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How to back up your hardware wallet?
Making a backup of your wallet is an essential practice you should make a habit of doing to ensure you never lose access to your cryptos. In the worst case scenario where you lose access to your wallet app, you may still regain access to the cryptos even if you forget the password or lose the storage device with the private key.
A seed phrase that your hardware wallet (or software wallet or some online tool) generates IS the actual key to your coins. Your coins ‘live’ on the blockchain but access to them is made possible with these seed words. If you lose the words, you lose the coins. The wallet app (or device in case of hardware wallets) is just a tool that generates and stores these words for you. That is why, as long as you know the seed phrase, you can lose the app or device that generated the seed and still access your funds.
Only when someone obtains your seed phrase are you in trouble since they have complete access to your cash, which is secured by that private key (derived out of those seed words) and those seed phrases.
The safest way to store crypto seed phrases is in metal wallets, which provide the best defense against hacking attempts, accidents, and natural calamities like fire and water. Metal wallets are just plates that have your seed phrase engraved into them.
Compared to conventional approaches, they have several benefits for storing crypto. They are highly safe since they keep your private keys offline on a piece of metal that is resistant to fire and water. Additionally, they look cool and can be used as decoration.
Read also: Can hardware wallet be hacked?
Why You Should Backup Your Hardware Wallet?
Whoever possesses your private key and recovery phrase for your crypto wallet will also own all of your crypto holdings. If you store your crypto in a hardware wallet, you are protected from online thieves because your seed phrase never got in touch with the internet (hence cold storage is used as a synonym for hardware wallets). This is the reason why we recommend use of hardware wallets as soon as you have any significant amount of crypto.
However, hackers and con artists are becoming more sophisticated, so you could reveal your recovery seed to a third party unknowingly or under duress. You can’t get your cryptos back without the seed phrase.
If you want to be secure and savvy, use a second wallet simultaneously. Having your primary seed key on both hardware wallets or setting up a fresh wallet address and seed on the second one are both good options if you are storing a big quantity of crypto that you don’t want to lose access to at any moment.
How to properly store your wallet and your backup?
If you want to keep your Bitcoin for the long haul, you’ll need a safe place to keep it. When you use a hardware wallet to generate your seed phrase, you get a piece of paper to write down the words the device generates for you.
That leads us to the core problem many of us have – what is the best place to keep this piece of paper with such valuable information?
A good safe in your home is one option.
Split the seed phrase into two or more pieces and take it to a bank – deposit it in a safe there (not the whole phrase, only one part of it).
Use the above-mentioned metal wallets. Stainless steel or titanium, two extremely durable metals, are usually used for engraving the seed, ensuring its survival through any catastrophe.
Read also:
Verify the integrity of your backup from time to time (don’t enter it into a computer or mobile phone)
It’s a good idea to double-check your recovery phrase at regular intervals, not only at the beginning. Primarily, if you are keeping this data on a piece of paper, check on it every so often to make sure it is legible and funds can be accessed. Recovery phrases might be difficult to decipher if the paper on which they were written has decayed and/or the ink has faded.
The backup of your recovery seed phrase may be verified using a function found on most hardware wallets. By using this function, you may check that your recovery seed phrase is exactly as you typed it. You can perform the test without restoring or wiping out the device.
Activating the verification procedure triggers the device’s recovery routine. However, the gadget doesn’t bother recreating the seed; instead, it compares it to the one it already has. Your wallet’s user interface will show you the comparison results. If the seed word is the same, the gadget will confirm that the backup is secure. Otherwise, an error message will be displayed.
All of the coins in your wallet are completely in the hands of whoever knows your seed phrase. Aside from people, any background-running software tool on your computer or mobile device has the ability to eavesdrop on you and relay your recovery words directly to a distant attacker.
You should never type your recovery words onto a computer or save them in a digital format because of this. This includes utilizing a photocopy machine (the majority have inbuilt storage that maintains copies), snapping a picture with your phone, or uploading it to cloud storage.
The Best Wallet Backup Method
We believe metal wallets are one of the finest solutions for keeping your cryptos safe. If you want to keep your crypto safe, you need to have a secure way of storing your seed keywords, like metal wallets. The four top-rated metal wallets are listed in the text below:
Bilfodl
The most secure steel wallet you’ll ever use is Billfodl’s Multishard. It is made of a superior marine-grade 316 stainless steel alloy that can withstand temperatures up to 1200 °C (2100 °F).
Three different elements make up your seed phrase. Since each component has a unique combination of letters, it is challenging to determine the whole word order. Each unit has 16 of the total 24 words.
- Unit one holds words 1-16
- Unit two holds words 9-24
- Unit three holds words 1-8 and 17-24
At least two of the three pieces would need to be located to attempt to decipher the code.
Cryptosteel Cassette
The Cryptosteel Cassette is often described as the “mother of all cold storage alternatives” for a good cause. It is housed in a compact and weatherproof cassette that can be carried anywhere.
The alphabet is depicted on metal tiles, and the two portable cassettes are constructed of rust-proof stainless steel. You must manually combine those elements to create your 12- or 24-word seed phrase. There is room for up to 96 characters in this area.
Cryptosteel Capsule
Ledger’s creators of crypto wallets have partnered with Slider to create a brand-new category of cold storage hardware dubbed the CryptoSteel Capsule. Using this cold storage option, customers may keep their crypto holdings secure and easily accessible.
It has a capsule in the form of a tube, and each tile engraved with the single letter that makes up your seed phrase is stored inside the hollow part of it. In addition, the outside of the capsule is made out of 303-grade stainless steel, making it durable enough to withstand rough treatment. This wallet’s durability increases because the tiles are also constructed of premium stainless steel.
Cryptotag
You may engrave the seed phrase for your hardware wallet into a CRYPTOTAG titanium plate. The titanium plates can bear high pressure, pneumatic hammers, profile bending, metal rollers, and other stresses. They are also fireproof, waterproof, and bulletproof.
That’s because it’s built to the BIP39 specification. This allows you to carve out the first four letters of each seed word, which is sufficient to obtain the complete word and, ultimately, the entire seed phrase.
FAQs
No, you don’t need to restore your wallet on an identical device. The recovery phrase for hardware wallets follows a common standard, so if a hardware wallet manufacturer ceases to be in business, you may recover your wallet on any other hardware wallet.
Some crypto owners divide their recovery phrases into two or three pieces that are kept in different places. While this makes it more difficult for someone else to steal your recovery phrase, it also puts more responsibility on you and demands you to put the various pieces of your recovery phrase together in the correct sequence in order to get your wallet back.
Yes, you can back up a Ledger wallet. Use the 24-word recovery phrase you noted down while configuring your first device to generate a backup copy of your primary Ledger hardware wallet. The private keys giving you access to your crypto assets will be recovered by inputting these 24 characters into your second device.
Your crypto is not lost if you lose or someone steals your Ledger device. The gadget cannot be used by anyone else thanks to your PIN, and you can always access your accounts thanks to your securely saved recovery phrase that keeps you connected to your priceless blockchain addresses.
Remember that if your recovery seed is compromised, it is wise to have at least two hardware wallets since you will want to transfer your crypto assets as quickly as possible to the new hardware wallet.
As long as your recovery seed is unharmed, it doesn’t matter whether your hardware wallet is lost or broken. To access your money, you just need a new hardware wallet or a software wallet/app that is compatible.
Yes, an NFT can hack your wallet. Your assets may be compromised in an NFT, same as crypto assets may be mined from online wallets and exchanges.
