How to Import an Existing Wallet, and Why You Probably Should Not Yet

Do not import a recovery phrase that controls anything you would mind losing. The rest of this page explains the mechanics, and the next section explains why that sentence is stronger than the usual boilerplate.

Why this warning is specific rather than generic

We read the derivation paths rather than assuming them, and they are not symmetric.

So importing a phrase that controls a real Ethereum account derives that exact account's address. The address is your real one. Only the network being queried is not.

So the Bitcoin address you see will not be the one you already have.

What to do instead

Create a fresh wallet here and leave your real phrase where it is.

Import only if the phrase you are importing was itself generated for testing.

The import mechanics, for when that condition holds

Twelve or twenty-four words are accepted. Both standard lengths work.

Validation is real, not cosmetic. Each word is checked against the standard wordlist and the interface names the first one that is not in it, which catches the common transcription error immediately. The full phrase is then checked against its own checksum, so a phrase with the right words in the wrong order is rejected rather than silently deriving a stranger's empty account.

The identity key and the value key are separate, and the identity key is never used to hold or move value.

And the same lock behaviour applies

Keys derived from your phrase live in an in-memory reference for the life of the browser tab. Not local storage, not session storage, not a cookie.

Reload and the wallet locks, and you enter the phrase again. On an import that means typing twelve or twenty-four words each time, which is worth knowing before you decide this is your daily wallet. It is not.

What you are importing into