should instead use another of his phone to import it so that they would have two phones that is controlling it.

[Coyster]

Instead of the risk of having other people to have different part of your wallet backup the person should instead use another of his phone to import it so that they would have two phones that is controlling it.

I am reading a lot of bad advice in this thread. Using the same wallet in two different devices doesn't make you any safer, as a matter of fact it makes you more vulnerable to attack, because there are now two points of attack, and if any of them is compromised, the assets will be stolen.

I share my secret seeds with my brother even when it's against the rules. I still find trust in him, if you have a trusted ally you can as well share it with him in case of tomorrow.

There are no set-in-stone rules, you are your own bank, so you decide what to do with your seed phrase. If sharing it with a loved one is what works for you, then that is fine. There are also bitcoiners that share their seed phrase with their spouses, so it is what it is.

[Patikno]

Private keys and Seed phrases are like your whole life in crypto, if you mess with it, you're gone. Protect it just the way you protect your self. In life you won't go to places that are harmful to you, or a place where  you are not comfortable. That's how the private keys and Seed phrases are in this digital asset. Do not keep in any how, you must store it in a place where only you can acces. Never be careless with it, because if a third party see it, they can access your account and withdraw your portfolio from your wallet. Value it the way you value your life, as a beginner the first thing you should be conscious of is how to protect and keep your secrets passwords before you can buy any digital assets.

In the past have lost assets because of my carelessness, till date I lost the wallet,I can't find where I wrote my wallet passwords and I didn't share it with my trusted brother.  Have learnt my lesson, I share my secret seeds with my brother even when it's against the rules. I still find trust in him, if you have a trusted ally you can as well share it with him in case of tomorrow.

I also think so, I consider Private keys or Seed phrases to be my lifeblood, it might seem strange to some people, but for me, it is real. Imagine if we lost or had our crypto assets, or especially the Bitcoin we own and have saved up was stolen, so we would likely lose our passion for life, or even decide to take our own lives (sorry for that). Furthermore, we can see some news stories regarding this, which could potentially threaten someone life, such as robberies, kidnappings, torture, and even murders (we can find them through search engines or browsers). Therefore, cherish these keys for the safety of our life by protecting them as best as possible.

Here is one of the news: NBCNews.com - Crypto kidnapping & CNBC.com - Crypto Theft

[Smartvirus]

How do you intend to store private keys offline or engrave them on a metal plate? It's not possible that's why with seed phrase, it's human readable and can be engrave on any metallic surface and can be hidden on any location you like, nobody will ever have any access to it unless you tell them.

You can do that with private keys, too. You can write them down on a piece of paper or engrave them. Just make sure you don’t make typos, since one wrong character means the loss of your funds.

I understand Antotena’s concerns give that, the alphanumeric coding system of the private key is one that might come by some flaws if one doesn’t keep a keen eye on it and it requires you to write them exactly as it is, where you observe the caps lock as well as small latter words and all,
It’s not the same with the seed phrases, in as much as you keep them in there correct order, they would always allow you access to your wallet.

In both cases, they could be engraved and stored away without any problems.

[Forsyth Jones]

I no longer handle WIF private keys (for recovery, for example). In short, a single private key recovers only one address, while the recovery seed is responsible for deriving all private keys and addresses associated with the BIP32 root key.

However, you must be very careful about where you store your recovery phrase. If you save it online (such as in Notepad or on a cloud-sharing service), that wallet can be accessed by anyone with access to it. If it's not properly stored in a physical location, someone could find it and either throw it away or steal all the Bitcoin and other crypto alts funds secured by the recovery phrase.

You can add an additional layer of protection like a passphrase, where you can add an additional word that acts as a password to the recovery phrase. Both the recovery phrase (something you have) and the passphrase (something you know) are required to access the wallet's funds. This is only a necessary feature if the user wants to ensure that someone who has found the seed phrase does not have access to the coins (as they would have to know the passphrase as well).

Below I'll leave two articles regarding seed phrases and passphrases that I really like to recommend when I think about these subjects.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Seed_phrase

https://blog.trezor.io/10-common-faqs-around-passphrases-in-trezor-wallets-07f30c7e6a91

[Baki202]

It would be unwise of a newbie not having knowledge about backing up of seed phrase and private keys.When I got into the cryptocurrency space newly I was told never to disclose my seed phrase to people and not to store them online,and that information got into my brain, that's the reason why newbies should be careful about the information they read online,some information could affect them positively or negatively.
Desiring to know about the security measures on how to keep your holdings safe from scammers it's actually a nice move anyone could take most especially the newbies.Lastly,backup your seed phrase and private keys offline and have duplicates of them incase they got destroyed or lost.

One of the worst things that can happen is that when you don't manage your seed phrase well, you are only facing more challenges. Later, because one of the important things is that when you are downloading your wallet, which is safer to use, one of the best things to do is to learn how to back them up offline. Many people are still struggling to find it very difficult. And the moment the phone that contains the wallet gets lost, then how do you recover it back? and their people, and a lot of risk comes with using wallets to even as safe as using a wallet.

Because people have fallen victim to scammers, at this point, people will do better when they fall victim because people don't listen, and they are always putting themselves at risk because of the greed of some kind of investment, and people know that it's not true, and the next thing they are doing is jumping on it, but there are ways that these things can be avoided. And these issues are coming mostly from newbies. And all this is information that is needed before they think of anything they can do.