Seed backups
Your seed words, written somewhere that survives fire, water, thieves, and time.
In plain words
The seed words are the wallet, so the backup is everything. Write them by hand — paper serves; stamped steel survives fire and flood. Never type them into a phone, computer, or cloud note. Never photograph them: that turns cold storage hot. Whoever finds the words owns the coins — hide them accordingly. And test the recovery once, before real money depends on it.
Why it matters
- Lost backups are one of the most common ways bitcoin dies.
- One digital copy quietly undoes every other precaution.
- An untested backup is a hope, not a backup.
Go deeper
- Seed phrase
- Passphrases
- Multisig
Updated 2026-07-29