00:00Hey guys, this is Dan from Ledger Support.
00:02How's it going?
00:03So today I'm going to talk to you about the most important concepts when it comes
00:07to securing your crypto with a Ledger device.
00:10This of course is your 24 word recovery phrase.
00:14Now I wanted to make this video because I think there is a lot of confusion
00:18around what a recovery phrase is and why it's so important.
00:21So in this video, I'm going to cover what a recovery phrase is and how you
00:26can safely store and protect it.
00:27So let's do that.
00:29So what exactly is a 24 word recovery phrase?
00:32Now the short answer is your recovery phrase represents all the private keys
00:37that are secure inside of your Ledger device.
00:39So let me repeat this.
00:41Your recovery phrase represents all of the private keys that are secure
00:47inside of your Ledger device.
00:49Now it's very important to understand that anyone who gains access to recovery phrase
00:55can very easily use the recovery phrase to clone your private keys onto a new Ledger device
01:00and then spend the funds from that device.
01:03It's that easy.
01:04All you need is your recovery phrase, a new Ledger device, and boom, you can clone the accounts.
01:09So this is the reason why you should never, ever share your recovery phrase with anyone, including us, of course,
01:17including Ledger support.
01:18We don't need your recovery phrase to help you.
01:20So let me use a metaphor to stress the importance of your recovery phrase.
01:25I think you're going to like it.
01:27So this metaphor involves crypto and pirates.
01:32So welcome to crypto island.
01:34Crypto island is an exciting, but also somehow dangerous land.
01:39So your crypto fortune is kept in a treasure chest buried somewhere on crypto island in the treasure chest.
01:47They are your private keys that secure your crypto accounts.
01:51Now your recovery phrase is a treasure map that shows the location of your chest on crypto island.
01:58Now be aware of pirates.
02:00If you see, if you let anyone see the map, they'll be able to find your chest on crypto island
02:05and steal your treasure and the private keys inside it.
02:09And that's the end of the story.
02:11So I hope you liked it.
02:13And you see your recovery phrase is not some optional backup password that you only need if you lose your
02:20device.
02:20No, your recovery phrase represents the private keys to all of your accounts and therefore to all of your crypto
02:26funds.
02:26So let me repeat this one more time.
02:29Your recovery phrase represents the private keys to all of your accounts and therefore to all of your crypto funds.
02:35In short, your recovery phrase is your money.
02:39It's your money.
02:40So the question now is how do you keep it safe?
02:44So first you need to make sure that the recovery phrase is correctly copied onto your recovery sheet.
02:50So if you have any doubts, you can check the spelling of every word on your recovery sheet against what
02:57we call the BIP 39 list.
02:59The BIP 39 list is a public list that lists all possible recovery words that make all recovery phrases in
03:06existence.
03:07The BIP 39 list is public and can be easily found on GitHub.
03:12So let me show you for a second.
03:14So you go on Google and you type BIP 39 word list and boom, you'll find the list.
03:21And so you can see the list is just a list of words and there's 2048 items on this list.
03:28So that's all the different words that can ever compose a recovery phrase.
03:34So now you might wonder if all the words are public and there are only 2048 of them,
03:40does this mean that someone could maybe guess my recovery phrase or be given the same recovery phrase?
03:47Now, don't worry, this is not the case. The number of possible combinations is so big that it's guaranteed that
03:54your recovery phrase is unique and secure.
03:57So don't worry about that.
03:58However, for a recovery phrase to be truly secure, the selection of words within the list needs to be truly
04:06random.
04:07Us humans, we are not so good at creating randomness.
04:11This is why it's your ledger device, right?
04:14And not you who's choosing the words that compose your recovery phrase.
04:18Second, make sure to write down your recovery phrase using only uppercases or capital letters.
04:25And the reason why is because lower cases are much more difficult to read and could make it difficult for
04:32you to read your phrase in the future.
04:34So uppercases is the way to go.
04:35Next, if you ever want to check your recovery phrase, you can download the recovery check app onto your ledger
04:43device via the ledger, uh, via the manager in ledger life.
04:47Now you can use the app to make sure that the words in your phrase are correct.
04:52Now this article from our help center will teach you how to use the app.
04:56I would recommend doing a check every six months or so, just to be sure.
05:00And let me show you where in the help center you can find the article.
05:04So you'd go to the help center and type recovery, recovery check.
05:09And here's a tutorial that explains how to use the recovery check.
05:13And so as I was saying, I think, uh, doing a check every six months or so is probably good
05:18hygiene.
05:19Okay.
05:20If your phrase were to fail the recovery check, please contact us immediately.
05:24There might be something wrong going on.
05:26Now, finally, it's very, very important to keep your recovery phrase safe and private.
05:31So please do not share it with anyone.
05:33Do not type it into your password manager.
05:36Do not take a photo of it or tap it into your computer.
05:39Basically do not create a digital copy of your phrase.
05:43And again, the support team ledger support team never needs to know your recovery phrase.
05:49We just don't need it to help you.
05:52All right.
05:52So in short, anyone trying to know your recovery phrase should be considered a threat and a scammer.
06:01Let me repeat this because it's very important.
06:03Anyone trying to know your phrase should be considered a threat
06:08in a scammer.
06:10Now, what if you wanted to say, write your recovery phrase onto something a little bit
06:16sturdier than a recovery sheet?
06:18Well, it's, it's possible.
06:21And some solutions exist.
06:23So for example, the crypto steel capsule, which I'm going to show on the screen right now,
06:27this one, the crypto steel capsule, for example, will let you back up your words on metal tiles
06:32that can resist fire and acid.
06:35This way, you can rest assured that your recovery phrase won't risk being damaged by moisture
06:41or fungi or fire or things like that.
06:44So if you're interested, you can buy a capsule directly on the ledger website.
06:48It's a good investment, I think.
06:51So I hope this video was useful and that you now understand the crucial importance of your recovery
06:58phrase.
06:58Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or you can contact us.
07:03So you can contact us via the help widget on our support page,
07:07or you can reach out to us on Twitter.
07:09We are at ledger underscore support on Twitter.
07:13Thank you very much.
07:14I hope that was useful and see you next time.
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