How to securely destroy your paper seed phrase backup.

TL;DR (concentrated takeaways)

You should not keep any temporary paper copies of your crypto wallet seed phrase.

The Vault12 Digital Vault is perfect for permanently and safely storing your seed phrase backup.

Disposing of your temporary paper seed phrase is easy, but the details are very important.

You could dispose of it by burning it in your kitchen, and then flushing the ashes.

You could dispose of it by erasing, shredding, and then flushing the pieces.

Remember that your wallet seed phrase allows access to your crypto

By now, you know that your crypto wallet seed phrase is the most important thing to protect in order to guard your crypto assets. You have read about the need to use randomness to generate your seed phrase, and then how important it is to back it up to ensure that it is not lost or stolen. In this article, we will assume that you have already decided on which wallet to use, how to generate your seed phrase, and how to back it up. With your wallet set up and your seed phrase safely and permanently backed up, now you find yourself with a piece of paper that holds a "spare copy" of your seed phrase scrawled on it. How should you dispose of that precious piece of paper?

Planning to destroy your temporary seed phrase copy

You need a foolproof way to destroy the now-unnecessary, temporary paper copy of your wallet seed phase, such that it can never be reconstructed. Here are some things to keep in mind as you plan to destroy it:

• Don't put the task off. If you do not keep the temporary copy in a high-security safe until it is destroyed, every moment that it remains readable holds some risk that you could misplace it, or that it could be otherwise accessed. Properly disposing of it is not hard to do, and it does not take long - finish the task.
• Meanwhile, be aware of cameras that could record the seed phase from the paper. Your smartphone, laptop, tablet, or security camera could all capture an image of your seed phrase without your realizing it. We have all become so accustomed to cameras around us all of the time, especially when they are part of our home security system, that we lose our awareness of what is being recorded. Don't take the chance of accidental image capture.
• If you wrote down the seed phrase on a pad of paper, ensure that the page below the one that you wrote on does not have impressions that could be used to detect and reconstruct the words. Tap into your spy novel knowledge to imagine that possibility! If necessary, destroy the page underneath as well to remove all traces.
• Be absolutely sure that you did not make any errors in backing up your seed phrase to permanent storage.

Now you are ready.

Option #1: Destroy your seed phrase copy with fire and water

For all activities related to fire, you should of course carefully take appropriate safety precautions.

It is possible to burn your seed phrase outdoors, but we recommend doing it indoors, since indoor space is more controllable. (Outdoors, you may be more conspicuous, the paper could blow away partially-burned, or worst of all, you could accidentally start a larger fire.)

Indoors, you have a ready-made seed phrase burning area: your kitchen stove. When you are ready:

• Just in case, know where your fire extinguisher is located!
• Survey the area around the stove to ensure that there is nothing flammable.
• Turn on the ventilation fan near your stove to prevent setting off the smoke detector.
• Have a lighter handy.
• Put a metal pan that you will use to contain the burning paper onto the stove.
• Fold your seed phrase paper in half so that it makes a V-shaped "tent."
• Place the folded paper into the pan, pointy side up (as an upside-down "V") - this will allow oxygen to circulate underneath it for a complete burn.
• Carefully light the paper on fire, and wait for the flame to completely consume it.
• Wait for the paper to cool. Crumble the ashes.
• Flush the ashes down the toilet to avoid any chance of reassembly.

Option #2: Destroy your seed phrase copy by shredding and flushing

To destroy your paper seed phrase without fire:

• First, if the words are written with pencil, completely erase them.
• Shred the paper into extremely small pieces, such that even if any letters could still be read, no more than one letter would be shown on any piece. (This could be done using your hands, scissors, or a shredding machine.)
• Flush the shredded pieces down the toilet to avoid any chance of their reassembly.

Your Vault12 Digital Vault is secure and convenient for your seed phrase backup

It is a good feeling to know that your seed phrase is safe and secure without having to keep paper copies lying around. Your Vault12 Digital Vault is the perfect place to store your sensitive digital assets including your seed phrase. Congratulations on being an informed, responsible holder of your own crypto assets.