FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHY DOES THE ZEED USE 12 BITS PER WORD, WHILE BIP39 USES 11 BITS?

BIP39 assigns the 2048 standardized words to indices 0 - 2047. On a technical level, this requires 11 bits of entropy (2¹¹ = 2048). If this system were transferred directly onto a dot grid, the first word (index 0) would theoretically have no active bits, meaning no visible marks. Since the human brain does not think in zero-based indexing, THE ZEED deliberately uses a 1-based representation (indices 1 - 2048) and reserves a 12-bit grid for physical engraving. The additional 12th bit is not used to expand the wordlist, but to ensure that every index produces a visually distinct, verifiable pattern without empty rows.

IS THE 1-BASED REPRESENTATION COMPATIBLE WITH ALL BIP39 WALLETS?

Compatibility remains fully intact, as the 1-based representation used by THE ZEED affects only the physical encoding, not the underlying BIP39 standard. During wallet recovery, the words engraved on THE ZEED are converted back into the standard 0-based indices using a hardware wallet or another offline verification method. What matters is that the user correctly decodes each dot pattern and maps it to the proper word index. When this translation is performed accurately, the resulting mnemonic is 100% compliant with the BIP39 specification and can be imported into any BIP39-compatible wallet.

IS THE ZEED COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER WALLET STANDARDS?

THE ZEED is designed exclusively for the physical, binary representation of BIP39 indices. Other standards such as SLIP-39, AEZEED, or Electrum use completely different encoding methods, checksum algorithms, or reconstruction mechanisms. These formats often include additional metadata, encryption layers, or multi-share logic that cannot be represented through a simple dotmap structure. Attempting to apply non-BIP39 data structures to the dotmap system would break the mathematical relationship between indices and words, resulting in an unreadable or unrecoverable backup.

CAN THE ZEED ALSO STORE THE OPTIONAL PASSPHRASE?

A steel wallet from THE ZEED stores only the actual BIP39 mnemonic, which forms the core of your seed. Technically, the passphrase is a freely chosen string of characters that is incorporated into the hashing process when the seed is derived from the mnemonic. It fundamentally changes the resulting seed and must never be one of the BIP39 words, which means it cannot be represented as a binary dot pattern. For secure and long lasting self-custody: Always store the passphrase physically separate from THE ZEED, ideally in a different location and on a different medium.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I ENGRAVE A WRONG DOT OR MISCOUNT AN INDEX?

Every single mark on THE ZEED is critical for recovery. An extra, missing, or misplaced dot changes the underlying binary sequence and therefore the numerical index of the word. Even a single incorrect mark can render the entire seed phrase unusable. If you notice a mistake during engraving, never attempt to correct or overstrike the error. Such corrections create ambiguities in the dot pattern and make accurate decoding difficult or impossible. When in doubt, it is always safer to start over with a new THE ZEED rather than risk a backup that may later become unreadable or unreliable.

WHAT MATERIAL IS THE ZEED MADE OF, AND HOW DURABLE IS IT?

THE ZEED is made from high-grade 316L stainless steel, a chromium-nickel-molybdenum alloy used in industries like aerospace that demand the highest levels of reliability and durability. It has a official melting point of approximately 1,370 - 1,400 °C, is highly resistant to corrosion even during long-term storage, and offers exceptional mechanical strength against pressure, impact, and deformation. With the size of a 2 € coin, these material properties make THE ZEED a permanent carrier of cryptographic information that is physically nearly indestructible and virtually undetectable.