Chapter 14
Protect your recovery phrase
What you'll get from this chapter: Where to keep your recovery phrase (and where never to keep it), how to buy and use a hardware wallet, and what to do if you think you have been compromised.
In this chapter
- Words in this chapter
- Your steps
A photograph of your , stored on a phone or in a cloud album, can be copied long before anyone spends the cryptocurrency.
Write your recovery phrase on paper or, better, stamp it into metal. Store it offline: not in a cloud note, not in email, not in a screenshot. Consider a second copy in a different place. For larger amounts, you can add a passphrase (an extra secret word on top of the recovery phrase) or use a (multisig), which needs more than one key to approve a payment. Each step raises the bar again.
Buy only from the manufacturer. Confirm the receiving address on the device’s own screen, not only on the computer. Clipboard swaps the address you paste, so check the first and last characters every time.
Keep everyday spending money in a (one connected to the internet, like a phone app). Keep the rest in (offline, on a hardware wallet). Install firmware updates for the device. If anything looks wrong, move your funds from a clean device and revoke (cancel) any you gave to websites.
Even a well-hidden recovery phrase cannot help if you sign away permission to your wallet. The next chapter covers and token approvals.
Words in this chapter
- . Software written to harm the device or to steal from the person using it. Viruses, , and are types of malware.
- . A wallet that is connected to the internet, such as a phone application or a . Convenient for spending money. A poor place for long-term savings.
- . A crypto wallet that needs more than one key to approve a payment, so one stolen key is not enough.