Hold your own crypto keys and back up your seed phrase safely

Move coins off an exchange into a wallet you control, then check, store and protect your seed phrase so it is much harder to lose or have stolen.

This guide takes you from "my coins sit on an exchange" to a wallet only you control, with a seed phrase backup you have checked and stored offline.

Why bother

When FTX halted withdrawals on 8 November 2022, customers learned that a balance on an exchange is a promise from a company, not coins they hold. The US SEC's custody bulletin says it plainly: if a custodian is hacked, shuts down or goes bankrupt, you may lose access, and some custodians lend out or pool customer assets.

A seed phrase (also called a recovery phrase or wallet backup) is a list of 12 to 24 words that rebuilds your wallet's private keys. Whoever has those words owns the coins, on any device, anywhere, and nobody can reset it for you.

Before you start

Time: 60 to 90 minutes, in a quiet place where nobody can see your screen or paper.
What you need: a hardware wallet bought directly from the maker (for example a Ledger or a Trezor), or a reputable wallet app if you hold small amounts; a pen; the recovery cards from the box or plain paper; optionally a metal backup plate.
Checked on (2026-10-04): Ledger Wallet app (the new name for Ledger Live since October 2025) with Ledger Nano, Flex and Stax; Trezor Suite (desktop, web and mobile) with Trezor Safe 3 and Safe 5; MetaMask browser extension and mobile app. Menu names change between app versions; if yours looks different, look for the same words nearby.

Steps

1 Get a wallet that has never been set up

Buy a hardware wallet from the maker's own website or an authorised reseller. Avoid second-hand devices and marketplace listings.
When it arrives, check the recovery cards in the box. They must be blank.
Install the companion app only from the maker's site (ledger.com or trezor.io) or the official app store listing from that maker. Type the address yourself rather than clicking ads or search results.

You should see: blank recovery cards, and a device that asks to be set up as new. If any words are already printed or written on a card, or the device is already set up, do not use it. Ledger warns that pre-filled recovery sheets are a known scam: whoever wrote those words owns any coins you send there.

2 Create a new wallet and write down the words

Connect the device and open the app (Ledger Wallet or Trezor Suite). Choose to set up a new wallet, not restore one.
Choose a PIN on the device. Write the PIN somewhere separate from the seed phrase.
The device now shows your words one at a time on its own screen. Write each word on the recovery card, in order, with its number, in clear capital letters.
Confirm the words on the device when it asks.

You should see: the device saying the backup is complete, and the app showing an empty wallet.

If you use a wallet app instead (such as MetaMask), choose the option to create a wallet with a Secret Recovery Phrase and write the words on paper the same way. MetaMask also offers sign-in with Google, Apple or Telegram, which stores an encrypted copy of your phrase online; in that case your password must be guarded like the phrase itself.