Mnemonic Wallet Phrase: What Is It?

Sometimes such unpleasant situations happen when we forget our passwords and lose access to them after registering for some services. Of course, losing the password from your favorite social network or account in an online store is unpleasant. Still, it’s not fatal, and you can always restore access via e-mail or create a new account.

However, you can’t simply access your crypto wallet via email. So, if you lose your private key, you can restore lost access to your cryptocurrency wallet using this combination of magic words.

What Does a Mnemonic Phrase Mean?

A seed phrase or, as it is often called, mnemonic phrase, mnemonic code, secret or backup phrase is a mnemonic password, a list of code words containing information that you can use to restore access to a cryptocurrency wallet.

A mnemonic seed phrase typically includes 12 to 24 keywords generated randomly using a complex mathematical mechanism to provide a unique chain of words that will subsequently be known only to one person — the cryptocurrency wallet owner.

Nowadays, almost all cryptocurrency wallets use a mnemonic seed phrase to ensure proper security of their users.

How Does It Work?

Each word of the mnemonic code is given a unique number when using cryptography. The mnemonic phrase becomes a large random number when used with a cryptocurrency wallet, which generates all key pairs for the wallet. Simply put, the first phrase is a method for implementing private keys.

In the BIP39 standard, mnemonic phrases form part of a technical rule-finding mechanism that facilitates the task of managing complex private keys. The initial phrase is converted into a master key, based on which the public and private keys are implemented in a sequence of a specific pattern.

Why Are Mnemonics Used in Blockchain Wallets?

Mnemonics are used on many cryptocurrency platforms for security reasons. It is much easier to remember a list of words we can understand than a complex and lengthy private key.

When registering on almost any crypto platform related to the storage of funds, you must remember the suggested mnemonic phrase. In the future, if you lose your password or the device you used to log in to the platform, you will be able to restore access using that phrase.

Examples of Mnemonic Phrases

The standard BIP39 dictionary consists of 2048 words. It is important to understand that the mnemonic phrase used in hierarchically defined wallets is based on a random sequence. So, here are some examples of what seed phrases look like:

• 12 words: divide, emotion, stove, marine, wreck, notice, proud, suggest, cannon, satisfy, engine, symptom.
• 24 words: joke, shoe, boring, faculty, brief, sick, glance, lazy, wheel, term, hold, faint, actual, matrix, local, phone, define, toast, gallery, town, shine, poet, state, thrive.

Where Can I Get a Seed Phrase?

The cryptocurrency platform provides seed phrases during the account registration procedure. After you enter the password and log in, you get visual access to the mnemonic code, which you must immediately write down and securely hide.

How to Store a Mnemonic Phrase?

Seed phrase needs careful storage, and the way it is stored should be handled with the utmost care and attention, lest you lose all your digital savings due to insecure storage of the sid-phrase. Therefore, protecting your cryptocurrency wallet and ensuring its security is the first thing the owner of digital assets should pay attention to.

In order to securely store the secret phrase, there are the following options:

• Engrave the secret phrase on a stone, metal plate, or coin.
• Write down the secret phrase on paper and store it in a safe or in a safe deposit box.
• Memorize the secret phrase.
• Save it as a screenshot, photo, or pdf file on a flash drive.

However, none of the above methods provides a 100% guarantee of the secret phrase’s safety. Therefore, it is best to combine these methods.

Conclusion

Are there disadvantages to using seed phrases? Yes, and they are related to careless storage and human factors on the part of users. However, it is important to remember that if a seed phrase is lost or forgotten, you will lose access to the cryptocurrency wallet and, consequently, to its digital assets forever.

Consequently, when starting to use a seed phrase to work with a cryptocurrency wallet, one should never forget about cryptocurrency storage security measures, make sure that the mnemonic phrase will not fall into the hands of third parties and third-party online services, and choose several optimal ways to store mnemonic phrases.