How To Backup a Dogecoin Wallet?

Dogecoin (DOGE) is a fan favorite among memecoins. The popular canine-themed crypto project is also a favorite of billionaire Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Musk has also opened the doors for DOGE to be accepted as payment for Tesla merchandise.

Now, although crypto allows users to keep out of a centralized system, there also come risks of decentralization. One such risk is of recovering access to a wallet if you lose your key. Hence, it is advisable that users and investors, back up their wallets for safety.

A wallet is just a collection of public and private keys. To access and use your coins, you must have your wallet’s private keys, which are randomized 256-bit numbers, specific to your wallet. A hashed version of the public key linked to the private key serves as your public address, which other Dogecoin wallets can use to send Dogecoin to your wallet.

The majority of DOGE users maintain their wallets using hardware wallets and wallet applications like Dogecoin Core. To create a backup for each of these, a distinct process needs to be followed.

How to back up your wallet using Dogecoin Core?

Dogecoin Core is DOGE’s reference implementation. It is also the software used to run a DOGE node. Moreover, it is also used as a wallet application by many users.

To back up a wallet with Dogecoin core, the user first needs to encrypt their wallet. To do so, users can go to “Settings” and then click “Encrypt wallet.” Users will be asked to enter a password. It is important that this password is stored somewhere safe, and never lost. Without the password, the funds will be inaccessible. Moreover, the password adds an additional layer of security. If an attacker gains access to the wallet, they will not be able to access the funds without the password.

Once encrypted, users can go to “File” and then click “Backup Wallet.” Doing so will generate a wallet.dat file. This file contains all the key pairs used. Restoring this file will give users access to their Dogecoin. This file should be kept somewhere safe, and disconnected from the internet.

Support for key derivation has been added in recent Dogecoin Core versions. Because the address is deterministically obtained from the seed key kept in the wallet, even if users produce a new address for usage in their wallet, they do not need to make a new backup.

A plain-text file is not what the wallet.dat file is. It’s a BDB (Berkeley Database) file. Because of this, it might be a good idea to make a plain text backup of the wallet that includes a list of all the private and public keys that Dogecoin Core is presently using.

Backup with seed phrases

A seed phrase is a key component of numerous modern wallets. A seed phrase, also known as a “mnemonic seed” or “mnemonic phrase,” often consists of a string of 12 or 24 words. Each seed phrase is individual and designates a certain wallet where a specific amount of Dogecoin may be kept. The wallet software uses a seed phrase as a kind of master key to determining all the private keys (and public addresses) required to access and spend the DOGE you are holding.

Your seed phrase must be backed up and kept in numerous safe places, and only you should be able to access them. Your Dogecoin will be completely accessible to anyone who knows your seed phrase. Because of this, you must under no circumstances divulge your private key or seed phrase to anyone you do not know and trust.

Additionally, assuring that your seed phrase or private keys are kept on a device that is NOT connected to the internet is always more secure.