In the crypto world, security is not a luxury; it is a prerequisite for survival.

At 3 a.m. in the WeChat family group, a screenshot of a mnemonic phrase changed a family’s life. The user took a screenshot of the 12-word mnemonic for convenience, labeled it "Operation Guide," and sent it into the group. The next morning, they woke up to find their "study abroad fund" accumulated over years gone—wallet emptied, nothing left.

They contacted platform customer service to ask if it could be recovered, only to get a heartbreaking answer: "Self-operated, cannot be traced."

**The mnemonic phrase is your entire identity**

You need to understand that in the cryptocurrency world, those 12 to 24 words are not just a tool to restore your wallet. They are essentially the only proof of control over your assets—if you hold the mnemonic, you hold everything.

I’ve seen too many people take shortcuts, storing mnemonics in phone notes, saving them in WeChat favorites, or even emailing them around. It sounds clever, but in reality, it’s opening a backdoor on a hacker’s hard drive. Once the mnemonic encounters an internet-connected device, the secret is no longer a secret.

**My approach is simple: spend less than a hundred yuan to buy a fireproof, rustproof metal plate, carve the words onto it with tools, and lock it away in a completely secure place.**

Securely storing your mnemonic involves three words: offline, physical, confidential. This is the first line of defense and also the last. Many stories of losing coins start from this step. Don’t wait until it’s truly wiped out to regret it.