What is it about?
Seed phrases are a random sequence of words that can optionally be understood as a human-readable private key. Explained a bit more simply and understandably, private keys can be represented in different forms. Usually, they are generated by a long string of random numbers and characters. You can imagine that such a sequence of characters is not easy to remember. A seed phrase can help here.
How does it Work?
The best way to orient ourselves is to use the example of the crypto wallet see also Ledger Hardware Wallets and Setting up Ledger Nano X. Most wallets no longer issue cryptographic keys, but instead package the keys in seed words. There are variations in the number of words of 12, 18, or 24, forming the seed phrase.
Not only are the words relevant but also their sequential order. Anyone who sets up a hardware wallet for the first time must write down the words in the exact order and confirm them on the device. Usually, the wallet comes with a card on which you can write down these words.
What is the benefit?
Besides the reason that the private key is represented in a simpler and more understandable way, the words are also the only way to access and restore a wallet and its entire contents. Whoever owns the seed phrase has full control over the wallet and its contents.
Another benefit is that the mechanism of assigning these words makes it practically impossible to guess the words and their sequence, i.e. the seed phrase. The seed phrase is randomly selected from a list of 2048 English words.
The sequence and words are converted into numbers using formulas, giving access to a wallet and the public and private key pairs it contains.
