If a cryptocurrency user forgets his password, what happens to his wallet?

[NikeFit_7777]

I do not backup my wallet password because it is not necessary. If I forget the password, I can import the seed phrase and set another password of my choice. The important things that we advice people not to memorize but to backup are:

• the seed phrase
• passphrase

If either the seed phrase or the passphrase backup is lost, the coins on the addresses generated by the wallet is lost. That is why it is good to backup the seed phrase (and the passphrase). If passphrase is included, it is better to backup both differently in different locations.

That's right, I do the same thing. I don't understand the need (somewhere) to store the password, if in this case it is more important to store not the password, but 12/24 words of seed-phrases. After all, in case you lose your password, you will be able to recover it with the help of a (recorded by you) seed-phrase. Generally, in my understanding (backups) are the most insecure kind of preservation possible. In case your device is hacked, it will be easier for the fraudster to know your secret words.

P.S. It's entirely up to each individual what to do and how to do it. But in my understanding, everything you save on computers/phones is as unsafe as possible. Many articles (on safety) say that it is better to avoid this method. 

[Sim_card]

I do not backup my wallet password because it is not necessary. If I forget the password, I can import the seed phrase and set another password of my choice. The important things that we advice people not to memorize but to backup are:

• the seed phrase
• passphrase

If either the seed phrase or the passphrase backup is lost, the coins on the addresses generated by the wallet is lost. That is why it is good to backup the seed phrase (and the passphrase). If passphrase is included, it is better to backup both differently in different locations.

That's right, I do the same thing. I don't understand the need (somewhere) to store the password, if in this case it is more important to store not the password, but 12/24 words of seed-phrases. After all, in case you lose your password, you will be able to recover it with the help of a (recorded by you) seed-phrase. Generally, in my understanding (backups) are the most insecure kind of preservation possible. In case your device is hacked, it will be easier for the fraudster to know your secret words.

P.S. It's entirely up to each individual what to do and how to do it. But in my understanding, everything you save on computers/phones is as unsafe as possible. Many articles (on safety) say that it is better to avoid this method. 

I agree with you that backing up your seed phrase and pass phrase ie enough for one to have access to his bitcoin, when his password has been forgotten. However, there is nothing bad to write down your password for the prevention of importing seed phrase, but of course we are human and there is no guarantee that we will not have issues that will lead us to unforseen circumstances, that we will not be able to access our wallet. This is why the seed phrase is the best to keep safe and backed up because, you will see have full control of that wallet, which the password is no more, otherwise your bitcoin will stay locked in your wallet address forever. No bitcoin is lost, this is because after 20yrs,if the password is seen or remembered, or the seed phrase is seen and imported to another wallet, you will have access to those bitcoin.

[NikeFit_7777]

I agree with you that backing up your seed phrase and pass phrase ie enough for one to have access to his bitcoin, when his password has been forgotten. However, there is nothing bad to write down your password for the prevention of importing seed phrase, but of course we are human and there is no guarantee that we will not have issues that will lead us to unforseen circumstances, that we will not be able to access our wallet. This is why the seed phrase is the best to keep safe and backed up because, you will see have full control of that wallet, which the password is no more, otherwise your bitcoin will stay locked in your wallet address forever. No bitcoin is lost, this is because after 20yrs,if the password is seen or remembered, or the seed phrase is seen and imported to another wallet, you will have access to those bitcoin.

Yes, I'm not saying "you shouldn't write down the password" - no, on the contrary, you should write it down + save it. But in case of loss (of the password) it won't be so critical. The main thing is to memorize your seed phrase. If it is lost, it will be much more trouble, because it is impossible to restore access. Don't forget - we can still change the password in case of anything. There is no tech support for cryptocurrency. No one will help you, your funds will be lost forever. + there is and will be tons of useful information on this topic on the internet.

A few articles:

1. https://www.cossacklabs.com/blog/crypto-wallets-security
2. https://chainstack.com/web3-security-best-practices/
3. https://coinscreed.com/the-increasing-importance-of-crypto-wallet-security.html

P.S. Be careful and take things slowly. Double-check everything, several times. 

[MUGNIA]

If you memorize a password or your personal information, it is unsafe because you will surely forget your memorized password or personal information in the future.

I do not backup my wallet password because it is not necessary. If I forget the password, I can import the seed phrase and set another password of my choice. The important things that we advice people not to memorize but to backup are:

• the seed phrase
• passphrase

If either the seed phrase or the passphrase backup is lost, the coins on the addresses generated by the wallet is lost. That is why it is good to backup the seed phrase (and the passphrase). If passphrase is included, it is better to backup both differently in different locations.

from the beginning I entered crypto and my friend taught me this,
because the password is only for wallet security and transactions, nothing else
The important thing is that we have to save the passphrase and seed of the wallet we created

[Z-tight]

The important thing is that we have to save the passphrase and seed of the wallet we created

That is if you added a passphrase, not everyone extends their seed phrase with a passphrase, and for such people, they are to make only backups of their seed phrase in more than one location. However, it is worth mentioning that extending your seed phrase with a passphrase is a good extra layer of security and also good for plausible deniability.

[348Judah]

Depending on the kind of wallet or exchange platform the cryptocurrency user is using, there are different repercussions to forgetting the wallet password.

It is very simple, if you're using an exchange and forgot your password, you could make a recovery of that through the email and mobile contact you have, they will make a verification on that and change your login password, but if you're using a cold storage, the password only restrict you from having access to the coins through the device, once you have the private keys, you may not worry too much.

To do so, you can use password managers, set up backup and recovery options like seed phrases or private key backups, and securely store passwords or passphrases in several safe locations.

This is a bad practice and i will not support or advise anyone to go into this kind for any reason, making use of a password manager is as the same with someone subscribing into a third party entity for the safety of his wallet security forgetting that such person can also be a threat to him, there are more advanced means to safe your wallet keys and passwords than this, use washers, print them on laminated sheet, make use of metalic sheets encryption, or write them where online you can have access to offline.

[Findingnemo]

It is better not to forget the password and especially the strong phrase of the wallet, otherwise you can forget about your money, in general, if you are in the crypto world, I believe that you need to keep cryptocurrency not only on wallets (if on wallets, then on different, on 3-5) plus not large portions on different exchanges.

Not really, passwords just encrypt the wallet file and incase if user forgot his password and he can't able to remember or brute force then the wallet recovery is still possible with Mnemonic phrase. All you need to create new wallet and import using the keys then all your funds will be accessible again so we should keep the phrases secured and passwords may not be that much priority.

If we are talking about exchanges we can simply use the forget password option and reset via the link sent to our email.

[bhadz]

If we are talking about exchanges we can simply use the forget password option and reset via the link sent to our email.

If it is with the exchanges and online wallets, they're easy. Just as you have said, we can just forget password. But it's not advisable to keep your funds in any of those and that's why we're using wallets that provides us with seed phrases or recovery phrases and once the password is forgotten for accessing the wallet, charles tim explained how we're going to recover that by importing it with a new password if the wallet allows to do so.

[Findingnemo]

If we are talking about exchanges we can simply use the forget password option and reset via the link sent to our email.

If it is with the exchanges and online wallets, they're easy. Just as you have said, we can just forget password. But it's not advisable to keep your funds in any of those and that's why we're using wallets that provides us with seed phrases or recovery phrases and once the password is forgotten for accessing the wallet, charles tim explained how we're going to recover that by importing it with a new password if the wallet allows to do so.

If it's a non custodial wallet it should give private keys or recover seeds.

And if it's exchange it's login via email and password but when talking about hot wallet it's more complicated and especially Blockchain.com wallet it provides seeds but we need ID to login and it's a buggy wallet that sometimes don't let us access our funds even when we have all the necessary information so we can forget if we missed on of the credentials to login.

[bhadz]

If we are talking about exchanges we can simply use the forget password option and reset via the link sent to our email.

If it is with the exchanges and online wallets, they're easy. Just as you have said, we can just forget password. But it's not advisable to keep your funds in any of those and that's why we're using wallets that provides us with seed phrases or recovery phrases and once the password is forgotten for accessing the wallet, charles tim explained how we're going to recover that by importing it with a new password if the wallet allows to do so.

If it's a non custodial wallet it should give private keys or recover seeds.

And if it's exchange it's login via email and password but when talking about hot wallet it's more complicated and especially Blockchain.com wallet it provides seeds but we need ID to login and it's a buggy wallet that sometimes don't let us access our funds even when we have all the necessary information so we can forget if we missed on of the credentials to login.

People should just avoid that web wallet. Yes, it is convenient and quite good for first timers but if it is about longevity, being buggy is not good at all. Just use the recommended wallets by most because that is how it goes for the most of us. No headache, no problem and easy access and at same time most of them are open source.

[bounceback]

If it's a non custodial wallet it should give private keys or recover seeds.

And if it's exchange it's login via email and password but when talking about hot wallet it's more complicated and especially Blockchain.com wallet it provides seeds but we need ID to login and it's a buggy wallet that sometimes don't let us access our funds even when we have all the necessary information so we can forget if we missed on of the credentials to login.

I don't think OP get little miss understanding about forget password using non custodial wallet, getting access trough seed phrase and impossible can forget password for recovery to log into wallet.
Difference when using exchange wallet market has possibility forgetting password but still linked with email account registering to exchange market. There are not problem with forgetting password or losing 2fa access with exchange wallet because has way to recovery and the exchange required re KYC document if want reset 2fa.

[Sim_card]

If it's a non custodial wallet it should give private keys or recover seeds.

And if it's exchange it's login via email and password but when talking about hot wallet it's more complicated and especially Blockchain.com wallet it provides seeds but we need ID to login and it's a buggy wallet that sometimes don't let us access our funds even when we have all the necessary information so we can forget if we missed on of the credentials to login.

I don't think OP get little miss understanding about forget password using non custodial wallet, getting access trough seed phrase and impossible can forget password for recovery to log into wallet.
Difference when using exchange wallet market has possibility forgetting password but still linked with email account registering to exchange market. There are not problem with forgetting password or losing 2fa access with exchange wallet because has way to recovery and the exchange required re KYC document if want reset 2fa.

I don't understand what you meant in those bolded words, but what I know is that you can use your seed phrase to get access to your wallet that you forgot the password. Like you mentioned above, if it is an exchange, that is probably simple because there are third parties who will help you by sending you an email in which you used in registering that account.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

         -     I'm the one who's experienced it several times that I've forgotten the password on a centralized platform, and usually when this happens to me it's the usual thing that the exchange does is they will disable my withdrawal or restrict my account with them within 24 hrs before it resume again.

For others, they do the same thing. And as for metamask, you really need not to forget the seed because if you lose it, there is no chance of recovering that account wallet for sure.

[Litzki1990]

The important thing is that we have to save the passphrase and seed of the wallet we created

That is if you added a passphrase, not everyone extends their seed phrase with a passphrase, and for such people, they are to make only backups of their seed phrase in more than one location. However, it is worth mentioning that extending your seed phrase with a passphrase is a good extra layer of security and also good for plausible deniability.

People can forget anything, people forget their bank passwords, people forget to take their important documents with them, people forget their wallet passwords, but it is not unusual. But there is definitely something to be careful about, if you forget the password of the bank, maybe you can go to the bank later after some trouble to get that password back, but if the password of a wallet is lost, then if it is not saved later, then it is impossible to fix the password. In case such mistakes do not happen, we can note down the password of the wallet and some personal information in a diary. Apart from keeping it in the electronic device, when he keeps notes in the diary, he will find the important information of his wallet when he searches, in this case, there is no chance of losing his wallet.

[Litzki1990]

The important thing is that we have to save the passphrase and seed of the wallet we created

That is if you added a passphrase, not everyone extends their seed phrase with a passphrase, and for such people, they are to make only backups of their seed phrase in more than one location. However, it is worth mentioning that extending your seed phrase with a passphrase is a good extra layer of security and also good for plausible deniability.

People can forget anything, people forget their bank passwords, people forget to take their important documents with them, people forget their wallet passwords, but it is not unusual. But there is definitely something to be careful about, if you forget the password of the bank, maybe you can go to the bank later after some trouble to get that password back, but if the password of a wallet is lost, then if it is not saved later, then it is impossible to fix the password. In case such mistakes do not happen, we can note down the password of the wallet and some personal information in a diary. Apart from keeping it in the electronic device, when he keeps notes in the diary, he will find the important information of his wallet when he searches, in this case, there is no chance of losing his wallet.