🚨 ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF A COLD (HARDWARE) CRYPTO WALLET WITH THE 25TH PHRASE 🚨

INTRODUCTION

A bull market is a great time for boosting and increasing your deposit, as there are many "shooting" opportunities around. However, in the long run, it's far more important to preserve and secure your capital. 💵

For daily trades, swaps, and other operations, "hot" software wallets like MetaMask, Rabby, TrustWallet, and others are convenient. For long-term safe storage, "cold" or hardware wallets like Trezor and Ledger are most optimal. Besides offline storage of assets, the presence of a PIN code, and the ability to hide a "cold" wallet in a safe, there's another feature - the ability to add a 25th phrase to the main seed phrase. That's what we'll talk about today.

NOTE

The information in this article is relevant for hardware wallets, such as Trezor or Ledger. Many popular software wallets, like MetaMask, only support managing 12- and 24-word seed phrases.

WHAT IS THE 25TH PHRASE?

The standard secret phrase, or seed phrase, usually consists of 24 words (sometimes 12) and serves as a backup for your crypto wallet. It allows you to recover access to the contents of the wallet in case of device loss, damage, or theft.

❗ The 25th phrase creates an additional level of security by allowing you to add another word or even a string of characters to the original secret phrase. In fact, this creates an entirely new, secret wallet based on the initial seed.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The 25th phrase is not stored on the hardware wallet or anywhere else. It's a word, a set of characters, or even a whole sentence that you memorize and enter when accessing your hardware wallet with the already imported seed phrase.

❗ The 25th phrase does not change the main wallet but generates essentially a new separate set of private keys and, consequently, a new wallet based on the initial seed phrase. The security of this method is based on the fact that even if someone has your entire 24-word secret phrase, they cannot access the assets protected by the 25th word.

HOW TO USE THE 25TH PHRASE TO PROTECT ASSETS?

🛡️ Creating multiple protected wallets

Setting the 25th phrase allows you to create multiple wallets from one seed, with each separate wallet requiring its unique 25th word to access. Thus, you can be unconcerned about losing the seed, as without entering the 25th phrase, which may not be written down anywhere, an intruder will not gain access to the assets. They will only be able to open the main wallet, where you won't keep your crypto ;)

🥷🏽 Creating decoy wallets

Everyone has heard stories of strong fists or hot soldering irons forcing a wallet owner to reveal their seed phrase to intruders for access to assets. By using the 25th phrase, you can create a separate secret wallet to store the main deposit and another decoy wallet with just a small amount to give to intruders.

❗ It turns out that it's IMPOSSIBLE to establish the fact that you're using the 25th phrase, and you can give away the seed phrase without losing assets if they are on an additional secured wallet. Moreover, if the intruder suspects you have a secret wallet, you can give them the 25th phrase for the decoy wallet, where there's only a minimal amount of crypto.

DRAWBACKS OF USING THE 25TH PHRASE

Dependence on memory: If you forget the set phrase, it will be impossible to recover access to the assets stored in the wallet created with that specific passphrase.

Potential for error: Incorrect entry of the 25th phrase could lead you to believe your assets are lost when in reality, you're simply accessing the wrong wallet.

Requires a separate interface: The crypto wallet application must support the ability to enable and enter the 25th phrase. For example, MetaMask and other popular software wallets do not have this capability.❗

HOW TO CREATE A HARDWARE WALLET WITH THE 25TH PHRASE?

Setup

1️⃣ Choose a hardware wallet: Ensure that your hardware wallet supports the passphrase feature. This feature is available, for instance, with Ledger or Trezor.

2️⃣ Create a new wallet through the Ledger or Trezor hardware device: Write down the public address (0x) and the seed phrase. In the settings, indicate that you want to use an additional secret (25th) word to create a hidden wallet.

3️⃣ Come up with the 25th phrase: Choose a memorable but complex passphrase. It can be a word, a sentence, or a set of characters. It's best to use a phrase that you won't forget and can easily recall when needed, and it's advised not to write it down anywhere. The entire protection is built on it being in your head only.

Accessing the wallet

Access to the secret wallet is through the regular application of your hardware wallet, for example, Trezor Suite for Trezor. Enter the PIN code. Then, follow the application prompts and enter the secret 25th phrase. Use this hidden wallet as you normally would, but avoid sharing its public address, seed, or 25th phrase with anyone. ❗

CONCLUSION

The 25th phrase is a powerful tool for enhancing the security of your cryptocurrency assets. While it offers significant advantages in terms of security and privacy, it also requires proper use.

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