How can i compress my bitcoin private key into a short mnemonic code

[HMb1996]

I am a newbie in the crypto space, who is learning on bitcoin security
We are advised to securely back up our seed phrases but sometimes I think
About whether there is a safe way to convert a 12 or 24 words seed phrase into
a much shorter mnemonic short code that only the original owner understands
and can later be used to recover back the original backup code.
For example is it possible to encrypt a seed phrase into a shorter memorable form
In which at the end, it wouldn't reduces it security?

[Charles-Tim]

12 word seed phrase is short enough, no need to shorten it more than that. You can encrypt it with short characters, but I will not advise that because the shorter the encryption is, the easier it is to brute force.

To generate 12 word seed phrase and duplicate it and backup the seed phrases should not be hard.

[Cookdata]

I am a newbie in the crypto space, who is learning on bitcoin security
We are advised to securely back up our seed phrases but sometimes I think
About whether there is a safe way to convert a 12 or 24 words seed phrase into
a much shorter mnemonic short code that only the original owner understands
and can later be used to recover back the original backup code.

You can but practically it's not recommended due to human error and mistakes. If you make mistakes during conversation from seed phrase to another form or convert from other form to seed phrase, you will get a different wallet different from what you created initially.

What you need know is seed phrase are not random words, they are carefully selected from bip39 word list which contain 2048 words, if you include a word that is not from the word list, your wallet will not recognize the seed phrase, also they are not the same with electrum word list, the two are different even if they do the same job but electrum wallet support bip39 word list.

I2 seed words shouldn't be a big deal to save and keepaway from the internet instead of doing extra conversation to another form.

For example is it possible to encrypt a seed phrase into a shorter memorable form
In which at the end, it wouldn't reduces it security?

You can't encrypt a seed phrase but you can encrypt a private key if you have a single private key that hold your Bitcoin but it's better you send it to an address where you control the seed phrase for better wallet management.

However, you can extend your seed words with a passphrase, but if you forgot your extended word, you will not have access to your Bitcoin. So think carefully which word you can remember before you add extension to your seed phrase.

[OcTradism]

We are advised to securely back up our seed phrases but sometimes I think
About whether there is a safe way to convert a 12 or 24 words seed phrase into
a much shorter mnemonic short code that only the original owner understands

Don't do this.
Don't think about this idea again in the future.
Forget about it entirely from now.

Because if you innovate your personal way to do that, only you know and understand that, what will happen if later you lost your consciousness or memory or notes of steps to do that for wallet recovery, what will you do or what will your family do?

You will lose your bitcoins this way, so again don't do this, and forget about it.

Want to backup wallet safely, read this
How to back up a seed phrase?

[rat03gopoh]

I am a newbie in the crypto space, who is learning on bitcoin security
We are advised to securely back up our seed phrases but sometimes I think
About whether there is a safe way to convert a 12 or 24 words seed phrase into
a much shorter mnemonic short code that only the original owner understands
and can later be used to recover back the original backup code.
For example is it possible to encrypt a seed phrase into a shorter memorable form
In which at the end, it wouldn't reduces it security?

How well do you remember difficult things that only you can understand, and how confident are you that age doesn't affect your memory? If you forget just one code representing one word, nothing, not even recovery tools, can help you guess the missing word. You're wrong if you only think about the security risks with this method; the primary risk should be loss of access. However, if that happens, it would be beneficial for us to reduce circulation.

[bitmover]

12 word seed phrase is short enough, no need to shorten it more than that. You can encrypt it with short characters, but I will not advise that because the shorter the encryption is, the easier it is to brute force.

To generate 12 word seed phrase and duplicate it and backup the seed phrases should not be hard.

I agree...

When people try to make customizations and "great ideas" over security they end up puttinh their coins at risk.

Just save your seed in a piece of paper. Use a passphrase if possible. That is safer enough

[tbct_mt2]

When people try to make customizations and "great ideas" over security they end up puttinh their coins at risk.

Just save your seed in a piece of paper. Use a passphrase if possible. That is safer enough

It is warned many times like Jameson Lopp did but there are other people warned about this risk too.
There are some threats from bad backup models but loss due to complexity/ unable to restore the wallet from backup is one of such threats. OP is going to do something complicated for his wallet backup and recovery later, with risk of losing his bitcoins due to complexity in the end.

Seed Backup Threat Model

We already know why we are creating seed backups - to protect against loss of whatever devices (if any) we are storing the keys on for regular use. But what do we need to worry about protecting the backups themselves against?
    Loss due to complexity / not being able to restore from backup

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

Your 12 word seed phrase is already a compressed version of your private keys. And just like Charles Tim mentioned it it's quite short enough already. Trying to compress it further has so many risks especially security related ones. Since you are working with keys and seeds you'll most likely run into fake softwares and site that steal information.

Some people can instead decide to split the seed but I personally don't find it very useful because spliting it also has it's risk you can look up SLIP39 in contrast to BIP39 that's usually used.

[tbct_mt2]

Some people can instead decide to split the seed but I personally don't find it very useful because spliting it also has it's risk you can look up SLIP39 in contrast to BIP39 that's usually used.

Seed splitting is a bad idea.
Why is seed splitting a bad idea?

I explained about it in the past.

Splitting wallet mnemonic seed is a bad idea because with only one part of splitted seed, you can not recover your wallet. For example, if you splitted the mnemonic seed to three parts, you need all three parts for your wallet recovery later. Chance of one of three parts is lost actually not zero, therefore you have considerable risk of failing to recover your wallet, and lose your bitcoins.

Bitcoin has good security and it's impossible to brute force a wallet mnemonic seed if you lose one, two parts of your splitted wallet mnemonic seed recovery. You can think it like if people can brute force wallet seed, all bitcoins would have been stolen and Bitcoin has $0 in value already.

[Karl_3000]

Some people can instead decide to split the seed but I personally don't find it very useful because spliting it also has it's risk you can look up SLIP39 in contrast to BIP39 that's usually used.

Seed splitting is a bad idea.
Why is seed splitting a bad idea?

Splitting is very bad which Mia also said but what I do not like that she said is that she can go for SLIP39, this is because the 128 bits of the SLIP39 contain 20 words, seed phrase that has 12 words is compressed than 20 words.

[Upgrade00]

I have forgotten the pattern to unlock my phone once, cause it was one I did not use for several weeks, how well do you think your memory will hold when you will seldomly have to use your seedphrasre. Any security protection you can remember like passwords, passphrases is a poor one an so is your ability to remember them.

Mnemonic is not a dependable concept in the current digital age.

[Shadiq]

A 12-word seed phrase is already easy, we shouldn't look for an easier trick. Do you want to bury your Bitcoin with you? If not, then don't take any action with the seed phrase that will make it impossible for your heirs to access that Bitcoin after you.

Keep the seed phrase as it is and make several copies in a safe place. Be sure to keep the seed phrases in a place that no one but you can access while you are alive, and where your heirs can retrieve the seed phrases after you are gone.

[_act_]

Keep the seed phrase as it is and make several copies in a safe place. Be sure to keep the seed phrases in a place that no one but you can access while you are alive, and where your heirs can retrieve the seed phrases after you are gone.

You can not be sure that no one can not access where you store your seed phrase, although it is possible, but do not have that assumption because the unexpected can happen. The best is that you can just add passphrase to your seed phrase so that it will be hard to attack offline. I rarely have a seed phrase that will not have passphrase because passphrase is very beneficial for this purpose.

[Mia Chloe]

Splitting is very bad which Mia also said but what I do not like that she said is that she can go for SLIP39, this is because the 128 bits of the SLIP39 contain 20 words, seed phrase that has 12 words is compressed than 20 words.

Splitting is only kinda risky but it also has it's advantages over your regular BIP 39 against SLIP 39. even if you get 20 words minimum, you still have the liberty of splitting to 3 parts or more probably up to 8 where you can use just some parts of the seed  instead of all 20.

It's not literally compression it's just a way to get around the whole block usage of seeds. Literally the numbers you'll need from those partitions will still be close to or more than 12.

[Curious T]

When it's in a 12 or 24-word phrase, that is already a mnemonic code that was generated from your private key, so how else do you want to make it shorter again? There is no difference between a mnemonic code and a seed phrase. They are the same thing. Reducing it to any smaller than the 12-word phrase might be very risky for you, if you do, because you might forget or make a mistake.

[Rubuchi]

A 12-word seed phrase is already easy, we shouldn't look for an easier trick. Do you want to bury your Bitcoin with you? If not, then don't take any action with the seed phrase that will make it impossible for your heirs to access that Bitcoin after you.

Keep the seed phrase as it is and make several copies in a safe place. Be sure to keep the seed phrases in a place that no one but you can access while you are alive, and where your heirs can retrieve the seed phrases after you are gone.

Many people spend much time looking for clever ways to hide or modify their seed phrase that may even end up creating a bigger problem for themselves and their family later on. I think like Shadiq said, a 12 word seed phrase is already designed to be secure and easy, so the challenge is not just about the seed phrase itself or whether the words can be shorter but it more about how it is stored or protected by you. Now imagine if you create another mnemonics for it that only you understand and some thing eventually happens to you, what you think of making easy will automatically become more complicated to the family to access, even when you probably need them to at your sick bed.

You can not be sure that no one can not access where you store your seed phrase, although it is possible, but do not have that assumption because the unexpected can happen. The best is that you can just add passphrase to your seed phrase so that it will be hard to attack offline. I rarely have a seed phrase that will not have passphrase because passphrase is very beneficial for this purpose.

as for this, I think we should all agree by now that there is no single storage method that is completely free of risk and for somebody to even assume that nobody will ever gain access to a seed phrase backup can create a false sense of security in them. So fixing a passphrase to your seed phrase is not an entirely bad idea and is in fact something good to consider, however you must also leave a clear inheritance instructions to it and make it easily remembered and recoverable regardless.