What Are Private Keys and Recovery Phrases | Core Concepts

The private key is the sole credential that controls your crypto assets; the recovery phrase is the human-readable form of that private key. Understanding both concepts is the foundation of using crypto safely.

What Is a Private Key

A private key is a random string made up of numbers and letters — mathematical proof of your control over assets on a blockchain. Every wallet address corresponds to a private key; only the holder of the private key can sign transactions and transfer assets. Once a private key is leaked, anyone can move your assets away, with no recourse.

What Is a Recovery Phrase

A recovery phrase (also called a seed phrase) is typically an ordered sequence of 12 or 24 English words — another representation of the private key. Because raw private keys are too complex to record by hand, recovery phrases were designed to make backup easy for users. From the recovery phrase, the private key can be derived, and thus full control of the wallet can be restored.

How They Relate

A recovery phrase and a private key are essentially the same key in different forms. When a Ledger device is initialized, it generates a recovery phrase; that set of words determines all your wallet addresses and private keys. No matter how many accounts you add or how many assets you manage, all of them are derived from this single recovery phrase.

Security Essentials

The recovery phrase is the ultimate control over your assets: it must be handwritten on paper and stored in a safe physical location; it must never be photographed, screenshotted or stored on any electronic device; any person, website or software asking you to enter your recovery phrase is a scam (restoring your own wallet is the only exception); if you lose the recovery phrase and the device is also damaged, access to your assets is permanently lost.

For more security knowledge, see the Ledger Security Guide.