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Coldcard Hardware Wallet
Coldcard Hardware Wallet
  • Why we recommend Coldcard
  • Guide Overview
  • Wasabi Wallet companion app
  • 🏰Security Overview
    • Is Coldcard secure?
    • Securing the wallet: overview of the basics
    • How people lose their Bitcoin
  • πŸ”Create your wallet & backup
    • What you need
    • Initializing the device
    • Coldcard PIN Overview
    • PIN Steps
    • Updating the Firmware
      • Verifying the Firmware
    • Wallet backup basics
    • Create Wallet backup
      • Dice Roll Method (optional)
      • MicroSD backup (optional)
    • Seed XOR (optional)
      • Steps for Seed XOR
      • Restoring from Seed XOR
    • Passphrase Overview
    • Steps for adding a passphrase
      • Lockdown Seed
    • Installing Wasabi Wallet
      • Verifying Wasabi Wallet
    • Connecting to Wasabi Wallet
      • Air-Gapped Coldcard (optional)
  • ⛓️How to use Coldcard with Wasabi Wallet
    • Steps for receiving Bitcoin payments
    • Steps for sending Bitcoin
      • Privacy/Coin Control
      • PSBT Method (optional)
  • 🏹More Features
    • PIN Security Features
    • Power & Login
    • Address Explorer
    • BIP-85 Wallets
      • Using BIP-85 with Wasabi
  • ⚠️Summary
    • DO's & DONT's
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  • What is a passphrase?
  • Passphrase Security Basics

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  1. Create your wallet & backup

Passphrase Overview

The next step involves entering a passphrase. This prevents you from getting your funds stolen if someone gets access to your device and its PIN or to your 24-word backup. Before doing this step, please read below to know some important basics.

What is a passphrase?

  • It acts as a password that you add on top of your wallet backup (24-word seed phrase).

  • You can create as many passphrase-protected wallets as you like, with each new passphrase generating a completely new wallet.

  • The default wallet does not have a passphrase, adding one gives you plausible deniability, meaning that you can unlock the device normally containing no to little funds, with the majority of your bitcoin in a passphrase-protected wallet.

  • If someone comes into contact with your 24-word seed or digital backup, they won’t be able to steal your funds since they also need the passphrase to unlock the funds.

Passphrase Security Basics

  • Write down the passphrase you want to use before entering it in your computer.

  • The passphrase is required every time you want to spend the funds from your Coldcard.

  • Use a combination of words as a passphrase to have less trouble remembering it.

  • Use at least 12 characters in your passphrase, 24 characters offer more security.

  • If someone has access to your PIN and Coldcard, the passphrase will prevent them from taking your Bitcoin.

  • Create a unique passphrase that nobody can guess but that you can remember.

  • If you lose the passphrase, you lose access to your Bitcoin forever.

  • You cannot change your passphrase.

  • You can only create a new one, which in turn will generate a new wallet.

  • The passphrase is required to recover your access to your Bitcoin if your Coldcard is damaged, lost or stolen.

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Last updated 3 years ago

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