Explanation
Whoever holds the words holds the money. Store them offline, never as a photo or cloud note, and only ever type them into the wallet device itself. Any site or person asking for your seed phrase is stealing.
Why twelve words are enough
The words come from a fixed list of 2,048 terms. Twelve words therefore represent a number with roughly 128 bits of randomness — more combinations than there are grains of sand on Earth. From that single number the wallet mathematically derives every address and key you will ever use, including for coins you add later.
Storing it safely in practice
Write the words by hand on paper or stamp them into metal, and keep at least two copies in physically separate locations: at home and, say, in a safe. Paper burns and gets soaked; metal does not. Do not add the wallet name or the amount to the note.
For extra protection: a passphrase (an additional word of your choosing) turns the same twelve words into a completely different wallet. That protects against someone finding the paper, but if you forget the passphrase there really is no way back.
Inheritance
Think ahead about what happens if something happens to you. A sealed envelope with a notary containing instructions (not the words themselves in one place), or a split into parts that only work together, prevents your family from facing an unsolvable puzzle. In Belgium and the Netherlands this is a real problem in estates.
Key takeaways
- Never digital: no photo, cloud or screenshot.
- Two physical copies in separate locations.
- Arrange in advance what happens on death.
Frequently asked questions
+Can I put the words in a password manager?
Better not. A password manager is an online target; whoever breaks in gets your entire wallet at once. For small amounts the risk is limited, for savings it is not.
+Can someone guess my words?
Statistically no. All theft happens because the words were copied, photographed or voluntarily typed into a fake site somewhere.