How Cedar protects Pocket and Vault
Pocket is the wallet you carry. Vault is the lockbox you open more deliberately.
That difference is the heart of Cedar’s security model: Pocket favors quick, everyday approval, while Vault asks for two approval methods before direct sends or sensitive changes. Neither design removes the need to review what you approve.
| Vault | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Everyday balances and crypto apps | Larger balances and sensitive account changes |
| Normal approval | Your current passkey | Passkey + phone approval |
| If one method is lost | Vault can provide a recovery path after setup | The other two methods can replace it in supported flows |
| Main trade-off | One passkey can approve routine actions | More protection, with more setup and an extra approval |
Pocket: quick by design
Section titled “Pocket: quick by design”Pocket normally needs only your current passkey. That keeps routine sends and crypto app requests simple, but it also means someone who can use that passkey may be able to approve Pocket actions.
Keep in Pocket what you expect to use regularly. Move balances that deserve a second check to Vault.
Under the hood: Pocket is a smart account whose normal approval threshold is one passkey signer. Its address can exist before activation so you can receive, but it cannot send or sign until you deliberately activate it.
Vault setup also turns on Pocket protection. This adds Vault as Pocket’s recovery guardian, with a safety delay for recovery. It does not raise the approval threshold for ordinary Pocket actions: a normal Pocket send still needs only the passkey.
Vault: 2-of-3 approval
Section titled “Vault: 2-of-3 approval”Vault has three distinct approval methods:
- your passkey
- phone approval from the trusted iPhone
- your recovery phrase
The Vault smart account records three corresponding owners and requires a threshold of two. Cedar’s regular Vault flow uses your passkey plus phone approval. The recovery phrase is reserved for recovery and supported backup paths, so you do not need to enter it for everyday Vault use.
Creating, changing, or removing a spending limit also needs Vault approval. Move funds to Pocket is an intentional exception: it needs only your Pocket passkey and can move no more than an active limit allows. Cedar’s current apps do not offer a control to start that transfer.
Vault becomes usable only when it is ready on every required network and Pocket protection is complete. If setup stops partway through, Cedar keeps Vault unavailable and resumes the unfinished work instead of treating a deployed-but-unprotected Vault as ready.
No single method controls Vault
Section titled “No single method controls Vault”One approval method cannot meet Vault’s owner threshold by itself. If you lose one method, the other two can authorize a supported replacement or recovery. This reduces a single point of failure; it does not remove risk.
The important limits are:
- If someone controls two Vault approval methods, they can meet the threshold.
- A valid approval cannot tell whether a recipient or smart contract is trustworthy. Review the request before signing.
- Vault’s threshold does not apply to normal Pocket actions or to transfers already delegated by a spending limit.
- Confirmed blockchain activity is generally not reversible by Cedar.
- Smart-account software, supported networks, and Cedar’s service can fail or become unavailable. Holding the approval methods does not guarantee that the Cedar app will always be available.
Under the hood: Cedar stores public verification material, wallet state, and action status. Cedar’s API prepares and submits wallet actions, but approval secrets stay with the passkey provider, the trusted phone, or the person holding the recovery phrase. The API receives signed proofs and approvals rather than the passkey private key, phone private key, or recovery words.
Where approvals happen
Section titled “Where approvals happen”- Cedar Wallet for iOS is the main app for Vault. It holds the key used for phone approval and completes Vault setup, regular Vault approval, security-method changes, and recovery.
- The web app handles Pocket and account tasks that do not need phone approval. Vault work that needs the trusted-phone key hands off to Cedar Wallet. Cedar may offer a supported recovery-phrase path when the phone key is not required.
- The browser extension can approve Pocket requests and start supported Vault requests from crypto apps. Vault approval and execution finish in Cedar Wallet.
Wherever an action begins, review the Cedar screen that shows what will happen, which wallet and network are involved, and how approval will work. Raw addresses, signatures, and action identifiers are supporting details—not a substitute for that review.