How To Safely Store Your Crypto Seed Phrase

Lost money to a crypto or trading scam? Read this first:

If your losses exceed £3,000 (in the UK) or $10,000 worldwide The Crypto Adviser can offer advice on recovering your funds. 

>> GET IN TOUCH

Cryptocurrency offers many advantages over traditional money – you can send it to anyone, anywhere in the world almost instantly and at a fraction of the cost of fiat transfers.

Many people use a crypto exchange to buy their coins before moving them to a decentralised wallet for everyday use or to an offline storage solution like a hardware wallet for safekeeping.

Both options mean you’ll be given a recovery, or seed, phrase of between 12 and 24 words which acts as your private key (as opposed to your public key, or wallet address) which allows you to retrieve your crypto if you lose access to your wallet.

These words, which form a mnemonic phrase, are the only thing standing between you and the loss of your Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, so it’s vital that you keep a record of them in a secure place.

Ways to keep your seed phrase safe

But where can you store your crypto keys safely? Is there a best place to store your Bitcoin recovery phrase? And what are the best ways to keep your mnemonic seed phrase secure?

Here I look at some of the solutions for secure crypto seed phrase storage, but you’ll have to decide for yourself which is best for you depending on your circumstances.

1. Using pen and paper

If you buy a hardware wallet such as Ledger or Trezor you’ll find an accompanying card designed to be used to note down your seed phrase.

This is because writing it down will probably be the first thing you do to keep an immediate record of it.

But long term there are risks associated with this method.

Paper can be stolen, read by someone else, burnt, misplaced or thrown away by mistake – all occurrences that could lead to the demise of your crypto stash.

That’s not to say that a paper backup of your seed phrase isn’t useful, but you should store it in a safe place away from prying eyes and seriously consider an additional, more robust solution as a backup, such as a metal tablet.

If you choose paper as your only solution it’s a good idea to make a new copy every so often to maintain the integrity of the ink.

You could also consider using a ‘ghost pen’ solution, whereby you write your seed phrase in ink that’s only visible under UV light.

Again, it’s important to keep refreshing this note to prevent it deteriorating over time.

2. Metal tablet

A metal seed phrase solution for these vital words could be the answer for many crypto investors.

It provides a much more robust way of storing your seed phrase and can protect against fire, flooding or any other events that would destroy a paper record.

Again though, metal tablets are vulnerable to theft so it’s crucial that you keep yours hidden away.

Some solutions on the market feature a lockable tablet as an added layer of security. A padlock won’t stop a determined thief, but it may put off an opportunist.

There are various models on the market, with Keystone Tablet Plus and Billfodl being among some of the best known.

Metal seed phrase tablets are a durable solution but not completely indestructible. Check the rating for the product you buy to ensure it meets your needs.

Even the top brands may still be vulnerable to corrosion or destruction depending on what they’re exposed to.

Related posts:

• Keystone Table Plus review
• Billfodl Cyber Security Bundle review

3. Memorising your seed phrase

If your crypto recovery phrase exists only in your head you’d think it’s pretty safe.

But there are several pitfalls to consider, the most obvious being that you forget it.

There are of course strategies to help you retain information, such as the link method, the journey method or various mnemonic patterns, but none are absolutely infallible.

What if you suffer a head injury or succumb to a degenerative brain disease? These are all issues to consider alongside simply forgetting those all-important words.

The other potential issue, and this applies to other methods on this list as well, is that someone may physically threaten or attack you to get you to give up the information.

While memorising your seed phrase sounds great in principle, in practice it can be problematic and not suited to most people.

4. Splitting your seed phrase

Anyone looking to steal your crypto using your seed phrase needs the whole thing, whether it be 12, 18 or 24 words.

Having part of it is no use to anyone so you may want to consider splitting it up and keeping each portion in a different location.

Then, if any of these parts fall into the wrong hands you can sleep easy knowing that your crypto is safe.

You could write down half your phrase on a piece of paper and store the other half online as this would be useless to any cybercriminal who came across it.

Further splits will only add to the security, as long as you don’t reveal where the parts are kept to anyone you don’t want to.

The flipside to this is making sure that your loved ones can access your coins if you were to die suddenly.

Creating a note of this information creates an additional security risk so ensure this is also kept securely yet in a place your trusted family can access.

Often people use a letter of wishes alongside their will to pass on private financial information, including details of cryptoassets, to others.

5. Air-gapped digital media

As I’ve already said, keeping your seed phrase offline is an important part of crypto security (unless you’re putting only part of it in the cloud), but you can still store it digitally.

Placing a copy or part of it on a USB memory stick, SD card, external HDD/SSD or even burning it onto a CD/DVD are all options to consider.

However, there are a number of risks associated with this and it may not be suitable unless you have a more in-depth knowledge of device security.

A USB stick can be easily stolen and accessed by a crypto thief, as can any of the other media formats listed above.

You can create password protected sectors but it’s likely that there’s someone out there with the knowledge to circumvent your security efforts.

Also, portable media can easily be lost or destroyed, and the data on them can degrade over time, especially if they’re stored carelessly.

If you do use this method you need to store your media in a safe place, preferably in a fire-proof box.

And if ever you need to access it, consider switching off your broadband router while doing so to avoid it being accidentally exposed to the internet.

It’s also a good idea to run a virus scan on your computer before inserting your device in case it’s been compromised.

6. Seed phrase recovery services

There are several companies that offer to securely store your recovery seed for a fee, which may seem tempting at first.

After all, the responsibility is taken out of your hands right?

Not quite. While the service may store your phrase there’s no guarantee that it’ll be done so safely.

It’ll potentially be accessible to hackers, cybercriminals and even a crooked staff member who spots an opportunity to line their pockets.

Also, you need to be extremely careful as to who you trust and be sure you’re using a legitimate site.

7. Using the pages of a book

This method combines memory and literature to create a copy of your seed phrase that only you know about.

It involves choosing a book and finding the words of your seed phrase among the pages.

However, this involves remembering the information which, as I’ve already said, is not the most reliable way of keeping this vital information safe.

8. Create decoy phrases

This method is designed to prevent your crypto from being stolen by making any would-be thief believe that they have your crypto seed phrase.

In a nutshell you create a completely random seed phrase that looks like the real thing and hide it somewhere that a thief might look.

After they’ve discovered your decoy they’ll think they’ve hit the jackpot and probably give up their search.

You can create multiple instances of your decoy phrases, or even several different phrases for added security.

Just make sure your real seed phrase is super safe and that you don’t get it mixed up with your decoy(s)!

Conclusion

In my opinion the safest solution right now would be to split your seed phrase over multiple metal tablets and store them in different, secure locations.

I’ve heard of one person who has split their seed phrase and hidden the parts in different countries!

This may seem extreme, but they clearly have a fortune to protect.

Whichever solution you choose, think carefully about your hiding place.

Don’t hide your tablet/paper/USB at the bottom of a box full of junk despite it seeming like a good idea – it’s quite possible that someone will innocently throw it away.

Take time to establish a safe place and make sure to tell someone you trust in case the worst happens.

Where not to store your Bitcoin recovery phrase

The number one no-no when it comes to storing your seed phrase is using anything that’s connected to the internet.

Putting it online exposes it to thieves and hackers and makes your crypto vulnerable.

There have been instances where people have stored their phrase in the cloud or typed it into a draft message in their webmail only for their coins to vanish.

Never store your seed phrase online, unless you’re splitting it.

If you’re unsure how to securely store your seed phrase you might be better off leaving your crypto on the exchange you bought it then at least you won’t have to worry about storing it.

Yes, there are risks associated with this, but exchanges are very secure these days and might be the best option for many people.

Other storage places/methods to avoid include:

• Password manager apps. Not only can the contents be potentially read by a cybercrook, there’s also the chance the data may become corrupted. If this happens, you may lose your crypto forever.
• Taking a photo of your seed phrase. This potentially exposes it to the internet, either via the phone/camera you use or the memory card.
• The chances are your phone may save the image to a cloud storage solution which exposes it to the internet, or the device itself may be lost or stolen.
• Similarly with a camera – at some point you may well insert the memory card into an internet connected computer, potentially exposing the contents to cybercriminals.
• Don’t store your seed phrase on your phone either. Not only is it vulnerable to theft/loss it’s also possible that the predictive text function on your smartphone could reveal it, even if you’ve hidden it away.