Impact of Losing Seeds in Multisig Configurations

7 replies 290 views
Posts: 3 · Reputation: 39
#1Dec 26, 2017, 04:46 PM
What happens to my m/n Multisig setup if I lose one of the n seeds? Like, if I have a 2/10 Multisig and destroy one of the seeds, do I end up with something like a 2/9? Just need to know if n-x > m and I have all the xpubs and derivation info.
5 Reply Quote Share
0x4lphaFull Member
Posts: 519 · Reputation: 509
#2Dec 28, 2017, 10:12 PM
Nah, it doesn’t turn into 2-of-9. You need all 10 seeds for wallet recovery, even if you’ve lost one. The 2 keys you can use to sign are still part of the original setup, but losing one seed doesn't change those requirements.
3 Reply Quote Share
orbit1337Senior Member
Posts: 434 · Reputation: 941
#3Dec 29, 2017, 02:01 AM
I think the 2-of-10 setup would give you a larger transaction size than 2-of-9. Just having one less seed doesn't change the original multsig structure.
4 Reply Quote Share
Posts: 3 · Reputation: 39
#4Dec 29, 2017, 06:04 AM
Good point, thanks for clarifying.
5 Reply Quote Share
lonealphaNewbie
Posts: 287 · Reputation: 5
#5Dec 29, 2017, 11:52 AM
As long as you still have metadata, losing one seed shouldn’t completely wreck your wallet recovery. But it does reduce the security a bit. So, with a 2-of-10, losing one seed means the security risk for the other cosigners is pretty minor.
1 Reply Quote Share
Posts: 3 · Reputation: 39
#6Dec 29, 2017, 05:02 PM
Can you explain how losing a seed affects security, though? If you still have enough for the quorum, where's the risk?
3 Reply Quote Share
CalmMinerFull Member
Posts: 554 · Reputation: 784
#7Dec 29, 2017, 07:46 PM
If you have the xpub for those co-signers, you can recover others without needing the lost seed. Just create another multisig wallet to move the funds because that lost seed could make your wallet less secure. If someone gets one co-signer's details, they might only need one more to compromise it.
3 Reply Quote Share
0xChadNewbie
Posts: 513 · Reputation: 3
#8Dec 31, 2017, 05:10 AM
Technically, each address in your 2-of-10 Multisig is a unique script with all 10 public keys included. If you lose one key’s seed, the wallet still needs that public key to open up the script. Losing it changes the script completely, which means you can't treat it as a 2-of-9 setup.
3 Reply Quote Share

Related topics