KEY / SEEDSOURCE-LED COMPARISONS
Private key vs seed phrase: what actually controls bitcoin?
Understand the difference between a signing secret and a human-readable backup that can recreate many keys.
A private key authorises spending for a corresponding script or address. A seed phrase is usually a backup representation of entropy from which a hierarchical wallet derives many private keys.
Usually controls one key path or spending condition.
Can recreate an entire deterministic wallet with many keys and addresses.
A large secret number, commonly encoded by wallet software.
A sequence of words, commonly following BIP39.
Used to produce digital signatures.
Used to restore the wallet and derive keys; it should rarely be entered.
A leak threatens funds controlled by that key.
A leak may expose every account derived from the seed.
The words are not the bitcoin and they are not an account password. They are a high-value recovery secret; anyone who obtains them can often reconstruct the wallet.