Seed Phrase Security – Where To Store It

Seed Phrase Security – Where To Store It

There are so many ways to lose your money in crypto. You could send crypto to the wrong address, fall for a phishing scam, or buy something that goes to 0. With all the threats out there in the wild crypto space, it can be easy to forget that the biggest threat might actually be ourselves!

What do I mean by this? Well, it isn’t uncommon for people to lose their own seed phrase. That’s right, many people in crypto can actually fall victim to themselves. So, while it is important to stay aware and look out for scammers that want to take your crypto, you must also look out for the man in the mirror.

So, how should someone store their seed phrase? Well, the funny thing is, this question has millions of answers. Everyone’s situation is different, for example, someone living in a crowded apartment is going to store their seed phrase differently than someone living on a farm in the middle of nowhere. However, one rule of thumb that everyone should follow is to never store their seed phrase digitally.

This means, no text files, no photos, nothing. Don’t put it in a password manager, don’t put it in your phone notes, don’t store it on a thumb drive either. A super secure encrypted thumb drive may seem like a great idea, but those can break, resulting in your seed phrase being lost forever. Other methods of storing your seed phrase digitally, like I mentioned above, are just downright reckless.

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If your seed phrase is stored anywhere on your computer or phone digitally, a malicious actor could be searching for it at this very moment and you’d have no idea. That’s why the one rule I tell everyone to follow is to avoid storing their seed phrase digitally.

Outside of that, there is a lot of creativity and variability in how one can store their seed phrase. Some may just write it on paper and store it in their desk drawer, others may put it in a safe or a safety deposit box. One method that I recommend is carving your seed phrase into metal. This prevents any potential water or fire damage that could occur.

That might sound hard to do, but it can actually be quite simple. A colleague of mine has a fantastic video on how to do it that you can check out here. So, ok, you carve your seed phrase in metal, but you can still lose it right? That’s correct, there is no magic way to 100% guarantee your seed phrase will never get lost or destroyed.

I recommend finding a sweet spot, you don’t want to hide your seed phrase so well that you forget where it is, but you also don’t want it somewhere it could easily be stolen. This sweet spot, like I mentioned, is going to be up to you, the individual. No one else can tell you how to do it.

Ben DuBard

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