Seven backup mistakes that drain wallets

1. No backup at all

The most common loss by a country mile. The wallet was created, funded, and used — and the seed phrasewas never written down. Then the device died, was lost, or got reset. Funds gone, permanently.

Right answer: back up before depositing any funds. Five minutes, paper, pen, safe. See how to back up your wallet.

2. Screenshotting the seed phrase

The wallet shows the 25 words; the user takes a screenshot “just in case.” The phone auto-syncs the camera roll to iCloud or Google Photos. The seed phrase is now on a server, indexed by AI, scannable by any attacker who breaches that account.

Right answer: pen, paper, by hand. Delete any screenshot you already took, then take it out of the trash too.

3. Storing the seed in a password manager

1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass — great for passwords, wrong tool for seed phrases. If the password manager is breached, you lose your passwords and your funds simultaneously. LastPass breaches in 2022 showed exactly this; users with seed phrases in their vaults were drained.

Right answer: keep the seed offline, on paper or metal. Password manager holds the local wallet password only.

4. Emailing or cloud-storing the seed

Saving the seed in Gmail drafts, Notes, Google Docs, or Dropbox. All of these turn your seed into a server-side asset that survives forever and is subject to every breach of that provider.

Right answer: nothing about the seed should ever leave a device you physically control.

5. Single copy in a single location

A paper backup in your sock drawer is fine until your house floods, burns, or is burgled. Single point of failure = high probability of total loss over a long enough time horizon.

Right answer: two copies in two physical locations. One at home (fire-safe), one off-site (safety deposit box, attorney). See backup storage solutions.

6. Skipping the test restore

You wrote down the seed. Great. Did you verify it actually works? Many users discover their backup is wrong (typo, missing word, wrong order) only when they desperately need it. By that point, it’s too late.

Right answer: on a second device, install Arqma Wallet, choose Restore from seed, type your backup, and confirm the address matches. If it does, your backup is real. If not, fix it now.

7. Trying to memorise the seed phrase

25 words feels memorable. Two years later, after a job change, a baby, and three vacations, you’ll remember 22 of them. That’s the same as remembering none.

Right answer: assume your memory will fail. Write it down. Physical, not mental.

The right-way checklist

• 25 words written on paper, by hand, in numbered order.
• Two copies in two physical locations (one fire-safe at home, one off-site).
• One copy on metal for long-term storage if the balance warrants it.
• Test-restored on a second device; address matches the original.
• No screenshots, no cloud, no email, no password manager.
• Local wallet password is separate, strong, and lives in your password manager.