Here are metal plates to engrave your seed phrase for centuries

Your seed phrase is certainly the most crucial element when it comes to protecting your cryptocurrencies. Even if you have a secure and open source hardware wallet, it is imperative to securely write down your seed phrase. Without it, you risk losing access to your money.

Naturally, we think about writing our seed sentence on a piece of paper. Moreover, there are many suppliers of hardware wallets, for example, who provide you with small cardboard sheets so that you can write down your list of words.

This is certainly a practical method but it does not protect you from the risk of fire or flooding. In reality, writing down your seed phrase in a notebook or on paper remains a risky method. Without being paranoid, losing your bitcoins or your cryptocurrencies this way would be a shame, you will agree.

One of the best methods is to write them down on a metal plate, made of stainless steel protecting you from natural disasters. You are then assured that in the event of fire or floods, you will be able to find your seed phrases.

⚠️ Be careful, even with a metal plate, you are not safe from theft. It is important to have several in secure locations away from each other.

There are companies that specialize in the design of metal plates to save your seed phrases for centuries.

Here is a small list of the best metal signs you can buy right now.

1/ Ellipal: The most affordable plate for $49

The Ellipal metal plate is one of the oldest on the market and allows you to save mnemonic phrases of 12/15/18/21/24 words. It is also the cheapest metal sign available.

It is important to know that most metal plaques allow you to write down the first 4 letters of the word. The words being in English, this allows you to find the final word only thanks to these first letters.

Resistant to water, fire and mold, and with pocket size, the Ellipal plate is very popular among crypto-holders. With a very affordable price of $49, you can save your seed phrase safely. Delivery within 2 days in Europe, including France, Belgium and Switzerland.

✓ The size of the plateEllipal is made of aluminum alloy and weighs 88 g.

✓ Dimensions: 85mm x 68mm x 8mm.

✓ Price: $49

2/ CryptoSteel Duo Capsule at $179

The Cryptosteel Capsule Duo has a rather original and interesting design. These are in fact capsules which can contain small tiles of the characters of each word of your seed sentence. You can store all words in full or just the first 4 letters.

By ordering a Duo Capsule, you will get two capsules, which can be useful if you have other wallets and keys to back up.

You should also know that Cryptosteel also offers classic metal plates but since the introduction of its capsules, this has become the company's new benchmark.

✓ Size: length – 102 mm, diameter – 16 mm and weight: 740g

✓ Material: 100% stainless steel

✓ Price: 740 g

3/ Bitfold, a stainless steel metal plate for $99

Billfodl offers a metal plate for your seed phrase made of stainless steel that resists fire, water and other major incidents that may occur. You can write down up to 24 words from your seedphrase by writing down the first 4 letters of the word.

It is possible to obtain a BillFodl plate on the Ledger website directly or on Amazon, here.

✓ Size: 104 mm х 58 mm х 5 mm and weight: 400g

✓ Material: 100% Stainless steel

✓ Price: $99

4/ X-SEED plates starting at $39

If you are more of a minimalist and like raw protection, don't hesitate to opt for the company's plates secuxtech which is one of the cheapest you can find on the market. These stainless steel and water-resistant plates also protect you from fires because they resist temperatures of up to 1454°C.

The big advantage with this system is that you can write down the entire words and not just the first 4 letters.

This is a good option if you have multiple wallets with many keys to backup.

You should know that you have several options with one option where you receive a specific pen that allows you to write on solid aluminum plates. You also receive stickers to place on it to verify that no one has access to it. This option only costs $41 on Amazon.

5/ The circular Titanium capsule from Hodlr, from €81

La Swiss crypto company Hodlr has provided a rather original solution for saving your keys. This is a sturdy metal disc made from Titanium, making it among the strongest metal plates available.

The design is very interesting and compact because the disc has a diameter of approximately 2 centimeters. This then allows them to be kept in a safe place discreetly. Likewise, you can also order a sort of small circular box which will contain your keys, up to 24 words or 2 times 12 words.

You should also know that Hodlr uses digital coding. This allows words to be noted with less effort on the metal using a digital conversion system. Thus, it is then possible to identify words as 4-digit numbers. This then guarantees a safe and private recovery method.

Another option: The untearable Stonebook

There is also an interesting option but less secure than the crypto metal plates that we have just seen above.

This is the stonebook which contains 54 sheets on which you can write your list of words. The Stonebook notebook from Shieldfolio is a water and tear resistant notebook. Many people prefer this backup method because it is entirely possible to leave the notebook in a safe, for example.

If you use paper as a rule, it is a good idea to place them in specific fire and water resistant envelopes that you can find all over Amazon.

There is also a technique which consists of writing with a special pen (sold on the site) which allows reading only under UV light.

Some basic safety tips

It's not because you have engraved your seed phrase on a metal plate that you are safe. Remember that although it is difficult to destroy, it can be easily stolen. Here are some essential tips for keeping your keys safe.

• Don't think too much about security and become paranoid. A sheet of paper and a pen work just as well. It doesn't go away overnight either. We can still find old sheets that have stood the test of time.
• You can place your seed phrase in a secure location, such as in a bank safe or in fireproof pouches. The important thing is to have a large hiding place at home and to increase the number of places.
• There are also fireproof and waterproof pouches. This is certainly the cheapest and most accessible option today.
• Keep copies of your seed sentences and keep them in different places, for example, with people you trust. Perhaps the ideal is to place one in your home, in your office and in the home of a member of your family. In the event of a natural disaster, you will then have access to one of the seed phrases found elsewhere.
• Don't take photos on your phone. Don't write on your computer either. Don't send your passwords to the cloud or even via email.
• Never make a digital copy of your recovery phrase or store it on data services. messaging or cloud.
• It is important to add advanced recovery phrases. You can add passphrases that make your seed phrase more secure. In fact, if someone finds your seed phrase, they will still need the recovery phrase to gain access to your funds. Some wallets offer this option.
• There are different tips and methods to secure your recovery phrases, read our article to learn more about the security of your seed phrases.

FAQs

Why are metal plates the best protection system?

You can have hardware wallets which are the most secure options on the market. This is a fact, but if you don't back up your private keys, then this protection is useless.

Your seed phrase is the most important thing to protect your bitcoins. If you lose this phrase, then you immediately lose access to your funds. As simple as that.

However, even if the plates allow you to engrave your seed phrase, you must still be sure to place them in a safe place.

Where do I keep my metal plates safe?

It's one thing to write your seed phrase on a weatherproof metal plaque and it's another to place that metal plaque securely.

Your metal plate protects you from fires and floods but not from theft and burglaries...

You must ensure that no one else can have access to it (except those you trust). It is important that you know the place where you are going to “hide” your metal plates. Inform trusted people of your chosen location.

How to backup a Multisig wallet?

If you have a wallet with multiple signatures (which is a way to further protect your cryptocurrencies), then you may wonder whether you need several metal plates.

—>Read the article: Here are 3 multisig wallets for enhanced security of your keys 🔐

It depends on the plate you choose, but it is likely that you should have several. In any case, do not place your plates in the same place.

What is the best metal plate?

In all honesty, it's metal plate. None is truly superior to another. There are no electronic elements to distinguish them. It's still metal. Of course, in the composition, it is preferable to choose a 100% stainless steel plate which allows you to be protected in the event of a natural disaster.

You can choose stronger metals like with Hodlr One, but it remains your choice. Stainless steel is already very durable.

What is the alternative to metal plates?

If you write down your seed sentence on paper, with a regular pen, this can be perfectly useful if and only if you put your paper in a safe place.

In this case, it is recommended to use fireproof pouches and waterproof that we find on Amazon for tens of euros. It's more of a doomsday piece of equipment, sure, but if you have significant amounts of cryptocurrencies, security should be your priority.

-> Do not hesitate to consult our article to find out how secure your seed phrase.

What should you do if you don't feel able to protect your seed phrase?

If you think that you are not capable for various reasons of saving your private keys yourself, then you have external “guardian” systems. These are companies that will encrypt your private keys and transmit them to you when you request them.

Ainsi, le Key.Casa wallet allows you to have a third-party backup of your keys and recently, the Ledger company offers the service ” Ledger Recover” which allows you to save your private key.

What is a seed phrase?

A seed phrase or “recovery phase” is generated from the master private key of your wallet. This generally takes the form of a mnemonic phrase, which is a combination of a set of words (usually 12 or 24 words), which are transmitted to you when you create a non-custodial crypto wallet.

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See as well:

• Here are 12 tips to secure your seed sentence and sleep in peace
• What is a multi-signature wallet and is it more secure?
• 7 ways to protect and secure your cryptocurrencies
• The 6 best “Open Source” wallets to store your bitcoins and cryptos

Note: This is not investment advice. Always do your own research. All investments involve risks.