Depending on your cryptocurrency wallet, you will always have to remember your wallet password, private keys, and your wallet seed phrase.
A seed phrase is between 12 to 24-word phrases that act as a backup method for recovering your wallet if the wallet password is lost. It is also referred to as a seed recovery phrase or a backup seed. They all mean the same thing.
This article will show you all the seven (7) different ways that you can use to keep your wallet passwords and seed phrase safe and secure from physical theft and cyber attacks.
How to Store Cryptocurrency Wallet Passwords & Seed Phrase Securely
Here are the seven (7) ways you can use to store them safely and securely.
1) Using Encrypted Cloud Service
You will keep your passwords on a privacy-focused cloud storage service like Sync and Tresorit. So it is not on your local storage but on cloud storage that you can securely access from any device and anywhere.
This convenient method allows you to store your wallet’s private keys, seed phrases, and all your digital files. Think of your personal photos, videos, emails and documents. It is essentially a backup solution with the user and data privacy in mind.
Storing personal information locally in your computer hard drive or mobile phone storage is not safe. If you have technical issues or lose your device, all your personal information will be gone. Therefore, you must have a cloud backup solution to retrieve everything, even when your device goes missing.
Not all cloud storage services are built with users’ privacy in mind. For example, Sync and Tresorit are cloud providers with a zero-knowledge policy, meaning they host our files, but they have no means to open and view them because they are encrypted before uploading to the cloud.
2) Using Hardware Crypto Wallet
You will be using a cryptocurrency hardware wallet like Trezor and Ledger to store your wallet passwords and seed phrases.
A hardware wallet is arguably the most secure wallet to store all your crypto funds. Furthermore, it is a cold wallet which means it is offline by design and is protected with the most robust encryption algorithm.
While your crypto funds are securely safe in the hardware wallet, Trezor and Ledger also provide you with the seed paper that allows you to write down your 12 to 24 seed phrases according to the correct numbering order.
3) Using a Password Manager
Reputable and robust password managers like LastPass and 1PassWord are designed to store your important personal and sensitive passwords and credentials.
You can store your seed phrase and private keys in a secure note inside your password manager. Do not forget to give the correct numbering order to each seed word.
Most password managers have similar features to one another. This includes a password vault, a dark web monitoring alert if your personal information is at risk and granting emergency access to the vault to someone else in the event of an emergency.
The most convenient feature has to be the auto-fill, where you visit a frequently-visited website. Your log in credentials can be filled up quickly due to the auto-detection feature of the password manager.
4) Using a Self-Encrypted Volume
You will install Veracrypt and set up your own self-encrypted volume. Inside it, you will store your private keys, seed phrases, and other files and documents you wish to.
Veracrypt is a disk encryption software application that allows for the creation of an encrypted volume. You can have a single folder or an entire hard drive encrypted with Veracrypt.
Veracrypt supports the most robust encryption algorithms, such as AES-256 and SERPENT-256.
To use this method
Save your wallet private keys, seed phrases and other personal credentials on a word document or in a similar text file. Place them into a folder. Use Veracrypt to encrypt the folder using the AES-256 bit algorithm. Next, use a strong password and remember it. This is the only password you need to remember.
5) Using Pen and Paper
Well, this is the most traditional yet straightforward way of storing your sensitive crypto wallet passwords using your handwriting.
The only risk here is the loss of the physical paper due to theft, misplace or even paper deterioration. As it is offline, there is no way this can be hacked and stolen.
To use this method;
Write down your wallet password, seed phrases and other details you need on a blank piece of paper. Make sure your handwriting is clear to yourself. Protect your paper with a transparent sheet or inside a file folder if you can. Depending on your premises, you should store it physically in a secure place like a safe or a keylock drawer where no one can access it easily.
6) Using a Printed Paper
Use this method ONLY when you have your own printer at home or in your personal office room. Do not attempt to print this in any printing service out there, as you are revealing your wallet password.
To use this method;
Write down the wallet password, seed phrases and other details on a Word document or text file. Next, have it printed out, preferably in an A4 size format. Keep the paper securely as per the pen & paper method stated above. The only difference here is that you can be sure of the printed ink’s durability and the words’ readability.
7) Using 2FA and other verification methods
This applies to storing your crypto funds in a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance, Coinbase and KuCoin.
The only strong line of defence is your login credentials. Always strengthen your exchange’s security via mobile phone verifications and 2FA authentication, e.g. using Authy or Google Authenticator.
