Backing up your seed phrase without creating a new risk

Your seed phrase is the master key to your coins. A good backup has two jobs that pull in opposite directions: it must be durable enough to survive and hidden enough not to be stolen.

The basics everyone should do

• Write it by hand, on paper, in the order shown. Check every word twice against the wallet.
• Never photograph it or type it into a computer, phone, password manager or cloud drive.
• Test the backup. Restore it on a spare device or in the wallet's recovery check before you put money on it.

Making it survive

Paper burns and fades. For larger amounts, consider a metal backup: stamped or engraved plates, or letter tiles in a steel holder. They survive fire and water far better than paper.

Store it somewhere dry and out of sight. Not in a desk drawer labelled "crypto".

Not putting all your eggs in one place

One backup in one place can be lost. Two copies in two places is better, but doubles the chance someone finds one. Two more advanced options split the risk:

A passphrase

An extra word you choose, kept separately from the seed. The seed alone opens an empty wallet; seed plus passphrase opens the real one. Lose the passphrase and the funds are gone, so back it up too, in a different place.

Multisig

A wallet that needs, for example, 2 of 3 keys to spend. Each key lives on a different device and in a different place. One stolen or lost key is not enough to lose anything. It takes more setup, but it is the strongest option for savings.

What about your family?

If something happens to you, can anyone recover the funds? Write simple instructions: which wallet, where the backup is, and who to ask for help. Keep them with your will or with someone you trust, without the seed itself.

The best backup is boring: tested, durable, hidden, and written down in two places you will still remember in ten years.

Read Self-custody 101 for the basics of holding your own keys.