Vitalik Buterin urged careful selection of custodians for a multi-signature wallet

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a post in which he analyzed the issue of choosing a key store in wallets with multisig transactions and for wallets with the ability to recover a key.

A multi-signature wallet is a wallet that, when sent transactions from which it must be approved by several other participants. They store parts of the key for signing transactions. Wallets are also being prepared with the ability to “restore the social key” - in this case, the owner of the wallet keeps the key with him, but if it is lost, the key can be restored with the help of several managers.

In essence, custodians are several other wallets or addresses that are controlled by other people and organizations. Buterin emphasized that the recruitment of managers should be decentralized. That is, it makes little sense to create several wallets on your own computers - one is quite acceptable, but nothing more.

“One of the most important rules for me is to have enough holders of parts of my key so that in the event of my disappearance they can restore access to my funds,” wrote Vitalik Buterin.

The co-founder of Ethereum also noted that it is desirable for the custodians not to know each other. And it is important to come up with a special way to verify that you are the one sending the transaction. For example, a secret phrase, by which the owner of a part of your key will understand that it is you who is sending the transaction, and not a hacker who has gained access to your computer.

A Reddit user wrote that 5 of his ex-boyfriends hold parts of his multisig wallet key.

Buterin noted that sometimes the speed of signing transactions is important, especially for people who often use decentralized protocols and exchanges. These people need custodians who can quickly respond and sign transactions. Even for hodlers, it is important to send transactions periodically to check on their custodians to ensure that the entire system is working and that the custodians have not forgotten or abandoned their accounts.

Vitalik Buterin's book More Money. What is Ethereum and how blockchain is changing the world. The book is devoted to the history of the development of the second blockchain in terms of capitalization.