Mnemonic
Technical term for the word sequence that encodes a wallet's private key. Synonym for seed phrase, more common in documentation and wallet codebases and in the BIP-39 and SLIP-0039 standards.
Aliases: mnemonic phrase, recovery code
Mnemonic is the general term for a human-readable word sequence representing a cryptographic key. The dominant standard is BIP-39, used by TON, Bitcoin, Ethereum and most modern wallets; the alternative is SLIP-0039 (Shamir Secret Sharing), which splits a mnemonic into N shares.
Mnemonic vs seed phrase
Casually the two terms are used interchangeably, but strictly:
- Mnemonic is the word sequence itself (the input to PBKDF2).
- Seed is the binary string produced after running the mnemonic through PBKDF2 with an optional passphrase. The seed is what keys are actually derived from.
In TON wallets “seed phrase” almost always means a 24-word BIP-39 mnemonic — it is just the more user-friendly label.
Length and entropy
- 12 words — 128 bits of entropy. The Bitcoin / Ethereum default.
- 24 words — 256 bits. The TON standard for modern wallets (v3, v4, v5).
- 18 words — less common, 192 bits.
Brute-forcing a 24-word mnemonic is computationally infeasible: roughly 2²⁵⁶ candidates, more than the number of atoms in the observable universe.
Cross-wallet compatibility
The same 24-word mnemonic can be imported into Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet, Tonhub, or the Wallet inside Telegram (non-custodial mode). All of them derive identical addresses because they share the same derivation path. Users can migrate between wallets by re-entering the phrase, no on-chain transfer needed.
The exception is wallets with non-standard derivation. Some early regional wallets used custom wordlists or paths, and their mnemonics will not open in Tonkeeper.
The threat model for a mnemonic is the same as for a seed phrase: a photo synced to cloud storage, a note in Telegram Saved Messages, or input on a phishing page is a total compromise.