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In the blockchain world, the term “wallet” typically refers to both the private key and the blockchain address it controls. At Dfns, we separate these into two distinct objects:
  • Key: The cryptographic secret (secured by our MPC infrastructure) that signs transactions
  • Wallet: A blockchain-specific address derived from that key
This separation lets you manage one key while operating across multiple blockchains.

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One key, many networks

A single Key can derive wallets on any number of blockchains. You create the Key once, then use it to generate addresses on Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, and other supported networks.

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What each object does

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Key

Dfns Keys are the foundational cryptographic component that powers every Dfns Wallet. Think of a Key as the unique digital signature generator that authorizes every action on the blockchain. While Dfns Wallets provide a simple and streamlined interface for managing assets—like viewing balances and making transfers, the underlying Key is what actually signs and validates those transactions. This separation allows for greater flexibility; you can use the same key for multiple wallets (on distinct networks), but you can also interact with Dfns Keys directly to work with a vast number of blockchains or custom smart contracts, even those not fully supported by the high-level Wallets API. The Key is a distributed private key managed by the Dfns MPC network. You never access the key material directly—you reference it by its keyId to:
  • Create wallets on any blockchain that uses a compatible key format. On compatible networks like EVM chains, wallets derived from the same key share the same address.
  • Sign transactions or arbitrary messages—even for blockchains Dfns doesn’t natively support, as long as they use a compatible key format. This lets you benefit from Dfns key security on private chains or networks we haven’t integrated yet.
Keys also support delegated signing, where your end users hold the signing authority over their own keys.

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MPC vs HD wallets

Dfns uses MPC (Multi-Party Computation), not HD (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallets. There are no seed phrases or BIP-32/44 derivation paths — each key’s shares are generated and stored independently by the Dfns MPC network. If you need multiple addresses (e.g., one per customer for deposit tracking), create a separate key for each. Key creation scales the same whether you need hundreds or millions of addresses — there is no performance difference compared to HD derivation. This provides the same result — unique addresses per user — with stronger isolation between keys, since compromising one key share reveals nothing about another.

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Wallet

The Wallet is your address on a specific blockchain. Dfns indexes the blockchain to track the wallet’s activity, so you can:
  • View asset balances (native tokens and fungible tokens on Tier-1 networks)
  • Access transaction history
  • Receive webhook notifications when activity occurs so you can take appropriate actions
  • Broadcast transactions to the network and know when they confirm
Dfns features a dashboard to track and manage your assets easily. Multiple APIs are also exposed for managing your wallets programmatically ; from simply transferring native cryptocurrencies, fungible tokens and NFTs to signing and broadcasting custom transactions enabling integrations with all available features of the chain, such as interacting with smart contracts to facilitate complex transactions and automate on-chain activities. This allows you to build and manage decentralized applications and protocols with ease.

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Benefits of this separation

Centralized key management

A single Key can secure wallets across multiple networks. When you update permissions or rotate access at the Key level, the change applies to all wallets derived from it.

Deterministic addressing

On EVM-compatible chains (Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, etc.), the same Key produces the same public address across all of them. This simplifies fund recovery and operational tracking.

Separation of concerns

The Key signs transactions; the Wallet broadcasts them. The cryptographic secret never interacts directly with blockchain networks.
Last modified on February 26, 2026