What are Seed Phrases, Private Keys, Public Keys, Public Addresses? - Idoneus (2024)

FAQs

What are Seed Phrases, Private Keys, Public Keys, Public Addresses? - Idoneus? ›

A single 24 word seed phrase with a password/passphrase, along a particular path (called an HD path) will produce a particular private key. That private key will then produce a public key. That public key will then produce the public address.

Private keys are used to sign transactions, spend, and prove ownership over Bitcoin, whereas seed phrases act as a recovery tool for your wallet in case of issues. These components are crucial for ensuring the security and accessibility of self-custody of your digital assets.

A seed phrase is a sequence of random words that stores the data required to access or recover cryptocurrency. Seed phrases are generated by crypto wallets and are crucial for the safety of digital assets. It's essential to keep a seed phrase safe and private as it can be used to regain access to a crypto wallet.

What's the difference between a private key and a seed phrase? A private key is per account, whereas the seed phrase is per wallet, used to generate all private keys in the account. Hence you cannot restore all accounts if you have only 1 key.

Your seed is just a version of your private key written in a way that's easier for you to write down. Your seed and keys are actually the same things, just in different forms! You can use wallet's seed to restore your wallet too.

As the names suggest, the private key is an encrypted key (string of letters and numbers) that grants access to the funds within your crypto wallet. When you first create your wallet, you will be given both the private key and a recovery "seed" phrase.

Generally, a seed phrase only works with the same wallet software that created it. If storing for a long period of time it's a good idea to write the name of the wallet too.

When you first set up a crypto wallet — like Coinbase Wallet — it generates a string of simple words, which is your recovery phrase (sometimes also known as a seed phrase). The wallet also uses the recovery phrase to algorithmically create private keys — which allow you to send or spend your crypto.

If you simply need to recover access to your account:

If you no longer have access to your recovery phrase, you will need to create a new account. Please note: Coinbase Wallet is a user-controlled, non-custodial product. The recovery phrase is what gives you, and only you, access to move funds that you have received.

A private key is a cryptographic variable that is used in conjunction with an algorithm to encrypt and decrypt data. Private keys should be shared only with the key's generator or parties authorized to decrypt the data. They are crucial in symmetric cryptography, asymmetric cryptography and cryptocurrencies.

What happens if someone finds your seed phrase? ›

So, now you know that your seed phrase is a backup to all of your crypto wallet. This also means that if anyone else can get their hands on your set of 24 words, they can access your cryptocurrencies. As such, it's extremely important to keep your seed phrase secure.

Using large, random numbers to create wallets enables users to “open up a bitcoin account” without having to contact, trust or rely on anyone else. The large amount of theoretical wallets make it practically impossible for anyone to guess your seed phrase, not to mention “re-creating” your wallet by sheer accident.

Your seed phrase should be known by you and you only. Since Trust Wallet is also a non-custodial wallet, we don't own your wallet's private keys, and in the event that you lose them, you will have lost access to your account and funds.

However, seed phrases are considered very secure by modern standards. With a 12- or 24-word seed phrase out of 2048 possible words, determining the right words in the right sequence is almost impossible.

In practice, it is highly unlikely that an attacker could guess or brute-force a 12-word recovery seed with 128 bits of entropy in a feasible amount of time. Thus, a 12-word seed offers a high level of security that is sufficient for most users, striking a balance between security and ease of use.

Seed phrases are a crucial aspect of crypto security. They are a sequence of random words that guarantee the recovery of wallets. While seed phrases offer an extra layer of security and recovery, handling them responsibly is important. Losing access to them can result in the loss of your wallet.

For example, if you sell coffee online, then you can use seed keywords like coffee, espresso, cappuccino, French press, percolator, etc. After identifying a few relevant seed keywords for your website, you can build on them with modifiers to generate more keyword ideas.

The private key is much too long to memorize and type in when needed so it is stored encrypted on disk. The passphrase is used to encrypt and decrypt that private key.

How can I find out the seed phrase if I know the password from my wallet? Got to your Wallet, enter your password, go to your portfolio, then choose to Back Up Now . It will ask you for your password once again and then will go on to give you a seed phrase for your Wallet.