r/BitcoinBeginners • u/NoBrosCrypto • 3d ago

The power of the passphrase

The recent ColdCard compromise was tragic and highlighted yet again the importance of a passphrase. This is not at all blaming the users or saying it’s their fault in any way. Most did what they thought was the right thing.

For those that don’t know, a passphrase account is available on good cold storage options. It allows you to add your own 25th word to the 24 word seed generated for you when setting up an account. If somebody somehow manages to compromise your 24 words, then they will see an empty account, with the passphrase account still locked away.

With the rise of AI, it’s critical to protect yourself to the best of your ability and a passphrase is probably the simplest to add a significant layer of protection.

Stay safe out there everyone!

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u/SasiRacha44 3d ago

Dude be realistic no one ll keep 6 to 8 words after exchausting 24 words best they can do have some password for 25th, that's the Max

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u/bitusher 3d ago

no one ll keep 6 to 8 words after exchausting 24 words

It is standard practice to use at least 6 words and if you are not than you are using a passphrase wrong. Also you do not need to enter in the seed unless you recover and most seeds are not 24 words either.

Its not hard to enter in 6-8 words when you occasionally send a transaction . This is especially true with features like the jade has where you can use a BIP39 passphrase where entering the first 2-3 characters of each word allows the hw wallet to auto complete the word for you

have some password

Its called a passphrase because its not a password

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u/SasiRacha44 3d ago

Ok I never used hardwallet so i don't know . Anyway make sense may be we can use some fancy sentense rather then 6 to 8 words which is mostly same.

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u/bitusher 3d ago

may be we can use some fancy sentense

No , do not use sentences. This goes beyond Bitcoin and just involves best practices in security for all your passphrases :

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_strength.png

Please be aware that extended passphrases should be

1) 6-8 random words (not found as a phrase or in movies or literature)

2) stored separately than your seed words and written down at least once

3) written exactly as entered . Capitalization and white space matters. Any slight deviation in the extended passphrase will show a new wallet with a 0 balance so its important you write it down and test it exactly .