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Every Fuego wallet is controlled by two cryptographic keys: a spend key and a view key. Together, these keys define your wallet and allow you to send funds and monitor incoming transactions. Backing them up correctly means you can restore full access to your XFG on any device, even if you lose your wallet file.

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Understanding your keys

  • Spend key: The secret key that authorizes outgoing transactions. Anyone who holds your spend key can spend your funds.
  • View key: A separate secret key that allows reading incoming transactions without the ability to spend. You can share your view key with a trusted third party (such as an accountant or auditor) to give them read-only visibility into your wallet without granting spending access.
Never share your spend key with anyone. Unlike the view key, it grants full control over your funds. Treat it with the same care as a private key or seed phrase for any other cryptocurrency wallet.
Your view key can be safely shared with a trusted third party for audit or monitoring purposes. They will be able to see incoming transactions but cannot move your funds.

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Export your keys

Inside fire_wallet, run: 
export_keys
This displays both your spend secret key and your view secret key as hex strings. Copy these to a secure, offline location such as a printed paper backup or encrypted storage.

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Mnemonic seed

Your spend key can also be represented as a 25-word mnemonic phrase, sometimes called a seed phrase. This is the most human-readable form of your wallet backup and can be used to fully restore your wallet. When you create a new wallet, fire_wallet generates this phrase from your spend key automatically. When restoring, fire_wallet prompts you to enter the phrase and validates it before importing. Store your mnemonic phrase in the same secure locations as your raw keys. Either form alone is sufficient to restore your wallet.

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Restore a wallet from keys

To import a wallet using your spend key and view key, use the --import-new flag with a new wallet filename: 
./fire_wallet --import-new wallet.keys
fire_wallet will prompt you to enter your spend secret key and view secret key. After entering them, set a new password for the restored wallet file. The wallet will then rescan the blockchain and rebuild your transaction history. Wallet files use the .keys extension by default.