Ledger hardware wallets offer good security for your crypto assets by keeping your private safe offline, away from the numerous threats that come with connecting online. The core data to access claim ownership of your assets are always stored within the confines of the hardware wallet device in your custody, making you the sole custodian of your money.
Hardware wallets are not invincible, they can get destroyed, broken, or damaged, in which case you will need to use your 24-word recovery phrase to restore your wallet on a new ledger device.
The 24-word recovery phrase generated by your Ledger wallet serves as the only way to back up and restore your crypto wallet. It is common to store them on the Recovery Sheets that come along with the device package. But even in the most secure location, these sheets can get damaged by water, or fire, or even get chewed by rodents.
You can improve the security of your crypto assets with the use of seed phrase storage to keep your recovery phrase safe at all times. In this article, we will talk about Cryptosteel seed storage and how to use Ledger with Cryptosteel capsule seed storage.
Key takeaways
• The Recovery seed phrase grants access to your crypto assets without the need for a PIN. Hence, it is important to store them in a very secure location as a backup of your wallet.
• Cryptosteel seed storage protects your wallet seed from corrosion, fire, hackers, rust, water, and many more.
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About Cryptosteel Capsule seed storage
The Cryptosteel Capsule is the second-generation backup wallet from Cryptosteel. It consists of a tube-like container housing a core column in the centre on which lettered tiles are stacked. The tiles are engraved with alphabets and by combining them, words in the seed phrase can be spelled out. All parts of the Cryptosteel Capsule, the tiles, core, and the container are made from the same material – stainless steel grade 304, making it strong enough to resist damage from water, fire reaching a temperature of up to 1200°C, pressure, falls, and other forms of damages.
How to use Ledger Cryptosteel Capsule to protect your seed phrase
Getting the Ledger Cryptosteel Capsule is sure a good thing, but it is very important to know how to use one.
When you begin to use Ledger with Cryptosteel Capsule to protect your seed phrase, you should be very careful while doing so as a single error can cause you not to be able to recover your crypto assets.
- First, you need to copy your wallet seed phrase from the wallet display. Copy everything word for word, alphabet for alphabet as it is displayed, taking care not to omit, add, or mix up any alphabet. You can lose your cryptocurrencies because of this. If you did not copy out your recovery phrase during the device setup, you can use the Recovery Check to check your recovery phrase.
- Set out each segment of your seed phrase on a flat surface to avoid confusion when you begin to stack the tiles
- Next, Open the Ledger Cryptosteel capsule by unscrewing the cap.
- Remove the informative ribbon on the core and then set the core down such that it is sitting on the cap.
- Slide the character tiles unto the core, one by one, beginning from the first word. Separate each word with a separator tile. Ledger hardware wallets only generate 24-word recovery phrases, so you will need to use the first four letters of each word as this is the best option for recovery phrases beyond 12 words. Double-check and triple-check each word as you enter them. This is going to be the only chance you will have to do so.
- After inserting the last letter of the last segment, insert the fastener on the core and bend the tiny strap 90 degrees to hold everything in place.
- Insert the core back into the capsule and screw it back tightly in place.
Now that your seed phrase is safely stored within the capsule, you can now keep it in a safe place.
And combine the offline safety of your keys with that of a secured backup
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. Do you only need the first 4 letters of the seed phrase?
The capsule can only hold 123 tiles, so for seed phrases beyond 12 words, the first 4 are enough. There are no two words in the BIP39 list with the same first 4 letters.
Q2. Can I use my seed phrase on any wallet?
Seed phrases are an excellent way of backing up and storing crypto on the blockchain. So they can be used on any wallet to restore your assets. But be careful, you might expose your private keys.
Q3. Where are Cryptosteel capsules stored?
The Crypto steel capsules can withstand extreme conditions, and hence can be stored nearly anywhere.
Final thoughts
Your recovery seeds get more privacy when you use Ledger with Cryptosteel Seed Capsule. To see the recovery phrase, one has to open the capsule and unstack the letters. This makes it discreet from first glance exposure.
While your wallet backup is safe within the Capsule, you should always ensure you keep it in a safe location. Losing it means losing your backup and eventually access to your cryptocurrencies in event of damage to your wallet.
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