Your seed phrase is everything

When you create a self-custody wallet, it hands you a list of words — usually 12 or 24 of them. That list is your seed phrase (also called a recovery phrase). It is the single most important thing you will ever back up.

Those words are a human-readable version of your private keys. From them, your wallet can rebuild every address and every coin you control. Which means anyone else who gets them can do the same.

The two rules

• Don’t lose it. If your phone falls in the ocean and you have your seed phrase, your coins are fine — restore on a new device, done. No phrase, no recovery. Ever.
• Don’t leak it. Anyone with your phrase has your money. No exceptions.

Write it down. On paper. Offline.

Where to keep it

Pen and paper is genuinely great. Better still is stamping it into metal so fire and water can’t touch it. Store it somewhere only you know about — and consider a second copy in a separate location in case of disaster.

How you’ll get scammed (so you don’t)

No legitimate wallet, exchange, or “support agent” will ever ask for your seed phrase. The instant anyone does — a website, a DM, a popup, a phone call — it’s a scam. Close the tab.

Lost your phone? Lost your phrase?

These are two very different events, and knowing the difference removes most of the fear. Lost or broken phone, but you still have your seed phrase? You’re completely fine — install a wallet on a new device, enter the phrase, and every coin reappears. Lost the phrase but your wallet still works? Don’t panic, but act: your funds are reachable right now, so write a fresh backup immediately, then consider moving everything to a brand-new wallet whose phrase only you hold. Lost both? That’s the one with no recovery — which is exactly why the backup matters more than the device.

So make the backup bulletproof while it’s easy: more than one copy, kept in separate places, ideally stamped in metal — and actually test that you can read it back. A backup you’ve never checked is only a guess.