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

[Issa56]

Exactly, written them on paper is one of the ways to save the seed phrase, but it is advisable to duplicate the copy and store them in a very safe place where only you will have access to.

I don’t think writing your seed phrase on paper is the best way to secure your seed phrase. We should know that Incase of fire disaster or water damage, paper can easily be destroyed thats why whenever am recommending any to secure their seed phrase, then I do always encourage people to get multiple iron steel, carve their seed phrase on them, and store them in different locations. I will say it’s always more difficult for iron still to be destroyed than a paper, any slight mistake then your paper can be destroyed.

I know how important your seed phrase is, and it’s suppose to be properly secured, if anyone have access to your seed phrase, then they already have access to your bitcoin, thats why it should be properly secured, but if you are the only one that have access to your seed phrase, incase if anything happens to you how will your family member be able to access the bitcoin which you having? At least you should have a family member that is suppose to know where your seed phrase is stored, or you should store your seed phrase in a place where your family members will be able to see it easily Incase if anything happens to you.

[lizarder]

Why They Matter
Your pivate key and seed phrase are the two central backbone of your crypto security this is because if anyone gets hold on either of them they can take all your funds. That’s why you should:

Seed phrases can be very useful when you want to recover your wallet in the future so that it is a pretty important one and with the seeds of the seed will produce a personal key when recovering coins or when selling it. For people who use wallets like this already understand how to use and they are far more selective in choosing ways to store the seeds.

What needs to be worried about those who are new to the term wallet are if someone does not store the seed phrase, this will cause problems for them when used in the future due to the loss of the seeds then the overall loss of control over the wallet to be restored.

[albon]

What needs to be worried about those who are new to the term wallet are if someone does not store the seed phrase, this will cause problems for them when used in the future due to the loss of the seeds then the overall loss of control over the wallet to be restored.

We've come across many stories of people who had large amounts of assets invested in their wallets for the long term,, only to find out one day they were shocked to find themselves unable to access them because this often comes down to their negligence in keeping those phrases safe or failing to store an additional backup in a secure location..

For beginners who do not understand the meaning of a wallet and these fundamentals and don't know how to securely store their seed phrases or follow the necessary security measures to protect them from fraud, they should learn and gain experience first. They should also study and conduct research to determine which safe and open-source wallets to use.

I wouldn't advise any beginner to invest even a single dollar before thoroughly understanding everything from the start.

[Pablo-wood]

1) Private Keys
The private key makes use of an alphanumeric string

A public key as well is represented as an alphanumeric string , just like the private key. Both are usually displayed in hexadecimal format.

- Never share them with anyone.

To add to this, if there’s ever a need to ensure that close relatives are aware of your investments in case of unforeseen circumstances, it’s much safer to use a 2-of-3 multisig wallet instead of directly sharing your private key. In such a setup, each participant holds one key, and any transaction will require at least 2 out of 3 signatures. This protects against abuse, prevents a single person from acting alone, and keeps the private key itself uncompromised.

[leonair]

Seed phrase and private key both are key of a wallet. These are a type of key. Whoever has it will be able to access the wallet without any restrictions and will be able to manage funds. Seed phrase can basically be a combination of some words, 12, 15, 24 words, different wallets provide different types of seed phrases. And private key is like public key but slightly different. The seed phrase or private key of a wallet is generated only once and cannot be changed, so you have to be very careful not to let it fall into the hands of someone else.

[suzanne5223]

Exactly, written them on paper is one of the ways to save the seed phrase, but it is advisable to duplicate the copy and store them in a very safe place where only you will have access to.

I don’t think writing your seed phrase on paper is the best way to secure your seed phrase. We should know that Incase of fire disaster or water damage, paper can easily be destroyed thats why whenever am recommending any to secure their seed phrase, then I do always encourage people to get multiple iron steel, carve their seed phrase on them, and store them in different locations. I will say it’s always more difficult for iron still to be destroyed than a paper, any slight mistake then your paper can be destroyed.

I know how important your seed phrase is, and it’s suppose to be properly secured, if anyone have access to your seed phrase, then they already have access to your bitcoin, thats why it should be properly secured, but if you are the only one that have access to your seed phrase, incase if anything happens to you how will your family member be able to access the bitcoin which you having? At least you should have a family member that is suppose to know where your seed phrase is stored, or you should store your seed phrase in a place where your family members will be able to see it easily Incase if anything happens to you.

You have a point about what you said. However, using just an iron steel is also not enough to totally secure the wallet's private information.
I will suggest the use of titanium and stainless steel which are both excellent choices, but if stainless steel is required, make sure it is austenitic steel of grade 316L, which is more suited for maritime applications due to its higher intergranular corrosion resistance, lower carbon content, and greater resistance to sulfuric salt in a situation when there's natura disaster.

[Cookdata]

Seed phrase and private key both are key of a wallet. These are a type of key. Whoever has it will be able to access the wallet without any restrictions and will be able to manage funds. Seed phrase can basically be a combination of some words, 12, 15, 24 words, different wallets provide different types of seed phrases. And private key is like public key but slightly different. The seed phrase or private key of a wallet is generated only once and cannot be changed, so you have to be very careful not to let it fall into the hands of someone else.

Seed phrase and private keys are different but what caugt my attention is that place you said private keys are the same with public keys but are slightly different. They are actually what you said but this is only their raw data, if they are been converted from hexa to thee base58 format, they don't look the same and each of them stand different for different wallets addresse that start with either legacy, p2sh or segwit while private keys has their own imported format which can be compress or not compressed public keys.

You will be surprised that people don't know all this things, you are going to be people don't know why we used different address for different purposes. Till now, there are people that are using legacy wallet address and it's not because they want to, they don't know the difference and since the legacy is what start Bitcoin, they activate it and use there thing without trying their best to know why are we having Bitcoin and which to use for transaction when mempool is less.

[Donneski]

Seed phrase and private key both are key of a wallet. These are a type of key. Whoever has it will be able to access the wallet without any restrictions and will be able to manage funds. Seed phrase can basically be a combination of some words, 12, 15, 24 words, different wallets provide different types of seed phrases. And private key is like public key but slightly different. The seed phrase or private key of a wallet is generated only once and cannot be changed, so you have to be very careful not to let it fall into the hands of someone else.

You explained it well.  But I'll want to add a little distinction which I think you're missing. a seed phrase is like the “master key” that can regenerate all the private keys of a wallet. A single private key on the other hand, usually corresponds to just one address. That’s why most wallets today encourage users to back up the seed phrase instead because it’s more universal.

Another simple illustration of the two I think is easier to understand when differentiating them is: a private key is like the key to one room in your house while the seed phrase is like the master key to every room. That’s why you'll always hear or read “never share your seed phrase!” from most crypto wallet tutorials because once someone for any reason asseses it, they don’t just enter one room, they can unlock the whole house.

Lastly, we need to understand that both are very sensitive but the seed phrase carries way more weight.

[Royal Cap]

Actually the seed phrase is the basis of the entire wallet and a private key is only associated with one particular address. As long as there is a private key, they only have control over that single address, however, having the seed phrase gives one control over the entire wallet and control over the entire wallet, including all the addresses associated with it. This is why it is the most critical one why the seed phrase needs to be kept very safe and losing it is like losing the whole wallet forever.

[BlackBoss_]

Actually the seed phrase is the basis of the entire wallet and a private key is only associated with one particular address. As long as there is a private key, they only have control over that single address, however, having the seed phrase gives one control over the entire wallet and control over the entire wallet, including all the addresses associated with it. This is why it is the most critical one why the seed phrase needs to be kept very safe and losing it is like losing the whole wallet forever.

It's true but if you know which addresses have bitcoins, you can simply backup private keys of those addresses if you want. Surely it's more easily and even more safely to backup a wallet mnemonic seed words because it's easy to do such wallet backup and I don't see big reasons for don't do this and why a Bitcoin user must skip mnemonic seed words backup to use specific private key backups.

Even Satoshi Nakamoto recommended that Bitcoin users should never delete their wallets.

Sigh... why delete a wallet instead of moving it aside and keeping the old copy just in case?  You should never delete a wallet.

[Abdulzuruku01]

Why They Matter
Your pivate key and seed phrase are the two central backbone of your crypto security this is because if anyone gets hold on either of them they can take all your funds. That’s why you should:

Private keys and seed phrases matters because they prove you're the true owner of your crypto wallet and funds. Without them you can't access your wallet. It's your responsibility to keep them safe, because you have the full control over them. If you lose your private key and seed phrase and someone else gets access to them, it can lead to permanent loss of your funds. Both should be stored privately, and you shouldn't reveal this information to parents, friends, or anyone else for the safety of your assets, because they might unintentionally or intentionally expose or misuse your security, which may put your assets at risk. To protect your assets, it's crucial to keep this information confidential and secure them at all times.

[khaled0111]

It's true but if you know which addresses have bitcoins, you can simply backup private keys of those addresses if you want. Surely it's more easily and even more safely to backup a wallet mnemonic seed words because it's easy to do such wallet backup and I don't see big reasons for don't do this and why a Bitcoin user must skip mnemonic seed words backup to use specific private key backups.

Since you already know that backing up private keys individually is less convenient and riskier (more prone to typos) than backing up the wallet seed, then I honestly don’t think it’s wise to suggest doing so, especially when we know that many newbies might read your post.
I wouldn’t suggest doing so, not only because it’s riskier and less convenient, but also because of you do that you give up one of the best features of hd wallets, which is enhancing privacy. A hd wallet generates a new address for each receiving transaction and also automatically sends change to a different address than the one you send from..

[Dhearnielt]

Private vs seed phrase - what are they and why they matters

Every crypto currency is built on a particular blockchain unknown as they web 3. Unlike in web2 where we usually have a username and a password, it not so in the web3.

The web3 where crypto currency are built always have a wallet address also known as public key for every user. This is where private key and seed phrase comes in;

Private keys are passcode to your wallets or crypto currency. They are unique set of characters(letters and numbers) use to access your wallet. Without them, your account or funds maybe lost forever.

Your seed phrase also unknown as recovery phrase acts as backup option for your wallets. They also help to access your wallet.
Note: either one of them can be used at a time.

Why are they important:
They are important because:
1. They secure your wallet. They can not be easily guessed. It even impossible to guess them. The seed phrase are usually 12 or 24 random words. While the private keys could be up to 64 characters (letters and number mixed together)
2. ⁠They are the only means through which you can access your account.
3. ⁠It also important because getting into a wrong hand means your money can be withdrawn without a trace. Lost.

Remember no one else can manage or control your account or wallet, so once your seedphrase or private key is lost, your account is lost for every. So keep them save so that you can be safe.

[Antotena]

Why They Matter
Your pivate key and seed phrase are the two central backbone of your crypto security this is because if anyone gets hold on either of them they can take all your funds. That’s why you should:

Private keys and seed phrases matters because they prove you're the true owner of your crypto wallet and funds. Without them you can't access your wallet. It's your responsibility to keep them safe, because you have the full control over them. If you lose your private key and seed phrase and someone else gets access to them, it can lead to permanent loss of your funds. Both should be stored privately, and you shouldn't reveal this information to parents, friends, or anyone else for the safety of your assets, because they might unintentionally or intentionally expose or misuse your security, which may put your assets at risk. To protect your assets, it's crucial to keep this information confidential and secure them at all times.

If you have a seed phrase, there is no use to back up your private keys. Seed was created for convenience and to have a single back up instead of many private keys. 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.

Been friends with people doesn't mean you have to trust anyone, money brings the inner character of people, you have to be very careful. Don't tell them you have Bitcoin, people have killed each other because they kmow the secrecy of their friends, some have sold each other out because of momey and some have disown each other because of money, not even your family you should entrust with Bitcoin unless you thinkbits necessary due to maybe death concern.

[khaled0111]

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.
But that’s not the point here, as you said, why back up private keys when you can just back up the wallet seed!
Backing up private keys was common in the early days of Bitcoin when paper wallets were still a thing. But with the introduction of HD wallets, it’s no longer necessary and doesn’t really make any sense.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

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.
But that’s not the point here, as you said, why back up private keys when you can just back up the wallet seed!
Backing up private keys was common in the early days of Bitcoin when paper wallets were still a thing. But with the introduction of HD wallets, it’s no longer necessary and doesn’t really make any sense.

There are many methods for making wallet backups and it's recommended to have multiple wallet backups and different backup methods too. Backups need to be tested for wallet recovery to make sure that they are accurate and usable backups before you fund those wallets with your bitcoins.

How to back up a seed phrase?
Crypto Security - Additional Protection For Your Seed/Private Keys.
[LIST] Bitcoin Seed Backup Tools.
Metal Bitcoin seed storage reviews.

[SmartGold01]

That’s why you should:

- Never share them with anyone.

Private things don't need and should not be shared publicly with anyone.

- Store them offline (write them on paper or make use of a hardware backup).

Offline, airgap are good ways to store your wallets that have big funds and your wallet backups.

-Avoid saving them in your phone or computer where they could be hacked.

If your device is online, you should not do it.
If your device is used offline, airgap, you can do it but a vital rule is always have different wallet backups. Avoiding a practice of having only a single wallet backkup as you can lose it anytime by accidents.

How to back up a seed phrase?

Of course you are right whenever a PC regularly goes online it's not advisable to store our seedphrase there because there is every likelihood to get hacked depending on where those our seedphrase are being stored, especially when it's stored on Microsoft walls. That is, we should stop storing them over such device. Another good way to store our seeds is engraving them on a metal steel plate, this could prevent fire damage or flooding, but in paper you could easily lose them immediately it's wet.

[Rustam Meraj]

Private keys and seed phrases matters because they prove you're the true owner of your crypto wallet and funds. Without them you can't access your wallet. It's your responsibility to keep them safe, because you have the full control over them. If you lose your private key and seed phrase and someone else gets access to them, it can lead to permanent loss of your funds. Both should be stored privately, and you shouldn't reveal this information to parents, friends, or anyone else for the safety of your assets, because they might unintentionally or intentionally expose or misuse your security, which may put your assets at risk. To protect your assets, it's crucial to keep this information confidential and secure them at all times.

Yes Private keys and seed phrases are most important part of owning crypto. They are our proof that we own our digital money and without them we can not get to our funds. Due to this people in crypto world say Not your keys not your coins because we risk losing our money if we let someone else hold it. To keep our investments safe we must keep this information private and not share it with anyone not even friends or family. Storing them securely and offline is best way to protect our assets from being stolen.

[Lembo69]

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?

[SuperBitMan]

A seed phrase is mostly made of 12 or 24 words which can be used to recover your wallet in the future, in case you misplaced your seed phrase in the past you can not recover them without the seed phrase which is why you must keep it save. They are more like a words and not sentence. Without them your assets will be lost forever. here are some information you get about bitcoin enthusiast that have lost access to their crypto.

https://www.webopedia.com/crypto/learn/largest-ost-bitcoin-wallets/

This is very important for people to know, most especially newbies, Seed phrase stands as a master key to cryptocurrency wallet that is why it is always advisable that we should keep it save and make sure not one see it or have access to them, with your seed phrase anyone can have access to your wallet, it is very dangerous for someone to see or have our seed phrase that is why some people get scammed easily, both are very important but seed phrase is very valuable to than private key.

Seed phrase is very important and we should learn how to keep it safe I remember when I lost my seed phrase when I started cryptocurrency newly, then I had a little amount of cryptocurrency in that wallet but I lost my seed phrase and I could not log in to that wallet anymore, then I wrote the seed phrase in a paper and kept it in my room I don't know who came to my room and take it I just don't know or understand how it got missing I look for it and I could not see it and that was how I lost my first cryptocurrency, keeping our seed phrase safe is something that we should take very serious and as a newbie you need to make sure that you keep it in a place where someone will not reach it because if they reach it they can enter your wallet and then withdraw your money and again I would like to tell every newbie this, if you are doing any AirDrop don't connect the wallet you are using to make bitcoin to those AirDrop because if you connect it they will have access to your wallet and they may withdraw your Bitcoin or from there so be wise.