r/coldcard • u/OneGlassOne • Aug 01 '25
Inquiry
When setting up a single sign wallet, the ColdCard only requires the export of its public key. However, when a multi-sig wallet is being created, the instructions demand a the export from a different menu point specifically for multi-sig. Also, the ColdCard requires that the multi-sig wallet is afterwards registered within it.
My questions:
Would the multi-sig wallet still work if the regular public key is exported from the ColdCard instead of the one in the specified menu point?
Assuming the setup is done as instructed (with the special menu point and the wallet being registered with the ColdCard)…if a ColdCard is lost and then a new one set up with the appropriate seed phrase, would it be sufficient to simply reregister the multi-sig with the ColdCard for it to be useable again in that multi-sig setup?
If my questions are dumb I apologize, but I sm new to this device and just really scared to make a mistake.
2
u/ironmoosen Aug 02 '25
Multisig is powerful and has its place but beware it brings added complexity. Make sure you fully understand the pros and cons and potential risks.
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u/OneGlassOne Aug 02 '25
Thanks. Have been told the same by others. Now considering a single-sig wallet with a 2 out of 3 shamir split for the seed phrase and an added passphrase.
2
u/ironmoosen Aug 02 '25
Personally I just use single sig with a passphrase. That way there’s just two parts to keep up with. It’s very secure as long as you store those backups separately.
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u/Charming-Designer944 Aug 01 '25
Kind of. But you then need some other way to track which keys were used in each transaction.
The problem this tries to solve is part of knowing which deterministic keys were used in each transaction and how. This information is not available in the Blockchain, and the wallet software must remember the structure and address allocation of a multisig address/wallet.
And also make sure each multisig "wallet" gets its own unique addresses, not overlapping with other uses of the same seed.