Hello everybody!

This is going to be a brief article, but we felt it was important to release sooner rather than later.

So let’s get started…

What is Account Recovery?

The recovery system was designed to protect accounts in the case that credentials are lost or stolen. It works by using a special next hash we call the “recovery hash” that allows the given sigchain to reset their password and pin without needing account credentials.

WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT EVERY SIGNATURE CHAIN HAS RECOVERY ENABLED.

Well without going into too many more details, we will outline the process below:

Step 1: Open Recovery Dialogue

The below prompt will be available once you are logged in, and you click the user icon in the top right hand corner of the wallet. The menu will look like this once it has been clicked. You will want to select the item “Set recovery phrase” to open the recovery dialogue.

Step 2: Enter Login Credentials

Once the recovery phrase dialogue box is open, it will look like this:

PLEASE NOTE: THE PASSWORD AND PIN ARE REQUIRED WHEN SETTING UP A RECOVERY PHRASE

As you can see above, you will be required to submit your current password and PIN. Enter your credentials like you would be logging in.

Step 3: Generate Recovery Phrase

Click the link titled “Generate a recovery phrase” and you will see the words show up such as you can see below. You can select either 10,20 or 100 words for your recovery. We recommend using at least 20 words for better security.

BEFORE PROCEEDING, ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN DOWN YOUR RECOVERY PHRASE. WE RECOMMEND WRITING IT ON PHYSICAL MATERIAL SUCH AS PAPER TO ENSURE IT IS SAFELY STORED OFFLINE. WE RECOMMEND MAKING MORE THAN ONE COPY OF YOUR RECOVERY PHRASE.

Step 4: Submit Recovery Phrase

Click the button labeled “Set recovery phrase” to generate your recovery phrase.

THIS PROCESS CAN TAKE UP TO 30 SECONDS TO COMPLETE. DO NOT CLOSE YOUR WALLET UNTIL THIS COMPLETES.

Once your phrase has been setup properly, you will see a confirmation prompt:

To confirm that it was set properly, go to your transaction module, and ensure that the most recent transaction looks similar to this:

This is showing the contract that updated your recovery, which uses the primitive OP::WRITE.

Forgot Password?

In order to change your password with your recovery phrase, you will need to click the link “Forgot Password” at the bottom of the login prompt:

This will end up with a dialogue box that will ask you to submit your recovery phrase and other relevant data. The dialogue looks like this:

Fill in the data below, and you will then gain access to your account again! If you are the more paranoid type, you can test recovering your account after you set it up (while using the same password) to make sure that everything is working as it should.

Conclusion

Well, thank you for reading this brief article. The recovery system is very important for maintaining control of your account under many various circumstances. Think of it like a backup you always have in case anything bad happens, to ensure that you don’t lose access to your funds. This makes having crypto safer, more reliable, and hopefully will help you trim some nerves if you are ever worried about being hacked, losing your password, or even of a solar flare frying your hard drive and/or password manager.

As always stay safe, be vigilant, and set up your recovery phrase!

Until Next Time,

Viz.