In this article, we explain the basic terms that are used in TREZOR and other cryptocurrency wallets. Understanding them will help you better understand the security of your TREZOR.

Recovery seed

The Recovery seed usually contains a sequence of 12-24 words — uniquely and securely generated inside your TREZOR, when you first set it up. It is of utmost importance to keep this backup sentence secret and safe!

In case your device gets lost, you will need it for recovery — a simple process when you enter the words of your seed, in the order as prompted, into a new TREZOR device. You may also use any other Bitcoin wallet that supports the same standard as TREZOR (BIP39).

Do not underestimate the process of writing down the seed; make sure you have all words correctly spelled and in the right order.

Never make a digital copy of your seed, i.e. do not store it in any form on any computer, mobile phone or cloud storage. Consider your seed compromised once you make a digital copy of it, even if you do it on an offline device such as a copy machine or a digital camera. We cannot stress enough to only store the seed offline — written on a piece of paper, engraved, or with a Cryptosteel.

What does the Recovery seed actually represent?

The Recovery seed is the representation of your “master key” in simple and easy to remember 12-24 words. (It is much easier to write down English words, in comparison with strings like “a24iqhx98…”.)

From this master key your TREZOR creates a unique structure of private keys that are then used to:

Sign your bitcoin transactions .

. Encrypt your passwords in TREZOR Password Manager.

in TREZOR Password Manager. Log into into websites, or servers via SSH.

into websites, or servers via SSH. Sign messages.

Your public keys, which are used to generate addresses, are also derived from your master key.

This means that if you ever lose your Recovery seed, you may lose access to all of those features. Moreover, if anyone gains access to your seed, they can access all your wallets and information. Read more about “What If” situations in the TREZOR User Manual.

Now let’s have a look at how to protect your initialized TREZOR.