What is a mnemonic phrase?
A Mnemonic Phrase is also called Seed Phrase or Recovery Backup for a decentralized wallet. It is a list of words and proof of ownership of your crypto assets. Once someone gets hold of your mnemonic phrase, they can practically take full control of your assets.
The Mnemonic Phrase can be generated under different standards. BIP39/44 is the most widely adopted standard in the crypto space. All BIP39 seed words can be found in this list. SafePal fully supports BIP39/44 standard.
The Mnemonic Phrase can come in different sets: 12 words/set, 15 words/set, 18 words/set, and 24 words/set, depending on how you choose it when you first create a new wallet. The longer the seed is, the more secure it will be. SafePal Software Wallet supports 12 words/set and 24 words/set.
How do I use a mnemonic phrase safely?
The mnemonic phrase is a private key that is not encrypted. If someone did get hold of your mnemonic phrase, it is equivalent to taking control of your crypto assets.
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Always make sure that the backup mnemonic phrase is correct, proofread multiple times.
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When backing up your mnemonic phrase, we strongly recommend utilizing physical media, such as writing on the mnemonic phrase card or a metallic board such as the SafePal Cypher. You can also keep multiple back-ups of it.
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For security, do NOT take photos of your phrase.
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Make sure the mnemonic phrase is kept in the secure offline locations that no one can get hands-on, such as a safe box.
What is the difference between a private key and a mnemonic phrase?
To put it short, a set of mnemonic phrase is a private key that is not encrypted.
A private key is usually a string of 64 hexadecimal characters.
Here is a typical private key: afdfd9c3d2095ef696594f6cedcae59e72dcd697e2a7521b1578140422a4f890
On the other hand, the mnemonic phrase is a set of 12/18/24 words, which is easier to read, write and back up.
With either one of them, you can access your crypto assets.
No matter which one you choose to use, we strongly recommend keeping it in secure locations.
What if my mnemonic phrase is leaked or lost?
A Mnemonic phrase is a private key that is not encrypted. Anyone who knows your mnemonic phrase could take away your crypto assets.
SafePal would neither read nor store your mnemonic phrase, so we can’t help to retrieve your assets back once your mnemonic phrase is leaked or lost.
Therefore, you need to transfer your assets to a new wallet right away when you find the mnemonic phrases is leaked or lost. You can create a new wallet on the SafePal wallet for such purpose, following these instructions:
Open SafePal App-->Click the wallet icon at the right upper corner of the Asset page-->Click the + button-->Choose the wallet type you want to create-->Follow the wallet create instructions-->Transfer the assets in the old wallet to the new one
Why is there "invalid mnemonic phrase" prompt when I recover a wallet in the SafePal App
This prompt means there could letters missing or typo in the seed words. All BIP39 seed words can be found in this list. Check if you made any incorrect input. If a seed word that doesn't belong to the BIP39 word list is entered in the SafePal wallet recovery page, the input frame will turn red.
What if my cellphone is lost or damaged?
So long as your mnemonic phrase is kept safe, no one can take control of your assets even if the thief gets your cellphone and opens your App. In the case of a wallet lost, stolen or damaged, you can recover your wallet with the correct mnemonic phrase on the SafePal App downloaded on a new mobile phone.
If private key is lost or the wallet is stolen, can I ask to freeze account?
We feel very sorry if this bad case happens to you, but we can do nothing about it.
SafePal is a tool to manage your crypto asset and protect your private key. However, we will not read nor store any of your mnemonic phrase or private key. In fact, your asset is on the blockchain rather than on the server of SafePal. We have no idea about the relation between one user and one address and we have no personal information (phone number, address, social media) about the owner of the address.
As blockchain is decentralized, irreversible and anonymous, it’s almost impossible to freeze accounts or rollback transactions. It’s different from the traditional financial institution like a bank. SafePal cannot locate the hacker or freeze an address. So once it happened, please call the police to look for some offline clue.
I recovered a wallet in SafePal but my balance shows 0 and the addresses are changed. What happened?
This situation usually happens when you recover the wrong wallet.
Since SafePal is a decentralized wallet that does NOT store or access your funds, for the wrong wallet recovery case, please refer to the article here to locate the possible reasons by yourselves.
Please note that this process can be done by YOU ONLY. Other people including SafePal and admins cannot help with the process. Thanks for your understanding.
