About Your Recovery Phrase

When you create a self-custody wallet in Wallet of Satoshi, you are given a 12-word recovery phrase.

It is important to understand that although this looks similar to the seed phrase used by a traditional Bitcoin wallet, recovery works differently.

Your recovery phrase is for your Spark wallet

Wallet of Satoshi Self-Custody uses the Spark protocol.

Spark uses its own key derivation standard to derive the different keys required by a Spark wallet. This includes keys used for your Spark identity, signing transactions, receiving Bitcoin deposits and other functions within the Spark protocol.

Because of this, your recovery phrase should be treated as a Spark wallet recovery phrase, rather than as a traditional Bitcoin wallet backup.

Can I import the recovery phrase into another Bitcoin wallet?

Generally, no.

Entering your Wallet of Satoshi Self-Custody recovery phrase into a conventional Bitcoin wallet such as a hardware wallet or another BIP39-compatible Bitcoin wallet will not recreate your Wallet of Satoshi balance.

Those wallets normally derive Bitcoin addresses and keys using standard Bitcoin derivation paths. Spark uses a different derivation scheme designed specifically for the Spark protocol.

To recover your wallet, the recovery phrase needs to be used with a wallet or recovery tool that supports the Spark recovery standard and compatible key derivation.

Can I recover my wallet without Wallet of Satoshi?

Yes. Your recovery is not dependent on Wallet of Satoshi holding your funds or account credentials.

Wallet of Satoshi Self-Custody is built using the open Spark protocol. A compatible Spark wallet or recovery implementation can use your recovery phrase to derive the keys required to recover your wallet.

This is different from the custodial version of Wallet of Satoshi, where Wallet of Satoshi holds funds on behalf of the user.

Keep your recovery phrase safe

Your recovery phrase is the backup to your self-custody wallet.

Never share it with anyone, including Wallet of Satoshi support.

Anyone who obtains your recovery phrase may be able to gain control of your wallet and funds.

We recommend:

• Writing the recovery phrase down and storing it somewhere secure.
• Keeping more than one secure backup if appropriate.
• Never storing it in an unencrypted screenshot, email or message.
• Never entering it into a website or wallet unless you are certain it supports Spark recovery and you trust the software.

Wallet of Satoshi cannot recover or replace a lost recovery phrase.

In Short

Wallet of Satoshi Self-Custody uses Spark.

Your 12-word recovery phrase is used to derive the keys for your Spark wallet. It should not be treated as a recovery phrase that can simply be imported into any standard Bitcoin wallet.

If you ever need to restore your wallet, use Wallet of Satoshi Self-Custody or another compatible implementation that supports the Spark recovery standard.