How Fuse Solves Wallet Recovery
Key takeaways
Seed phrases create a single point of failure for your onchain assets
Smart accounts eliminate the need for seed phrases
Fuse introduces a novel recovery mechanism using Recovery Keys
The Self Custody Dilemma
Self-custody is a core tenet of crypto that provides unparalleled control over your assets. Unlike traditional finance, you don’t have to trust a third party to keep your assets safe. However, this increased control also introduces new risks. For instance, there’s no helpline to recover your password, unlock your account or report suspicious activity.
Traditional wallets attempt to solve wallet access and recovery with seed phrases. Seed phrases are 12-24 words that allow you to restore your crypto wallet with all your accounts and assets. You can write the phrase down, save it to iCloud or even (though it's not recommended) save it to Apple Photos or copy-paste it into a Google Doc. This seed phrase is only needed if you lose access to your private key, which traditional wallets use to authorize transactions. You can lose your private key by losing your phone, forgetting your wallet’s password, or deleting your wallet’s app or browser extension.
One benefit of seed phrases is that they make your crypto wallet portable. Import a seed phrase from Phantom into Backpack, and all your assets are there. Whoever controls the seed phrase controls the assets. This reliance on a seed phrase presents two critical security issues:
Losing your seed phrase means you can't recover your wallet.
Anyone who has your seed phrase or private key can steal your assets.
How Smart Wallets Solve Wallet Recovery
Smart wallets replace seed phrases and single private keys with multifactor authentication, key rotation, and recovery keys. That’s why we built Fuse, Solana’s first smart wallet designed to be the most secure wallet for your onchain assets.
Last week, we explained how each Fuse wallet deploys a programmable smart account (built on Squads Protocol) controlled by a multisig with a three-key system: a Device Key, a 2FA Key and Recovery Keys. Every Fuse transaction is protected by multifactor authentication and requires approval from two of these keys.
Recovery Keys ensure you always have access to your Fuse wallet. You can add up to three Recovery Keys using traditional wallets like Phantom and Backpack, cold wallets like Ledger, or email. Fuse uses Turnkey authentication for email recovery, combining an ephemeral private key generated on your iPhone with a code sent to your email address, making even the email setup fully non-custodial. Unlike seed phrases, Recovery Keys are not a “master password” that provides full access to your wallet. Fuse requires one Recovery Key and your Device or 2FA Key to recover/import your wallet. Here’s how it works:
Your Device Key and 2FA Key have full rights to your Fuse wallet—meaning they can create, approve, and execute transactions within the multisig configuration. Recovery Keys have limited rights. They can only approve transactions, not create them. If you lose access to a Device or 2FA Key, your Fuse wallet will prompt you to replace and create a new key. To do this, you can create a recovery transaction with your remaining Device or 2FA Key and approve that transaction with a Recovery Key to reach the two-key threshold. This recovery process is enforced onchain and completed through the Fuse app.
Recovery Keys provide a convenient way to recover your Fuse wallet while removing the single point of failure associated with seed phrases.
Fuse Recovery Scenarios
Here’s how Fuse recovery scenarios look in practice:
Device Key recovery:
The Device Key is device-specific. If your iPhone is lost or compromised, you can download Fuse on a new iPhone and set up a new Device Key by pairing your 2FA Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new Device Key on your new iPhone, the Fuse app on the lost iPhone will reset, and the old Device Key will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Steal your iPhone; and
Hack your iPhone’s Face ID to gain access to your Device Key; and
Access your 2FA Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new Device Key
2FA Key recovery:
If you lose access to your 2FA Key, or it gets compromised, you can generate a new one by pairing your Device Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new 2FA Key, the old one will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Hack into your iCloud or access your external 2FA Key; and
Access your Device Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new 2FA Key
You can enhance your security by upgrading your 2FA Key from iCloud to an external key like Ledger. Learn more here.
Recovery Key recovery:
You can add or remove Recovery Keys from your Fuse wallet at any time. Malicious actors cannot access your assets with just your Recovery Key(s); they would also need access to your Device Key or 2FA Key. Learn more here.
About Fuse
Fuse is a smart wallet that introduces advanced security features like two-factor authentication, recovery, spending limits, and key rotation. You can swap assets and stake within Fuse, and we will soon have native DeFi integrations so you can interact with your favorite apps from the security of Solana’s most secure wallet. Get started with Fuse today and experience the new programmable paradigm—powered by smart wallets.
About Squads
Squads is an enterprise platform that enables businesses to run their operations onchain. With Squads, businesses can deploy a smart account, configure it to satisfy their security and organizational requirements, and then use it to manage a wide range of onchain assets such as treasury, program upgrade authorities, admin keys, tokens, and validators. With Squads, our goal is to bring a traditional SaaS-like product experience to onchain asset management in a way that feels familiar and intuitive to both traditional and crypto-native businesses.
Key takeaways
Seed phrases create a single point of failure for your onchain assets
Smart accounts eliminate the need for seed phrases
Fuse introduces a novel recovery mechanism using Recovery Keys
The Self Custody Dilemma
Self-custody is a core tenet of crypto that provides unparalleled control over your assets. Unlike traditional finance, you don’t have to trust a third party to keep your assets safe. However, this increased control also introduces new risks. For instance, there’s no helpline to recover your password, unlock your account or report suspicious activity.
Traditional wallets attempt to solve wallet access and recovery with seed phrases. Seed phrases are 12-24 words that allow you to restore your crypto wallet with all your accounts and assets. You can write the phrase down, save it to iCloud or even (though it's not recommended) save it to Apple Photos or copy-paste it into a Google Doc. This seed phrase is only needed if you lose access to your private key, which traditional wallets use to authorize transactions. You can lose your private key by losing your phone, forgetting your wallet’s password, or deleting your wallet’s app or browser extension.
One benefit of seed phrases is that they make your crypto wallet portable. Import a seed phrase from Phantom into Backpack, and all your assets are there. Whoever controls the seed phrase controls the assets. This reliance on a seed phrase presents two critical security issues:
Losing your seed phrase means you can't recover your wallet.
Anyone who has your seed phrase or private key can steal your assets.
How Smart Wallets Solve Wallet Recovery
Smart wallets replace seed phrases and single private keys with multifactor authentication, key rotation, and recovery keys. That’s why we built Fuse, Solana’s first smart wallet designed to be the most secure wallet for your onchain assets.
Last week, we explained how each Fuse wallet deploys a programmable smart account (built on Squads Protocol) controlled by a multisig with a three-key system: a Device Key, a 2FA Key and Recovery Keys. Every Fuse transaction is protected by multifactor authentication and requires approval from two of these keys.
Recovery Keys ensure you always have access to your Fuse wallet. You can add up to three Recovery Keys using traditional wallets like Phantom and Backpack, cold wallets like Ledger, or email. Fuse uses Turnkey authentication for email recovery, combining an ephemeral private key generated on your iPhone with a code sent to your email address, making even the email setup fully non-custodial. Unlike seed phrases, Recovery Keys are not a “master password” that provides full access to your wallet. Fuse requires one Recovery Key and your Device or 2FA Key to recover/import your wallet. Here’s how it works:
Your Device Key and 2FA Key have full rights to your Fuse wallet—meaning they can create, approve, and execute transactions within the multisig configuration. Recovery Keys have limited rights. They can only approve transactions, not create them. If you lose access to a Device or 2FA Key, your Fuse wallet will prompt you to replace and create a new key. To do this, you can create a recovery transaction with your remaining Device or 2FA Key and approve that transaction with a Recovery Key to reach the two-key threshold. This recovery process is enforced onchain and completed through the Fuse app.
Recovery Keys provide a convenient way to recover your Fuse wallet while removing the single point of failure associated with seed phrases.
Fuse Recovery Scenarios
Here’s how Fuse recovery scenarios look in practice:
Device Key recovery:
The Device Key is device-specific. If your iPhone is lost or compromised, you can download Fuse on a new iPhone and set up a new Device Key by pairing your 2FA Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new Device Key on your new iPhone, the Fuse app on the lost iPhone will reset, and the old Device Key will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Steal your iPhone; and
Hack your iPhone’s Face ID to gain access to your Device Key; and
Access your 2FA Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new Device Key
2FA Key recovery:
If you lose access to your 2FA Key, or it gets compromised, you can generate a new one by pairing your Device Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new 2FA Key, the old one will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Hack into your iCloud or access your external 2FA Key; and
Access your Device Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new 2FA Key
You can enhance your security by upgrading your 2FA Key from iCloud to an external key like Ledger. Learn more here.
Recovery Key recovery:
You can add or remove Recovery Keys from your Fuse wallet at any time. Malicious actors cannot access your assets with just your Recovery Key(s); they would also need access to your Device Key or 2FA Key. Learn more here.
About Fuse
Fuse is a smart wallet that introduces advanced security features like two-factor authentication, recovery, spending limits, and key rotation. You can swap assets and stake within Fuse, and we will soon have native DeFi integrations so you can interact with your favorite apps from the security of Solana’s most secure wallet. Get started with Fuse today and experience the new programmable paradigm—powered by smart wallets.
About Squads
Squads is an enterprise platform that enables businesses to run their operations onchain. With Squads, businesses can deploy a smart account, configure it to satisfy their security and organizational requirements, and then use it to manage a wide range of onchain assets such as treasury, program upgrade authorities, admin keys, tokens, and validators. With Squads, our goal is to bring a traditional SaaS-like product experience to onchain asset management in a way that feels familiar and intuitive to both traditional and crypto-native businesses.
Key takeaways
Seed phrases create a single point of failure for your onchain assets
Smart accounts eliminate the need for seed phrases
Fuse introduces a novel recovery mechanism using Recovery Keys
The Self Custody Dilemma
Self-custody is a core tenet of crypto that provides unparalleled control over your assets. Unlike traditional finance, you don’t have to trust a third party to keep your assets safe. However, this increased control also introduces new risks. For instance, there’s no helpline to recover your password, unlock your account or report suspicious activity.
Traditional wallets attempt to solve wallet access and recovery with seed phrases. Seed phrases are 12-24 words that allow you to restore your crypto wallet with all your accounts and assets. You can write the phrase down, save it to iCloud or even (though it's not recommended) save it to Apple Photos or copy-paste it into a Google Doc. This seed phrase is only needed if you lose access to your private key, which traditional wallets use to authorize transactions. You can lose your private key by losing your phone, forgetting your wallet’s password, or deleting your wallet’s app or browser extension.
One benefit of seed phrases is that they make your crypto wallet portable. Import a seed phrase from Phantom into Backpack, and all your assets are there. Whoever controls the seed phrase controls the assets. This reliance on a seed phrase presents two critical security issues:
Losing your seed phrase means you can't recover your wallet.
Anyone who has your seed phrase or private key can steal your assets.
How Smart Wallets Solve Wallet Recovery
Smart wallets replace seed phrases and single private keys with multifactor authentication, key rotation, and recovery keys. That’s why we built Fuse, Solana’s first smart wallet designed to be the most secure wallet for your onchain assets.
Last week, we explained how each Fuse wallet deploys a programmable smart account (built on Squads Protocol) controlled by a multisig with a three-key system: a Device Key, a 2FA Key and Recovery Keys. Every Fuse transaction is protected by multifactor authentication and requires approval from two of these keys.
Recovery Keys ensure you always have access to your Fuse wallet. You can add up to three Recovery Keys using traditional wallets like Phantom and Backpack, cold wallets like Ledger, or email. Fuse uses Turnkey authentication for email recovery, combining an ephemeral private key generated on your iPhone with a code sent to your email address, making even the email setup fully non-custodial. Unlike seed phrases, Recovery Keys are not a “master password” that provides full access to your wallet. Fuse requires one Recovery Key and your Device or 2FA Key to recover/import your wallet. Here’s how it works:
Your Device Key and 2FA Key have full rights to your Fuse wallet—meaning they can create, approve, and execute transactions within the multisig configuration. Recovery Keys have limited rights. They can only approve transactions, not create them. If you lose access to a Device or 2FA Key, your Fuse wallet will prompt you to replace and create a new key. To do this, you can create a recovery transaction with your remaining Device or 2FA Key and approve that transaction with a Recovery Key to reach the two-key threshold. This recovery process is enforced onchain and completed through the Fuse app.
Recovery Keys provide a convenient way to recover your Fuse wallet while removing the single point of failure associated with seed phrases.
Fuse Recovery Scenarios
Here’s how Fuse recovery scenarios look in practice:
Device Key recovery:
The Device Key is device-specific. If your iPhone is lost or compromised, you can download Fuse on a new iPhone and set up a new Device Key by pairing your 2FA Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new Device Key on your new iPhone, the Fuse app on the lost iPhone will reset, and the old Device Key will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Steal your iPhone; and
Hack your iPhone’s Face ID to gain access to your Device Key; and
Access your 2FA Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new Device Key
2FA Key recovery:
If you lose access to your 2FA Key, or it gets compromised, you can generate a new one by pairing your Device Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new 2FA Key, the old one will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Hack into your iCloud or access your external 2FA Key; and
Access your Device Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new 2FA Key
You can enhance your security by upgrading your 2FA Key from iCloud to an external key like Ledger. Learn more here.
Recovery Key recovery:
You can add or remove Recovery Keys from your Fuse wallet at any time. Malicious actors cannot access your assets with just your Recovery Key(s); they would also need access to your Device Key or 2FA Key. Learn more here.
About Fuse
Fuse is a smart wallet that introduces advanced security features like two-factor authentication, recovery, spending limits, and key rotation. You can swap assets and stake within Fuse, and we will soon have native DeFi integrations so you can interact with your favorite apps from the security of Solana’s most secure wallet. Get started with Fuse today and experience the new programmable paradigm—powered by smart wallets.
About Squads
Squads is an enterprise platform that enables businesses to run their operations onchain. With Squads, businesses can deploy a smart account, configure it to satisfy their security and organizational requirements, and then use it to manage a wide range of onchain assets such as treasury, program upgrade authorities, admin keys, tokens, and validators. With Squads, our goal is to bring a traditional SaaS-like product experience to onchain asset management in a way that feels familiar and intuitive to both traditional and crypto-native businesses.
Key takeaways
Seed phrases create a single point of failure for your onchain assets
Smart accounts eliminate the need for seed phrases
Fuse introduces a novel recovery mechanism using Recovery Keys
The Self Custody Dilemma
Self-custody is a core tenet of crypto that provides unparalleled control over your assets. Unlike traditional finance, you don’t have to trust a third party to keep your assets safe. However, this increased control also introduces new risks. For instance, there’s no helpline to recover your password, unlock your account or report suspicious activity.
Traditional wallets attempt to solve wallet access and recovery with seed phrases. Seed phrases are 12-24 words that allow you to restore your crypto wallet with all your accounts and assets. You can write the phrase down, save it to iCloud or even (though it's not recommended) save it to Apple Photos or copy-paste it into a Google Doc. This seed phrase is only needed if you lose access to your private key, which traditional wallets use to authorize transactions. You can lose your private key by losing your phone, forgetting your wallet’s password, or deleting your wallet’s app or browser extension.
One benefit of seed phrases is that they make your crypto wallet portable. Import a seed phrase from Phantom into Backpack, and all your assets are there. Whoever controls the seed phrase controls the assets. This reliance on a seed phrase presents two critical security issues:
Losing your seed phrase means you can't recover your wallet.
Anyone who has your seed phrase or private key can steal your assets.
How Smart Wallets Solve Wallet Recovery
Smart wallets replace seed phrases and single private keys with multifactor authentication, key rotation, and recovery keys. That’s why we built Fuse, Solana’s first smart wallet designed to be the most secure wallet for your onchain assets.
Last week, we explained how each Fuse wallet deploys a programmable smart account (built on Squads Protocol) controlled by a multisig with a three-key system: a Device Key, a 2FA Key and Recovery Keys. Every Fuse transaction is protected by multifactor authentication and requires approval from two of these keys.
Recovery Keys ensure you always have access to your Fuse wallet. You can add up to three Recovery Keys using traditional wallets like Phantom and Backpack, cold wallets like Ledger, or email. Fuse uses Turnkey authentication for email recovery, combining an ephemeral private key generated on your iPhone with a code sent to your email address, making even the email setup fully non-custodial. Unlike seed phrases, Recovery Keys are not a “master password” that provides full access to your wallet. Fuse requires one Recovery Key and your Device or 2FA Key to recover/import your wallet. Here’s how it works:
Your Device Key and 2FA Key have full rights to your Fuse wallet—meaning they can create, approve, and execute transactions within the multisig configuration. Recovery Keys have limited rights. They can only approve transactions, not create them. If you lose access to a Device or 2FA Key, your Fuse wallet will prompt you to replace and create a new key. To do this, you can create a recovery transaction with your remaining Device or 2FA Key and approve that transaction with a Recovery Key to reach the two-key threshold. This recovery process is enforced onchain and completed through the Fuse app.
Recovery Keys provide a convenient way to recover your Fuse wallet while removing the single point of failure associated with seed phrases.
Fuse Recovery Scenarios
Here’s how Fuse recovery scenarios look in practice:
Device Key recovery:
The Device Key is device-specific. If your iPhone is lost or compromised, you can download Fuse on a new iPhone and set up a new Device Key by pairing your 2FA Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new Device Key on your new iPhone, the Fuse app on the lost iPhone will reset, and the old Device Key will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Steal your iPhone; and
Hack your iPhone’s Face ID to gain access to your Device Key; and
Access your 2FA Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new Device Key
2FA Key recovery:
If you lose access to your 2FA Key, or it gets compromised, you can generate a new one by pairing your Device Key with one of your Recovery Keys. Once you create a new 2FA Key, the old one will be removed from Fuse.
For your assets to be at risk, a malicious actor would need to:
Hack into your iCloud or access your external 2FA Key; and
Access your Device Key or a Recovery Key; and
Move your assets before you create a new 2FA Key
You can enhance your security by upgrading your 2FA Key from iCloud to an external key like Ledger. Learn more here.
Recovery Key recovery:
You can add or remove Recovery Keys from your Fuse wallet at any time. Malicious actors cannot access your assets with just your Recovery Key(s); they would also need access to your Device Key or 2FA Key. Learn more here.
About Fuse
Fuse is a smart wallet that introduces advanced security features like two-factor authentication, recovery, spending limits, and key rotation. You can swap assets and stake within Fuse, and we will soon have native DeFi integrations so you can interact with your favorite apps from the security of Solana’s most secure wallet. Get started with Fuse today and experience the new programmable paradigm—powered by smart wallets.
About Squads
Squads is an enterprise platform that enables businesses to run their operations onchain. With Squads, businesses can deploy a smart account, configure it to satisfy their security and organizational requirements, and then use it to manage a wide range of onchain assets such as treasury, program upgrade authorities, admin keys, tokens, and validators. With Squads, our goal is to bring a traditional SaaS-like product experience to onchain asset management in a way that feels familiar and intuitive to both traditional and crypto-native businesses.
