Getting Started

What's a seed phrase?

Last updated: 09/17/2025

In Web3, users have complete control over their assets. This world offers boundless opportunities and wealth, but it also comes with serious risks. When creating a wallet and verifying your identity, you’ll encounter two fundamental security concepts: the private key and the seed phrase—both critical for protecting your wallet.

Seed phrase

A seed phrase is a sequence of 12 or 24 English words that allows you to recover your wallet and access its assets. Possessing the seed phrase is essentially the same as holding the private key, meaning anyone with it has full control of the wallet. For this reason, it's vital to keep your seed phrase secure. Never trust anyone who offers you a seed phrase, and treat any shared seed phrase from a stranger as a red flag.

Key precautions when handling your seed phrase:

  • Back it up immediately after creating a wallet.

  • Use physical storage methods (e.g., writing them on paper). Avoid taking screenshots to reduce security risks.

  • Double-check the accuracy of your backup by carefully proofreading, and consider importing it into another wallet (like an Ethereum wallet) for verification.

  • Keep your backup in a safe place and protect it from loss or theft.

⚠️ Important: If your wallet is deleted and you've lost or forgotten your seed phrase, there’s no way to recover it—and your assets will be permanently inaccessible.

Using a Seed Phrase in KuCoin Web3 Wallet

Creating a new wallet:

When creating a KuCoin Web3 wallet, you'll be provided with a seed phrase. Write it down securely and never share it with anyone. Keep your seed phrase, and password safe to avoid asset losses.

Note: make sure to keep your private key, seed phrase and password safe and never share with others to avoid any losses.

Export an existing wallet

  1. Go to Wallet Management and choose the wallet you want to export.

  2. Choose Wallet Backup.

  3. Select Manual Backup and write down your seed phrase.

Import an existing wallet

  1. Go to Wallet Management and choose Add Wallet.

  2. Choose Importing Existing Wallet

  3. You can enter your seed phrase to restore access to a previously created wallet.