---
schema: 1
title: "Evaluate a multisig wallet"
description: "Compare signer thresholds, recovery and modules that can bypass ordinary approvals."
tags: [wallets, security]
level: advanced
updated: 2026-09-16
related: [learn/account-abstraction, learn/approvals]
---

Start with: [account abstraction](../../learn/account-abstraction/en.md), [approvals](../../learn/approvals/en.md).

A multisig requires a defined number of signers to authorize an action. A two-of-three arrangement, for example, needs two of three owners. It can reduce dependence on one key, but its safety depends on how independently those keys are controlled.

## Compare the actual authority

Record:

- owners and signing threshold;
- supported networks and account type;
- how owners and thresholds can change;
- recovery and signer-replacement arrangements;
- modules, guards, delegates and spending limits.

Additional components may have powers beyond the ordinary signer workflow.

Bitcoin multisig uses spending conditions over outputs. EVM smart-account multisigs use contract logic. Backups, transaction coordination and recovery differ; a guide for one does not automatically apply to the other.

## A realistic test

With a small test account, prepare a transfer, verify its full effects independently, obtain the required approvals and execute. Then test losing one signer according to your recovery plan. Do not delete the only working backup to conduct a test.

If all three signers are stored in the same password manager on the same laptop, a common compromise can defeat the intended separation. Independence includes people, devices, storage and the process used to verify requests.

> [!NOTE]
> A two-of-three threshold describes authorization. It does not prove that the three signers are operationally independent.

## Operational tradeoffs

More signers can make urgent actions slower. Too low a threshold concentrates power; too high a threshold can lock out the group. Document how replacements, disputes and unavailable signers are handled.

A multisig protects authorization, not the economics of a malicious contract that enough signers approve. Review every transaction's destination, value, call data and permission changes rather than approving a request because another signer already did.

## Sources

- [Safe smart-account concepts](https://docs.safe.global/advanced/smart-account-concepts)
- [Bitcoin transactions and scripts](https://developer.bitcoin.org/devguide/transactions.html)