What Is a Passphrase in a Crypto Wallet?
A passphrase is an optional extra password added to a wallet’s recovery phrase, sometimes called the “25th word”. Each passphrase creates a completely different wallet, so a stolen seed phrase alone is not enough to reach your funds.
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A passphrase is an optional extra password that some crypto wallets let you add to your recovery phrase (seed phrase). It’s sometimes called the “25th word”. When you add a passphrase, the same recovery words generate a completely different wallet, so even if someone gets hold of your seed phrase, they can’t reach your funds without the passphrase.
How does a passphrase work?
Most wallets derive their private keys from a 12- or 24-word recovery phrase defined by the BIP-39 standard. When the passphrase feature is turned on, the wallet combines those words with the extra password you choose and calculates an entirely new set of keys. Every different passphrase produces a separate wallet with its own addresses. Entering the wrong passphrase doesn’t trigger an error; it simply opens an empty wallet.
Passphrase vs seed phrase
- Seed phrase: the 12- or 24-word recovery phrase generated when the wallet is created. You need it to restore the wallet.
- Passphrase: an optional extra password you choose yourself. The wallet doesn’t generate it and doesn’t store it anywhere.
For more on recovery phrases, see our seed phrase guide.
Why use a passphrase?
Protection against physical theft: even if someone finds the paper your recovery words are written on, they can’t open your main wallet without the passphrase.
A hidden wallet: you can keep a small balance in the wallet without a passphrase and store your main holdings in the wallet the passphrase unlocks. This is used as a defense against someone forcing you to hand over access.
Extra security on hardware wallets: hardware wallets such as Ledger and Trezor support passphrases.
The risks of using a passphrase
A passphrase’s greatest strength is also its greatest risk: if you forget it, the funds are lost for good. Neither the wallet maker nor anyone else can recover it. Even a difference in capitalization, spacing or punctuation opens a different wallet.
- Back up your passphrase securely and separately from your recovery words.
- Do a test restore with a small amount first.
- Never enter your passphrase on a website, into a support chat or in an app you don’t trust.
Who should use a passphrase?
A passphrase makes sense for people with solid backup habits who keep significant amounts in self-custody. For beginners, the extra complexity can increase the risk of losing access. Our wallet guide covers the main storage options.
How to choose a passphrase
A good passphrase should be hard to guess but memorable to you. Birthdays, names and common words are easy to try. A long phrase made of several random words is usually both strong and easy to remember. Because accented or non-Latin characters can be encoded differently across devices, sticking to basic English letters, numbers and simple symbols reduces the chance of restore problems.
How to back up a passphrase
Don’t store your passphrase on the same paper or in the same place as your recovery words, or the extra protection disappears. The usual approach is to keep the recovery words in one secure location and the passphrase in another. Photographing it or saving it in cloud notes or email is not recommended, as it exposes the passphrase to online attacks.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I forget my passphrase? You permanently lose access to the funds in the wallet it unlocks. Your recovery words on their own only open the wallet without a passphrase.
Is a passphrase the same as a PIN? No. A PIN unlocks a hardware wallet device and is useless if the device is lost. A passphrase defines the wallet itself and is needed every time you restore it.