Before You Begin
Read this section carefully to avoid losing any funds down the road!
Both the biggest advantage and biggest risk of using a decentralized network like Namada is that nobody controls access to your funds except for yourself. While this is incredibly empowering, it also means that if you lose your account's secret keys or seed phrase, you will lose access to your funds forever. There is no bank manager or customer support to turn to if you lose access to your account.
The good news is you can protect yourself by taking a few basic precautions when creating your account. We'll cover the most important of these below.
Store Your Password and Seed Phrase Offline
Seed Phrase
When you create a new account, you'll be given a 12 or 24 word seed phrase (also known as a 'recovery phrase' or 'mnemonic'). You can use this phrase to restore your account in the extension or Namada CLI at a later time. This phrase is the only way to recover your account if you lose your secret keys, so it's important to save it in a secure location, offline, both so that it cannot be accessed by online attackers or malware on your computer and so that you're protected in case your computer breaks, is lost, or is stolen.
Never, under any circumstance, share your seed phrase with anyone! Phishing attacks, fake websites, and other scams are rampant on the internet. Anyone who learns your seed phrase can access your account and steal your funds.
- No member of Heliax or anyone affiliated with Namada will ever ask you for your seed phrase. However, scammers may pose as Heliax or Namada Support and ask you to share your seed phrase under the guise of helping you recover your account.
- Do not enter your seed phrase into any websites, apps, or wallets unless you are absolutely certain they are trustworthy. A website or wallet asking you to enter your seed phrase (for example,to import your account or check your airdrop allocation) may simply intend to use it to turn around and steal your funds.
Password
When you create your first account, you'll be asked to set a password for your Namada Keychain extension. You'll be asked for this password every time you open the extension, as well as on other actions such as signing transactions or connecting to a website.
Like your seed phrase, it's important to save your password in a secure location, offline. If you forget your password, there is no way to recover it; remember, there are no central servers, so unlike forgetting your Spotify password, there is no "Recover Password by Email" option.
What if I Lose My Password and/or Seed Phrase?
- If you lose your password, you will have to reinstall the Namada Keychain extension and restore your account(s) using their seed phrase(s).
- If you've lost your seed phrase, you will not be able to restore your account and will lose your funds forever.
Ask yourself: "If my computer breaks or is stolen, can I recover my account?" As long as you've securely saved your seed phrase(s) offline, the answer is yes.