Written Instructions:
HOW TO USE TINYSEED
HOW TO COVER TINYSEED
HOW TO APPLY NFC
HOW TO USE TINYSEED
How to setup
Each row of Tinyseed corresponds to one word. Look up each word of your passphrase in the printed word list and make a punch for each filled circle.
How to read
Add up the numbers for each row. The sum of each row gives the position of the word in the word list.
Wallets generate a recovery seed consisting of 12 to 24 words. All compatible wallets use the same BIP39 word list to choose words from. This list contains 2048 alphabetically ordered and numbered words. Instead of punching letters and words directly, it is the number representing their respective position in the word list, that is punched into Tinyseed.
Find a printable copy here: Tinyseed BIP39 word list. But to read Tinyseed you’re not dependent on us, our website or a printed word list. You don’t need to know the word list with punch patterns to recover your seed phrase. Just add up the numbers that are punched and find your words in any available copy of the open source BIP39 word list, for example in the github repository of bitcoin.
HOW TO COVER TINYSEED
Step 1
Place a cover sticker on each side of Tinyseed to cover the seed phrase.
Step 2
Carefully peel off the tamper-proof “Paris” sticker (tears easily!) and place it around the covered Tinyseed.
Once applied, the “Paris” sticker cannot be repositioned or removed without being destroyed.
HOW TO APPLY NFC
Option 1: NFC on the cover
The NFC chip can be read or written to without having to remove the cover.
Use your smartphone to write descriptive information on the NFC chip. Stick the NFC chip in the center of the cover, then apply the tamper-proof sticker.
Option 2: NFC under the cover
The NFC chip cannot be read or written to without having to remove the cover.
Use your smartphone to write descriptive information on the NFC chip. Stick the NFC chip in the center of Tinyseed, then apply cover and tamper-proof sticker.
*Dedicated high-performance NFC/RFID scanners may still be able to read the NFC chip. Smartphones cannot.
The NFC chips can be read with any NFC-enabled smartphone without installing additional apps. Simply bring the back of your smartphone into contact with the NFC sticker (make sure that NFC is switched on on your smartphone)
If you have difficulties reading the sticker, find out where the NFC antenna is located on your smartphone and hold the sticker directly underneath it (direct contact). The NFC chip cannot be read when placed on a metal surface.
To encode NFC tags with an Android or Apple device, we recommend the following free apps:
- NFC Tools (Play Store, App Store)
- NFC TagWriter by NXP (Play Store, App Store)
The NFC chip can be used to store:
- Multi-sig descriptors: Store a descriptor backup with each seed phrase of a multi-sig wallet. The storage capacity is sufficient to store the descriptor of a multi-sig wallet with up to 5 signers.
- Detailed labels: Save detailed descriptions or information about your backup, such as the hardware wallet or software wallet used, derivation path, or Xpubs. Give your backups a label or a name so that you can distinguish them from each other, even if they look exactly the same.
- Unrelated info: For example, you could link to Paris.com and disguise your backup as a common NFC tag, thus improving operational security.
- Any combination of the above and more: It is a data storage device (imagine a mini memory stick). This means that in principle you can store anything on it, provided the data capacity is sufficient.
Each NFC chip has a unique serial number which, together with the Paris sticker, helps to detect tampering or re-sticking of the backup.
Please note: Create backups of the data you store on the NFC chip. If you are using the NFC chip to back up a multi-sig descriptor, we recommend backing up the descriptor with each of the seed phrase backups of the multi-sig wallet so that there are multiple identical copies of the descriptor, and additionally backing up the descriptor elsewhere. Do not rely solely on the NFC chip.
Do not store your seed phrase on the NFC chip!
Yes. Anyone who has physical access to the Tinyseed can read the data with a smartphone or other NFC/RFID devices.
No. The data is not encrypted. Anyone who has physical access can read the data.
After you have saved your data on the NFC chip, you can set a password to activate write protection. Please note that anyone who has physical access to the NFC chip can still read (but not overwrite or delete) the data, even if a password has been set.
No. Create backups of the data you store on the NFC chip. Do not rely solely on the NFC chip.
868 Bytes. Enough to store the descriptor of a multi-sig wallet with up to 5 signers (tested with Nunchuk and Sparrow).
10 years, if stored in a dry environement with temperatures between -25°C and 70°C.
