Wallet security
Six short lessons. Whoever has the words has the money. Here you learn to protect them.
Everything runs in your browser. Your progress stays on your device only (localStorage, no cookie). Information, not financial, tax or legal advice.
1What the seed is
The seed creates all the keys of your wallet. It comes as 24 words (following the BIP39 standard) or as a 64-character hex number (docs.nano.org, Key Management).
Whoever knows the seed can open all addresses from it and send everything. A payment cannot be taken back afterwards.
So the rule is: the seed belongs to you alone. No support, exchange, wallet company or web service needs it from you.
Check question: Who may know your seed?
2Making a proper backup
Write the words by hand on paper, in the right order, clearly legible.
Make two copies and keep them in different places, for example at home and in a second safe place, such as a safe.
Not as a photo, not in the cloud, not in a notes app, not in a message. Anything that is online can be copied.
Test the backup with a small amount: restore the wallet from the words on a second device and check that the same address appears.
Check question: Where do you keep the words?
3Spotting phishing
Phishing means someone fakes a real site or person so that you enter your words or send money.
Typical cases: a fake site with an almost identical address, a "support" person in private messages, a "giveaway" or "doubling" ("send 10, get 20"), a message full of urgency.
Protection: open wallets and services only through bookmarks you set yourself. Never enter the words anywhere, except when you deliberately restore in your own wallet. Trust no direct message that asks for money or words.
Check question: Someone writes as "support" and asks for your words to fix a problem. What do you do?
4Software and hardware wallets
A software wallet (app) is convenient. The key sits on the device that is also online. If the device is infected, the key is at risk.
A hardware wallet keeps the key in a separate device. You confirm every payment on the device itself. It costs money and also needs a backup: the seed is still the rescue if the device is lost.
docs.nano.org mentions the Ledger implementation for Nano as an example. Check before buying that the device supports Nano, and buy only from the maker.
Check question: Where does the key stay with a hardware wallet?
5Checking before you send
Sending is final. So check three things first.
Address: scan it as a QR code or paste it instead of typing, then compare start and end with the source. A Nano address starts with nano_.
Network: same service, different prefix, different value. usd_ is NanUSD, not XNO (nanchat.com/developers).
Amount: check the decimal places. A comma in the wrong place makes the amount ten times too large or too small.
For a new address or a large amount: send a small test amount first, wait for it to arrive, then the rest.
Check question: What do you do for a new address and a larger amount?
6What NanoTracker never needs
NanoTracker analyses a public Nano address (nano_…). It is read-only: the site says "Read only, no seed".
It never needs the seed, the words, the PIN or the password of your wallet. If a site asks for them in the name of NanoTracker, it is a scam.
A public address and its payments are visible to anyone who looks. The analysis reveals nothing that is not public anyway. Knowing an address does not let anyone send from it.
According to the site, the wallet list is kept only in your browser. You can download a backup as a file.
Check question: What do you enter at NanoTracker?
Course complete
You answered every question correctly. Next up: