When getting started with Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, there are two terms you will hear a lot which are- private key and seed phrase. They might sound similar, but they play different roles in keeping your funds safe....
1) Private Keys
When you create a crypto wallet, it generates two things- a public key (like your account number, which you can share to receive funds) and a private key (your secret code, which must always remain hidden). The private key makes use of an alphanumeric string and it proves that you are the true owner of the coins in that wallet. Anyone who has access to it can be in full control of your funds, send them, spend them, or even transfer them to their own account.
You are in the track, private key gives you public keys and public keys are what you can use to receive funds but this was in the early days, it was improved further with two different hash functions (sha256 and Ripemd160) to have a shorter version because public keys data are way
totoo large and this makes your transaction becomes bogus
in the transaction block. This public keys are not just public keys, they are compress keys after hash to give you a short version of an address.
- Store them offline (write them on paper or make use of a hardware backup).
-Avoid saving them in your phone or computer where they could be hacked.
Don't write your seed phrase alone on a piece of paper, you can as one means but that's not enough. If you are going to make a backup of your seed phrase, the material has to be water resistance, fire resistance and can last for ages, paper can get wet or get burn instead
useduse a metal
playerplate to engrave your seed phrase as back up.
Your hardware shouldn't be a place for backup, it can get stolen or lost and there is nothing you can do about it, better to use a metal steel/plate.