At 3 a.m., my phone suddenly exploded.

It was an old friend, Lao Yang, with a crying tone in his voice: "3 million, gone. My wife just followed my instructions—paste, confirm, 30 seconds. The account was wiped out instantly."

At first, I thought it was a market crash causing liquidation, but after asking more questions, I realized—it wasn’t about the market at all.

Lao Yang was worried that he wouldn’t be able to access emergency funds at home before his business trip, so he took a screenshot of his 12-word mnemonic phrase and saved it in the family album; he also recorded a "foolproof tutorial" video, thinking it might help in an emergency. The old phone he used hadn’t been updated in three years, and he connected to the neighborhood WiFi every day, installing three shady "free airdrop" plugins.

That day, his wife followed the video step-by-step, clicking through without verifying any information. Suddenly, five lightning-fast transfers appeared on the blockchain. By the time she realized what happened, the balance was already zero.

Reporting to the police? The response was even more hopeless: "Since it was voluntary operation and digital assets are of a special nature, no case can be filed." The hacker’s server automatically cleared logs within 72 hours, leaving no trace for tracking.

Don’t rush to blame "family members who don’t know how to operate." The real danger lies in a few deeply ingrained misconceptions in your mind.

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**Misconception 1: The mnemonic phrase is just a password, so store it wherever convenient**

Big mistake.

The mnemonic phrase is not a password—it’s proof of ownership of your assets, the only key to open your wallet. More critical than your house deed. According to a security agency report in 2023, 83% of asset losses stem from mnemonic phrase leaks. Storing it in WeChat cache, cloud albums, or shared documents? That’s basically hanging the key at your door.

Think storing in the cloud is safe? Haven’t you heard enough news about cloud server breaches? Think screenshots are convenient? If your phone gets infected with malware, all your images can be scanned and stolen. Not to mention operations like "family shared albums" or "forwarded chat records"—that’s practically handing your assets over to others.

Once your mnemonic phrase is leaked, it’s like handing over your bank card, password, and ID all at once. No customer service can help you recover it, and there’s no "forgot password" button to reset. Once lost, it’s gone forever.

The correct approach? Physical isolation. Write it down on paper, engrave it on steel, store it in a hardware wallet, and lock it in a safe. Sounds old-fashioned? Maybe. But it’s the most reliable method currently. The security logic of digital assets is completely different from traditional finance—don’t manage your wallet like a bank card.

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(More warnings to come, but Lao Yang’s 3 million is already unrecoverable.)