In the early days of Cryptocurrency, a wallet only generated one "private key", which meant there was also only one "public key" and one address.
Nowadays, crypto wallets now give you the ability to generate an almost "unlimited" number of private keys from a "master private key". This type of wallet in known as a "Hierarchical Deterministic wallet", or simply as an "HD wallet."
It first generates a master key, and then the wallet software uses this to create "child" private leys and their corresponding public keys, which then form addresses.
A wallet uses seed phrases to create private keys.
Amd because all the "child" private and public keys are ultimately derived from the master private key, they can all be controlled by the same seed phrase.
When you first set-up a Crypto, e.g. Bitcoin wallet, you'll be shown a series of 12 - 24 seemingly random words. These words are not only important but also the "order of the words" is equally important. This series of words listed in a specific order is the wallet's seed phrase.
This is an example of a wallet's Seed Phrase;
Job play talk build push read walk seat merge mango orange whale purity boil care mixture bless fire heat run laugh apple earth both
Depending on the wallet, a seed phrase may go with the names like;
All these names ultimately mean the same thing and simply describe 12 or 24 words that comprise the Seed phrase.
The main reason why the Seed phrase is a series of words like, (acid, mango, boil, cap etc.) radher than a Numeric password is because long numbers are difficult for humans to read amd remember.
Behind the scenes, this series of words, entered in the right order, is converted by the wallet software into a string of digits. This string of digits is known as the seed, — and this "seed" or string of digits is what generates the "master private key".
This Master private key iss what is used to generate "child" private keys, as well as their public keys, allowing a wallet to generate as many key pairs as needed.
The best thing is that one has not to know about the seed, it's too long. That's why the wallet software creates a "seed phrase " to represent the "seed". It's a much simpler format amd easier to remember.
What one has to know is that all private keys are generated from and tied to the seed phrase.
When your wallet software generates a seed phrase, it will usually instruct you to write it down on a paper. It's advisable that you write down your seed phrase and store it in a safe place.
If you want more security, write it down in more pieces of paper and store each in different locations.
Different wallets will have different instructions on how to recover a wallet but in general, you'll be asked to type or choose words in the specific order of your seed phrase to restore your wallet.
NEVER take a screenshot of your seed phrase and never save it on a digital medium like a word or google doc., email, or text message. If your computer or phone gets hacked, say a big and beautiful goodbye to your Crypto assets.
Make sure to keep your seed phrase private and never share it with others. Let no one even know that you have one. Any one who gets ypur seed phrase will be able to access your crypto wallets and its assets.
A seed phrase is just a special kind of password or key that enables you access your crypto wallet and its assets.
In the event that your wallet gets lost, deleted, corrupted, broken, or destroyed, it's your seed phrase that can help you restore it.
In the event that, you lose your wallet without saving the seed phrase, your crypto assets in that asset will be gone.
A seed phrase comes with specific list of 2,048 words. This would require someone to be able to guess all the words from that huge list of words and put them in the correct order. This makes it impossible for one to guess a seed phrase.
When you first create a crypto wallet, it generates a seed phrase.
The seed phrase generates a master private key.
And this master private key can create an almost unlimited amount of private keys.
Let's say, if each private key is a password that allows you to send or spend crypto assets tied to specific address, then the seed phrase acts as master password.
As long as you know the 'master password ' (seed phrase), then you have access to all private keys in the wallet.
