Bip39 - EwaQw/EwaQwa GitHub Wiki
The Bitcoin Improvement World List 39 (or ‘BIP39’ for short) is a standardized set of words for restoring and backing up bitcoin or a cryptocurrency wallet. Read more on the website https://bip39-phrase.com/
To store Bitcoin, you will need a wallet application. You can download a software wallet to your computer, smartphone, or purchase a hardware wallet. Most Bitcoin wallets will generate and provide you with a list of random words during the installation process. Depending on the type of wallet, it can be 12 or 24 words. This is called a backup Seed phrase, a recovery phrase, or a mnemonic Seed phrase.
You need to write down the Seed phrase and save it securely (preferably on paper). If you forget them or lose them, you will lose access to the coins in your wallet that you created.
In case the device breaks down in the future, the computer crashes, or the hard drive gets damaged, you can simply download the software again and use the backup recovery phrase to get your coins back.
The most common standard used in generating mnemonic Seed phrases is BIP39.
Bip39 phrase. mnemonic phrase is a group of easy-to-remember words that serves as a backup copy of your wallet.
In case of loss or destruction of a wallet, you can use these phrases to recover all the coins associated with that wallet.
This method has become the standard for many deterministic wallets, and not only for the Bitcoin wallet. It has also been adopted for use in many other cryptocurrency projects.
For example, if your ledger wallet is lost, you can download a multi-currency software wallet that supports the BIP 39 standard and fully recover your funds. All your transactions and addresses generated by your wallet will be extracted from the Seed phrase.
BIP39 mnemonic Seed phrases can be considered master passwords.