Best practices

Operating a multisig means shared responsibility. This page covers the security fundamentals and setup recommendations every Squad should follow.

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Key management

Always keep backups of your private keys. If enough keys are lost that your Squad can no longer meet the threshold, your assets become permanently inaccessible.

• Store keys with different team members in separate physical locations
• Use hardware wallets for all members on high-value Squads
• Distribute members geographically to reduce correlated risk (theft, natural disaster)
• Never store multiple member keys on the same device or in the same location

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Compatible wallets

Any Solana wallet can be added as a Squad member. Hardware wallets provide stronger security for high-value accounts. Below are examples of compatible wallets:

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Threshold configuration

Your threshold determines how many members must approve before any action executes. See How Squads works for a full explanation.

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Two-person teams

For Squads controlled by two members, we recommend the following setup: Add 4 members to the Squad (2 keys per person) and set the threshold to 3 of 4. Why this works: both people still need to sign every transaction - two keys alone cannot meet the threshold of 3. But if one key is lost, the remaining three keys still meet the threshold, so the Squad is never locked. And if one person is fully compromised, the attacker only controls 2 keys and cannot act alone. Keep your two keys on different devices. A daily wallet on your computer and a hardware wallet stored separately ensures that a single device compromise does not expose both keys.

Optional: split permissions

All four keys can have full permissions (Proposer, Voter, Executor). But for extra separation, give your primary key (daily wallet) Proposer and Voter permissions, and your secondary key (hardware wallet) Voter and Executor permissions. This ensures initiation and execution happen from different devices.

Plan for permanent unavailability

If one person permanently loses access to both their keys, the remaining person holds only 2 keys and cannot meet the 3-of-4 threshold alone. Consider adding a trusted third party as a recovery key holder with Voter permissions only. This key can approve transactions but not initiate or execute them. The recovery key holder only steps in to help meet the threshold if one member becomes permanently unavailable.

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Member changes

Team members leave, lose access to keys, or change roles. Plan for this before it happens.

• Have a process for onboarding replacement members and removing departing ones
• Periodically verify that all members still have access to their keys

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Organize with sub-accounts

Every Squad starts with one default sub-account. Create additional sub-accounts to separate funds by purpose, such as isolating business lines, investor funds, or operational budgets. Each sub-account has its own Solana address and inherits the same members and approval threshold as the Squad. Common setups include: Sub-accounts within the same Squad are connected onchain. If you need fully isolated treasuries with no onchain connection between them, create separate Squads instead. See Sub-accounts for setup instructions.

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Sending to the correct address

Your Squad has two onchain addresses, visible on the Settings page. Always send funds to the default sub-account (labeled Squads Vault in Settings). This is the deposit address shown in your Squad’s treasury.

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Spending limits

If a team member needs to send funds on a recurring basis at amounts that don’t require full threshold approval, set up a spending limit. Spending limits let specific members transfer up to a set amount per period without going through the full approval process. This is useful for payroll, vendor payments, or any routine transfer where requiring every member to approve each time slows things down.

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Fee Relayer

By default, every member needs SOL in their personal wallet to create and approve transactions. The Fee Relayer lets your Squad cover all transaction fees from the treasury, so members don’t need to maintain a SOL balance.

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Security guardrails

Squads includes built-in features to add layers of protection beyond threshold approvals.

• Time locks add a mandatory delay between approval and execution, giving members time to review or reject a transaction before it takes effect.
• Roles and permissions let you control what each member can do, so not everyone needs full access to every action.

For teams managing high-value treasuries or onchain programs, see the Advanced security guide for additional practices.