The Importance of Private Keys and Mnemonic Phrases
Private keys and mnemonic phrases, two of the most important terms in the blockchain space, are the most fundamental know-how for any blockchain user. That said, what do the two terms mean? What are their functions? How do we store our private keys and mnemonic phrases? These basics are the key to your security and survival in the blockchain world.
What are private keys and mnemonic phrases?
In appearance, private keys are essentially a randomly-generated string that consists of case-sensitive letters and numbers.
Here is a typical private key: KwYHFL7WfhJPkfQkp1LsUwHvy1Pd9KynuxjjVDMZvRSV5D9VJq3v
In the blockchain world, private keys equal assets, and whoever owns a private key controls the corresponding cryptos. As such, private keys must be properly kept.
In a sense, the private key of a wallet is like the password of a bank card or safe — the former allows one to withdraw money from the bank account, while the latter gives one access to assets locked in the safe. By the same token, having the private key enables one to control the cryptos stored in the wallet in any way he sees fit (e.g. making transfers or DeFi investments)
As private keys are lengthy and difficult to remember, users often make mistakes when entering the private key. Mnemonic phrases were born in response.
Mnemonic phrases, another form of the private key, convert a random string into 12~24 easy-to-remember words through a certain algorithm to facilitate storage and usage. We can import our crypto wallet through the private key and the mnemonic phrase as well. The typical mnemonic phrase consists of 12 words and looks like below (the following are all examples):
1、happy 2、fine 3、profit 4、down
5、crowd 6、tiger 7、task 8、gown
9、mind 10、table 11、pear 12、max
It should be noted that when importing a wallet with mnemonic phrases, we must be careful with both the spelling and the ordering of the words.
The key roles of private keys and mnemonic phrases in asset security
In a way, the private key of a crypto wallet is equivalent to the assets stored in it. This is the case because a private key indicates the ownership of the corresponding cryptos. Whoever holds the private key controls the assets, and when you lose your private key, you lose your cryptos. Without a doubt, private keys are the most vital information for managing and using cryptos.
As private keys represent proof of crypto ownership, mnemonic phrases, another form of private keys, are just as important. Once the mnemonic phrase or private key of a wallet is known to the public, anyone would be able to easily empty the wallet.
To avoid losing cryptos, we must properly keep our private keys and mnemonic phrases without disclosing them to anyone.
How should we store our private keys and mnemonic phrases?
As private keys and mnemonic phrases are so important that losing them equals losing cryptos forever, we ought to properly back them up.
1.Try to keep private keys and mnemonic phrases offline
We all know that the hacking of private keys is often associated with the Internet. Although it has brought us greater convenience, the Internet has also generated many security risks. For example, our private keys could be captured by hackers during the transmission process. There have been cases where the clipboard information, which contains the private key, was intercepted. Therefore, we should try to keep our important information (private keys and mnemonic phrases) offline.
For instance, we should not store our private keys and mnemonic phrases in screenshots or keep them on online devices like PCs or smartphones, since such actions may get them exposed to others.
2.Write down your private keys on paper
When making a written copy of a private key, we should be aware that this random string consists of case-sensitive letters and numbers, which must be correctly distinguished during the backup or recovery process.
When making backups, try to produce multiple copies (three copies would be sufficient), and keep them in different places for decentralized storage in case you lose one of the copies. Moreover, when you finish making a copy, always examine whether it is correct.
3.Adopt a cold wallet or hardware wallet
Users having savvy in crypto wallet technologies can make a cold wallet with a phone or computer that’s not frequently used. Since cold wallets stay offline, the private keys will never be disclosed through the Internet. Apart from cold wallets, we can also adopt a hardware wallet.
To sum up, in the blockchain space, security issues cannot be overemphasized. We must properly keep our private keys and mnemonic phrases because they are equivalent to access to our assets, and when we lose them, we lose our cryptos as well.
