Recovery Phrase
What is Recovery Phrase?
Recovery PhraseA list of 12 or 24 words generated under the BIP-39 standard that encodes the master seed of a cryptocurrency wallet and can restore all derived keys.
A recovery phrase, also called a seed phrase or mnemonic, is a human-readable backup defined by the BIP-39 standard. Twelve or twenty-four words are picked from a fixed dictionary and encode the entropy used to derive every private key in a deterministic wallet. Anyone who possesses the words can reconstruct the wallet on any compatible device, so the phrase is effectively the entire wealth stored in the wallet. Recovery phrases must never be photographed, stored in cloud services, typed into any website, or shared with support staff. Best practice is to write them on paper or metal, keep at least one offline backup in a separate location, and pair them with a BIP-39 passphrase for plausibly deniable hidden wallets.
● Examples
- 01
A 24-word BIP-39 phrase written on a steel plate and stored in a safe deposit box.
- 02
An attacker who tricks a victim into typing their seed into a fake Ledger Live website drains the wallet within minutes.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Recovery Phrase?
A list of 12 or 24 words generated under the BIP-39 standard that encodes the master seed of a cryptocurrency wallet and can restore all derived keys. It belongs to the Web3 & Blockchain category of cybersecurity.
What does Recovery Phrase mean?
A list of 12 or 24 words generated under the BIP-39 standard that encodes the master seed of a cryptocurrency wallet and can restore all derived keys.
How does Recovery Phrase work?
A recovery phrase, also called a seed phrase or mnemonic, is a human-readable backup defined by the BIP-39 standard. Twelve or twenty-four words are picked from a fixed dictionary and encode the entropy used to derive every private key in a deterministic wallet. Anyone who possesses the words can reconstruct the wallet on any compatible device, so the phrase is effectively the entire wealth stored in the wallet. Recovery phrases must never be photographed, stored in cloud services, typed into any website, or shared with support staff. Best practice is to write them on paper or metal, keep at least one offline backup in a separate location, and pair them with a BIP-39 passphrase for plausibly deniable hidden wallets.
How do you defend against Recovery Phrase?
Defences for Recovery Phrase typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Recovery Phrase?
Common alternative names include: Seed phrase, Mnemonic, BIP-39 phrase.
● Related terms
- web3№ 464
Hardware Wallet
A dedicated physical device that stores cryptocurrency private keys in a tamper-resistant secure element and signs transactions offline.
- web3№ 613
Ledger Wallet
A hardware wallet line by French firm Ledger SAS that stores cryptocurrency keys inside a certified secure-element chip.
- web3№ 1170
Trezor Wallet
An open-source hardware wallet line by SatoshiLabs that stores cryptocurrency seeds offline and signs transactions through a built-in screen and buttons.
- web3№ 709
Multisig Wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet that requires m-of-n signatures from independent keys to authorise a transaction, removing single-key compromise as a fatal failure.
- attacks№ 821
Phishing
A social-engineering attack in which an attacker impersonates a trusted party to trick a victim into revealing credentials, transferring money, or running malware.