Why The Twenty-Four Words Phrase?

Jeff Carvalho : A 24-word recovery phrase? How do you expect me to remember that ?? I can’t even remember my friends birthday.

When you activate your Nano, you’ll receive a unique and secret recovery phrase consisting of 24 words. Write it down on a piece of paper, on the right order, and verify it. This piece of paper is now your recovery sheet. Then PUT IT SOMEWHERE NO ONE BUT YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO.  

Using this phrase, you can always recreate the accounts on your Ledger wallet and access your funds. BUT, that means anyone else who has this recovery phrase can recreate your wallet, too! 

Never, ever, share these 24 words with anyone, ESPECIALLY someone pretending to be Ledger. Ledger won’t ever ask you for these words. Your Nano is THE ONLY PLACE where your words are required. Anyone or any app who asks for your 24 words is a criminal. PERIOD.

So write it down and keep it safe. 

Do not save it on your computer, do not screenshot it with your smartphone.  These are the first places an attacker is going to look if you get hacked!

See, you can actually lose, brick or even destroy your Ledger device. 

As long as you have your recovery phrase, you can simply get a new device and restore. BUT, if you lose or someone steals your recovery phrase, no one can help you. 

I’ll expand on this a bit in the next video.