How to Backup Your Seed Phrase Securely (Without a Ledger)

TL;DR: Your seed phrase is a single point of failure. If you lose it, you lose everything. Storing it in one place is risky. Splitting it into three parts ensures that if you lose one, you can still recover your funds.

Why Paper Backups Are Terrible

Most crypto holders write their seed phrase on a piece of paper and put it in a safe. This is a fragile strategy for several reasons:

1. Paper Degrades

Ink fades. Paper tears. Water damage, fire, and mold can destroy your only backup in seconds. Your seed phrase written in 2020 might be unreadable by 2030.

2. Safes Get Stolen

Home invasions and burglaries happen. Safes can be cracked or physically removed. If someone steals your safe, they have your seed phrase. Game over.

3. You Forget Where You Put It

People move houses, reorganize, and forget which safe or drawer they used. A common story in crypto is: "I know I wrote it down, I just cannot find it."

4. Your Family Does Not Know

If you pass away, your family may know you have crypto, but they often do not know where the paper is or how to access the safe. Your crypto could be lost forever.

Why Ledger Isn't the Complete Answer

Ledger is excellent for security, but it does not solve the backup problem.

Ledger Still Requires a Seed Phrase Backup

When you set up a Ledger, it generates a seed phrase. You write it down on paper. You have just returned to the paper backup problem. Ledger protects you from hackers, but it does not protect you from fires, floods, or forgetting where you hid the paper.

What If Ledger Goes Out of Business?

If Ledger disappears or your device breaks, you need that seed phrase to recover your funds. If that seed phrase exists on only one piece of paper, you are back to square one.

The Right Way to Backup Your Seed Phrase

Step 1: Use Shamir's Secret Sharing

Instead of storing your seed phrase in one place, split it into 3 shards.

How it works: - Shard A + Shard B = Full seed phrase (Success) - Shard A + Shard C = Full seed phrase (Success) - Shard B + Shard C = Full seed phrase (Success) - Shard A alone = Useless - Shard B alone = Useless - Shard C alone = Useless

Any two shards can recover your seed. One shard alone reveals zero information.

Step 2: Distribute the Shards

• Shard A: Store in your password manager (e.g., 1Password, Bitwarden). This keeps it encrypted and accessible from anywhere.
• Shard B: Give to your heir. You can give them a USB drive or a printed copy. They cannot access your crypto with just this shard.
• Shard C: Store encrypted on deadhand's servers. This is released to your beneficiary only if you stop responding to check-ins.

Step 3: Test Recovery

Do not set it up and forget it. Test your recovery once a year: 1. Retrieve Shard A from your password manager. 2. Retrieve Shard B from your heir. 3. Use the tool to recover your seed phrase. 4. Verify that it matches your original.

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: You Lose Your Password Manager

If you lose access to your password manager, you still have Shard B (with your heir) and Shard C (on deadhand). You can recover your seed phrase using those two.

Scenario 2: Your House is Destroyed

If your home is lost to fire or flood, you still have Shard A (in the cloud) and Shard C (on deadhand). You can still recover your funds.

Scenario 3: You Pass Away

deadhand's dead man's switch triggers after 90 days of silence. Shard C is sent to your beneficiary. They combine it with Shard B (which you gave them earlier) and recover your inheritance.

Scenario 4: A Hacker Steals One Shard

If a hacker gains access to Shard A, it is useless to them. They need the threshold (two shards) to do anything. Your crypto remains safe.

How to Set This Up

Option 1: Use deadhand (Easiest)

1. Visit deadhand.xyz.
2. Enter your seed phrase (encrypted client-side).
3. The tool splits it into 3 shards automatically.
4. Save Shard A in your password manager and give Shard B to your heir.
5. Shard C stays encrypted on our servers.
6. Activate the dead man's switch.

Option 2: Self-Host (Free)

1. Clone the repository from GitHub.
2. Run it on your own server.
3. You have full control over the entire process.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Storing All 3 Shards in One Place: This defeats the purpose. If all shards are in the same house and the house burns down, you lose everything.
• Not Telling Your Heir About Shard B: They need to know they have a piece of the puzzle. Tell them: "I gave you a backup. If I disappear, you will get an email with the second piece."
• Using a Weak Password Manager: Use a reputable service with a strong master password and 2FA.

The Bottom Line

Paper backups are risky and single points of failure are dangerous. Shamir's Secret Sharing eliminates these risks.

• Lose one shard? Recover with the other two.
• Pass away? Your family inherits automatically.
• Get hacked? One shard is useless to an attacker.

Secure your seed phrase backup now

Max Comperatore is the founder of deadhand. He has been focused on seed phrase security since 2017.