Getting started with multisig deploys on the Casper blockchain

An intro to multisig

What exactly is “multisig” and why does it matter? Simply put, multisignature (or, multisig) technology is the requiring of multiple signatures to approve a deploy on the blockchain. This feature is crucial for both enterprise and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, offering enhanced security by reducing the risk of unauthorized access and ensuring more democratic decision-making processes.

Multisig setups enforce collective approval for critical operations, significantly mitigating the chances of fraudulent transactions and unauthorized contract executions.

Here are a few example use cases:

• Treasury management in a Defi project or DAO — enhance security by requiring multiple approvals for financial transactions
• Corporate governance — ensure checks and balances for compliance by mandating collective executive approvals
• Estate planning and inheritance — facilitate the conditional transfer of digital assets to heirs requiring multiple family members/trustees to approve transactions
• Cross-organizational collaborations — strengthen partnerships by necessitating mutual consent from all parties involved for any shared blockchain operations or movement of funds

Not only does Casper support multisig capabilities, with CSPR.live, multisig is easier to configure than ever in just a few short steps.

In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to get started.

And for a video demo check out our two-part tutorial.

Part 1: Set up Associated Keys

1. Connect an account in your Casper Wallet to CSPR.live (or Testnet.CSPR.live). Let’s call this your managed account for the rest of this tutorial, for clarity.
2. Select “Associated Keys” from the account dropdown

Select “Associated Keys” in the account dropdown

3. Read the definitions on the next page to familiarize yourself with some important terminology related to multisig. Then, select “Manage associated keys”.

4. On the “Choose associated keys” screen you can configure which keys will be the signing keys for your managed account and the weight of each key. For this tutorial, try adding two or more other accounts that you own by copying and pasting the public keys into the “Associated Keys” field.

A few call-outs to keep in mind in this screen:

• By default, your managed account is its own signing key, associated to itself. However, you can remove it if you only want other keys you own to be the only signing keys.
• Add as many associated keys, aka signing keys, as you wish.
• The Deploy submission threshold value determines what the combined weight of keys must be, at a minimum, for a deploy to be submitted. Therefore, the combined weight of all associated keys must be equal to or greater than the Deploy submission threshold value. For example, I could have a key with a weight of 5 and another with a weight of 2 as long as my Deploy submission threshold is no more than 7.
• The key management threshold must be equal to or greater than the Deploy submission threshold.

Configure you associated keys using a step by step wizard

IMPORTANT: Make sure the owner of any associated key, if it's not you, is a person or entity you trust. Associated keys have the power to sign deploys on behalf of your managed account and that includes deploys that can move funds out of that account!

5. Review and sign the Manage Associated Keys transaction.

6. After a minute or two, visit your account page in CSPR.live (select “View Account” from the account dropdown in the top navigation menu). Notice that the keys that you’ve associated to your account are now listed.

Associated keys for an account, if any exist, will always be listed on the account page

Part 2: Sign a Multisig Deploy

1. Disconnect your managed account from CSPR.live (or testnet.CSPR.live.) Connect one of the associated keys from Part 1 using Casper Wallet.
2. Now choose any of the deploy options from the Wallet dropdown. For this example, we’ll use Transfer.
3. Select “Create a transfer on behalf of another account”. Now you can add the public key of the managed account from Part 1.

4. Add a recipient and an amount. Then click “Next”

5. Go ahead and Sign the deploy. If the associated key that you are signing with is not equal to or greater than the Deploy threshold of the managed account (ie the account you are signing on behalf of) you will see a warning message “Your signature will not add enough weight.” This means you’ll need one or more of the associated keys you added from Part 1 to sign and submit the deploy.

A warning message will let you know if you need more signatures to submit the deploy

6. After signing, a link will be generated. Clicking this link instantly opens the signing page for this deploy (and yes the link can be shared publicly, just use the Copy link button). Any key associated with the managed account may sign the deploy, assuming it has not already signed. Continue signing with keys until the Deploy submission threshold has been met.

7. Once enough keys have signed to meet the Deploy submission threshold the deploy will be submitted successfully.

And there you have it — how to sign multisig deploys on the Casper blockchain using CSPR.live.

For any questions or comments be sure to reach out to our amazing CSPR.suite community on Telegram.