Vultisig Security and TSS

How Vultisig security works. Threshold Signature Schemes (TSS), DKLS23 protocol, keysigning process, and cryptographic foundations explained.

Vultisig uses threshold signatures (TSS), a form of multi-party computation (MPC). There is no complete private key in normal operation.

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Core Concepts

No Private Key Ever Exists

Unlike traditional wallets, Vultisig never constructs a complete private key. Instead, cryptographic operations are performed across distributed vault shares using zero-knowledge proofs. Even during signing, the key remains split—only the signature is assembled.

Threshold Security

Vultisig uses a t-of-n threshold model. For a 2-of-3 vault, any 2 devices can sign, but no single device can act alone. This provides both security (no single point of compromise) and redundancy (one device can be lost).

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TSS Protocols

Vultisig supports two TSS protocols:

Protocol	Status	Signing Rounds	Speed
GG20	Legacy	6 rounds	Baseline
DKLS23	Current	3 rounds	5-10x faster

New vaults use DKLS23 by default. Existing GG20 vaults can be upgraded.

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Key Operations

Operation	Description	Guide
Key Generation	Creating vault shares across devices	TSS Actions
Key Signing	Threshold devices signing transactions	Keysign
Re-sharing	Adding/removing devices from a vault	TSS Actions

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Security Comparisons

• Vultisig vs multisig

• Vultisig vs passkeys

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Emergency Procedures

In the unlikely event that Vultisig software becomes unavailable, vault shares can be recombined to extract a traditional private key:

• Emergency Recovery — Last-resort key extraction

Emergency recovery permanently converts a TSS vault to a single-signature wallet. Only use if Vultisig software is completely unavailable.

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Technical Deep Dives

DKLS23 in VultisigGG20 TSS in VultisigTSS actions in VultisigHow Vultisig signs a transaction