What if Atomic Wallet stops existing?

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What will happen to the assets I'm holding in Atomic Wallet?

Atomic Wallet is an app that acts as a mediator between you and the blockchain. Our job is to provide you with a user-friendly interface through which to access your account. Here's what that means for you:

  • Your private data is yours only. Your 12-word seed and private keys are generated locally on your device without ever getting sent to us. Even if our infrastructure was to go down, no data leaks would be possible.
  • Your assets are stored on the blockchain. Since Atomic Wallet is just an intermediary between you and the blockchain, your coins aren't stored by us. You're free to export your private keys anytime, and your funds wouldn't be put at any risk if our company was to close down.

It should now be easy to see why we always stress the utter importance of keeping your 12-word backup phrase and private keys kept someplace safe. With your backup seed on hand, you'll be able to access your account via any app of your liking that supports the assets you're holding. All in all, while we do love having you onboard, you're in no way dependent on us to keep storing your coins.

What you'll need to always have access to your account

Going straight to the nuts and bolts of it, you need to keep your 12-word mnemonic phrase & your private keys readily accessible by you anytime. In case anything goes wrong, you can just import your key for a particular coin directly. The instructions on how to export your backup phrase and your private keys will follow. 

1. Your 12-word backup phrase

When dealing with your crypto savings, your 12-word backup phrase's security should be your #1 priority. We recommend creating multiple pen-and-paper copies of the phrase and avoid having any digital ones whatsoever. For more security tips, please see How do I keep my wallet safe?.

2. Your private keys

Any multicurrency wallet makes you a holder of multiple accounts, all united under one 12-word backup phrase. In this sense, your mnemonic phrase is a universal key that can be used to unlock all of your wallets at once. However, the derivation paths used by some apps are different from the ones used in Atomic Wallet. In that case, you may face issues trying to make your funds display properly after importing your keys.

A "derivation path," plainly put, is a mask that instructs the system on how to deduce your private keys from the mnemonic phrase. All things considered, you should save your private key for every coin you hold as well to make sure no issues ever arise. Your private keys are just as important as your backup phrase, so we'd suggest keeping them on an external offline device. 

Where to find your 12-word backup phrase and private keys in the desktop app

  1. Navigate to the Settings tab [1] on the left sidebar. Here, go to the Private keys tab [2] found in the top panel. Enter your password and hit the Show private keys button [3].

  2. Your 12 word mnemonic phrase is always pinned on top. Remember that copying the phrase and keeping it anywhere on your computer, including your password manager, is a bad practice. We strongly advise to write it down using pen and paper.

    For any of the assets you're holding (we've used XTZ as an example here), you can fetch your private key by either browsing through the list or just searching for the coin. Your "public key" is your wallet's public address that can be used to deposit more funds to it. The "private key," on the other hand, is only yours to keep and should never be shared with anyone. 

Where to find your 12 word backup phrase & private keys in the mobile app

  1. Tap the settings icon at the top-right corner.
  2. Pick the Private Keys tab from the list.
  3. Tap on Backup phrase to fetch your 12 word mnemonic phrase or browse through the list to find your private keys for each of the coins you hold. 
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