Cryptography
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In Brief
Cryptography is the mathematics of securing information, and the foundation of crypto: it generates key pairs, signs transactions, and links blocks with hashes so ownership can be proven and history can't be quietly rewritten.
What Is Cryptography?
Cryptography is the science of securing information with mathematics — encoding data so only the intended parties can read it, and proving who created a message without revealing any secrets. It's the reason cryptocurrency has "crypto" in its name: every wallet, transaction, and block depends on it.
Blockchains use cryptography not mainly to hide data — most chains are fully public — but to prove things: that a transaction was authorized by the owner, that a block hasn't been altered, and that history connects in an unbroken chain.
The Three Tools Blockchains Rely On
Public-key cryptography: every account is a key pair. The private key signs; the public key (and the address derived from it) verifies. You can prove ownership without ever exposing the secret.
Digital signatures: signing a transaction with a private key produces proof that the owner authorized exactly that transaction — change one character and the signature breaks.
Hash functions: one-way fingerprints of data. Each block includes the hash of the previous block, so tampering with any past record changes every hash after it and is instantly detectable.
Why It Matters to You
Your secret recovery phrase is cryptography in human-friendly form: it encodes the material your private keys are derived from. Whoever knows the phrase can recreate the keys — which is why it must never be typed into websites, shared with "support," or stored where others can read it.
Cryptography and Trust Wallet
Trust Wallet generates your keys on your device from a secret phrase only you hold — self-custody means the cryptographic power to move your funds never sits with a company. Optional Encrypted Cloud Backup protects the phrase itself with encryption you control.