This article explains what the Steelwallet is, how its robust design protects your recovery phrase from physical damage, and what recovery phrase formats it supports.
Why a physical backup is essential
Your BitBox02 hardware wallet is designed to keep your private keys secure and offline. However, to ensure you can always access your crypto funds, you need a backup of your recovery phrase (also called a seed phrase). This practice of keeping critical information offline is known as "cold storage."
The Steelwallet is a backup solution engineered to protect your recovery phrase from physical threats like fire or water, giving you lasting peace of mind. For users interested in learning more about this topic, Jameson Lopp's blog offers a great collection of articles on cold storage solutions.
How the Steelwallet provides protection
The Steelwallet is built from high-quality AISI 304 stainless steel, making it incredibly resilient to common household and environmental dangers. Instead of writing your recovery words on fragile paper, you permanently punch them into solid steel.
Its key features include:
- Fire resistance: The stainless steel construction can withstand extreme temperatures far greater than a typical house fire.
- Water resistance: It does not rust or corrode when exposed to water, floods, or high humidity, ensuring your seed remains readable.
- Corrosion resistance: The material is designed to resist degradation over time, making it a reliable backup for generations.
- Shock resistance: The Steelwallet is a heavy-duty device that can resist crushing forces and physical impacts.
Renowned security expert Jameson Lopp subjected various metal backups to extensive stress tests and concluded that the Steelwallet is one of the "most robust and simple options" available. You can read his detailed technical findings in his Steelwallet Review. For a comprehensive overview and FAQ, visit the guide of Blockark.
Supported recovery phrases
The Steelwallet is designed to be compatible with the industry standard for recovery phrases, known as BIP39. You can use the Steelwallet to back up the following BIP39 phrase lengths:
- 12 words
- 18 words
- 24 words
This covers the formats used by most hardware and software wallets, including the 24-word seed generated by the BitBox02.
Why do I only need to punch the first four letters?
The official BIP39 wordlist contains 2048 words. This list was intentionally designed so that the first four letters of any word are enough to uniquely identify it. No two words share the same first four letters.
This clever design makes the setup process faster and simpler, as you only need to punch four letters to securely record each word.