Recovery is what allows you to regain access to your wallet and your funds if something goes wrong — like losing your phone, your hardware device, or even both at the same time.
In traditional self-custody wallets, recovery often depends on a seed phrase: a long string of words that you must write down and keep safe. If it’s lost or stolen, your bitcoin could be gone forever.
Bitkey takes a different approach.
Recovery without seed phrases
Bitkey is built around a 2-of-3 key system. That means your wallet is secured by three keys:
- The App Key
- The Hardware Key
- The Server Key
To send bitcoin or make changes to your wallet, any two of these three keys are required.
This design gives you control, flexibility, and a secure path to recover access if something goes wrong — without needing a fragile seed phrase or depending on a third party.
Because the Server Key can’t do anything on its own, Block (the company behind Bitkey) can never access or move your funds.
Why recovery matters
Loss happens. Phones break. Hardware devices get misplaced. You might lose one key, or even both your phone and hardware at the same time.
Bitkey is designed to make recovery possible in these situations — and to do it in a way that’s secure, private, and built in by default.
You don’t need to write down recovery phrases or remember complicated passwords. Bitkey uses a combination of your remaining key(s), encrypted cloud backups, and secure, trust-based verification — handled by someone you choose, not a company — to help you recover your wallet and continue managing your bitcoin.
To learn more about specific recovery paths and how they work, see: