Wallets
A Wallet is the primary operational unit in The Vault. Each wallet has its own set of blockchain addresses, its own policy configuration, and its own transaction history. Wallets are shared resources within a profile — multiple users with appropriate roles can view and operate the same wallet.
Wallet Structure
When you create a wallet, The Vault derives child keys from the existing MPC master key using HD derivation (BIP-32/BIP-44). This produces:
- A child public key derived from the master key
- One deposit address per enabled network
No DKG ceremony is needed — wallet creation is instantaneous. All wallets share the same underlying key material (the master key created during the initial DKG ceremony). A withdrawal signed from the Ethereum address uses the same configurable k-of-n signing scheme (default 3-of-4) as one from the Bitcoin address.
Wallet States
| State | Description |
|---|---|
ACTIVE | Wallet is operational; deposits and withdrawals are enabled |
INACTIVE | Wallet is disabled; no outgoing transactions |
Wallet Naming and Organisation
Wallets can be given descriptive names and labels for organisational purposes. Common patterns:
- By purpose:
Treasury - Operating,Treasury - Reserve,Customer Withdrawals - By entity:
Entity A - ETH,Entity B - BTC - By environment:
Production - Main,Staging - Test
Labels are free-form strings attached to the wallet and can be used to filter wallet lists via the API.
Balance Aggregation
The wallet balance view in the dashboard aggregates balances across all enabled networks for a given wallet. ERC-20 and TRC-20 token balances are shown alongside native asset balances. For Bitcoin, the UTXO set is summarised into a single spendable balance figure.
Balances are updated as new blocks are confirmed; the indexer polls chain nodes at configurable intervals. Balances are also readable programmatically — see the Wallets API reference.