How does a passphrase work?

A passphrase can be any word, a set of letters or even a sentence. You could also consider the passphrase to be the 25th word of the seed, as with the passphrase an entirely wallet will be generated.

Your passphrase should be memorable, though. Typically, you would not write it down anywhere, to eliminate any possibility of it being discovered. Remember that you are entering the passphrase directly into the computer, and this process is not protected against keyloggers like the PIN entry. For this reason, you should not be tempted to disable your PIN even if you use the passphrase feature!

If you enable the passphrase protection, you will be asked for a passphrase every time you connect your Bomow and work with a bitcoin (altcoin) wallet such as Bomow Wallet or Electrum.

The passphrase has a triple security effect.

1. It makes your Bomow impervious to physical attack. Even if your Bomow was stolen and the chip examined under an electron microscope to discover your recovery seed, your bitcoins will still be safe!

2. It protects your bitcoins in case someone steals your Recovery seed from you. Without your passphrase, the thief won't be able to access your coins.

3. A passphrase or more passphrases can be used with the same Bomow device to create the so-called "hidden wallets," giving you a great advantage in situations such as being held at a gunpoint, (also known as the $5-wrench-attack). Use different passphrases to create "decoy" wallets with a low balance next to your main wallet. Read more ...