Hardware wallet question.
So hardware wallets supposed to keep private keys safe by keeping them off the internet.
The way I understand it : These wallets keep private keys compartmetalized, inaccessible to anyone from the internet.
So how come If I lose or damage my hardware wallet ,I can restore it with my 12 or 18 word back up phrase?
Doesn't that mean that it is backed up on the internet in some form?
Please help me answer this question?
Thank you!
Not an expert on cryptography so this might not be entire correct.
My understanding is that the wallet generates the private key just like any other wallet. That is the only copy of the key. The words you are given are generate from the private key using some algorithm that is pretty standard between many wallets. The code that generates those words can also turn them back into the private key on another wallet.
Think of the German enigma machine in WW2 but one hell of a lot more complex. So complex that it would take the fastest computers on Earth millennia to break it.
Thank you! That makes sense.
Yes, you can restore your wallet with that backup phrase. It upto you where you store it, on paper or Internet doesn't matter.
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