General information, not financial advice. Test any setup with a small amount first. Status 23 October 2026.
With multisig, spending needs several keys, for example 2 of 3. Lose one key and you can still spend; steal one key and the thief cannot.
A typical 2-of-3
- Three hardware wallets, ideally from different manufacturers, each with its own seed phrase.
- Coordination software on a computer creates the multisig wallet from the three public keys (xpubs).
- Spending: the software builds a psbt, two devices sign, and the software broadcasts.
The backup people forget
To spend from multisig you need two seeds and the wallet configuration: all three xpubs, their key paths and the script type. This is usually exported as an output descriptor. Without it, finding the coins from two seeds alone can be very hard. Store a copy of the descriptor with each key. It reveals your balance, but cannot spend.
Geography
Keep the three keys in different places. Two in the same drawer is in practice 1-of-1 for a burglar.
Test before you trust
- Send a small amount and spend it again with each pair of keys.
- Practise restoring the wallet on a different computer from descriptor + two seeds.
Trade-off
Multisig removes single points of failure but adds steps. Write simple instructions; complexity is a risk of its own.