# Key management To become a validator you'll need to know about managing keys and protecting a mnemonic. If you are not yet familiar with keys and mnemonics, please do not proceed. We'll help you create a signing key for every validator you want to run. You may choose to provide a withdrawal address for your validator when generating your deposit data, which will permanently set the withdrawal address. This is recommended for most users. If you do not provide a withdrawal address with your initial deposit data, you will need to derive your withdrawal keys from your mnemonic at a later time, so **store your mnemonic safely**—it will be the ONLY way to withdraw your ETH when you choose to activate withdrawals. * [x] I understand that keys are my responsibility and that my mnemonic (seed) will be the **ONLY WAY** to withdraw my funds if I don't provide a withdrawal address with initial deposit data. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.jibchain.net/advisories/key-management.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.