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Guides / Multisig and why custody is the question that matters
Guide · 5 min read

Multisig and why custody is the question that matters

Who can move the money, and how many people have to agree? That is custody.

Updated Jun 1, 2026

The single-key problem

If one private key controls a project's treasury or its upgrade rights, then one person, one phished laptop, one leaked seed phrase, is all it takes to lose everything. Single-key custody has drained more value in crypto than clever exploits have. It is the boring risk that keeps winning.

How a multisig fixes it

A multisig wallet requires several keys to approve a transaction, say three of five signers. Now no single person can move funds alone, and losing one key does not lose the treasury. The configuration matters. A two of three held by the same three founders is better than one key, but it is not real distribution of power.

What to look for

Find out what controls the treasury and the contract upgrade rights. Is it a multisig? What is the threshold? Are the signers independent, or all insiders? For larger protocols, look for a timelock, a delay between a decision and its execution, so users can react before a malicious change lands.

Questions

What does three of five multisig mean?
There are five authorized keys, and any transaction needs at least three of them to approve it. No single signer can act alone.
Is a multisig always safe?
It is safer than a single key, but not a guarantee. If all signers are the same insiders, control is still concentrated.