The reason that the seed phrase is a series of 12 to 24 simple words (like “army,” “energy,” “fabric,” “lucky,” “opera,” “stereo,” “trash,” or “void”) rather than a numeric password is because long strings of numbers are difficult for humans to remember or even transcribe correctly — think of how hard it can be to input a too-long wifi password.
How does a crypto wallet work?
When you first set up a crypto wallet — whether it’s a software wallet like Coinbase Wallet or Metamask a hardware wallet like Ledger — it generates a string of simple words, which is your seed phrase. The wallet also uses the seed to create private keys — which allow you to send or spend your crypto.
What is self-sovereignty in cryptocurrency?
One of the basic principles of cryptocurrency is the idea of “self-sovereignty”: you should be able to access your crypto without having to prove your identity, and you shouldn't have to rely on a bank or other institution to store it safely.
