How ICE works
ICE is a Solana wallet that lives on three of your own devices instead of one. Any two of them must approve a send. There is no seed phrase on any single device, and ICE's servers never hold your key.
What you need
- A computer with Chrome or Safari. This becomes Device 1.
- A phone with Face ID, Touch ID or a screen lock.
- A third device for backup: another phone, a tablet, or a different browser on another computer. For real protection it should be a separate physical device you keep somewhere else.
Setup takes about five minutes. You scan a QR code on each device and check that a six-digit code matches.
Why three devices
When you create a wallet, your three devices generate it together using threshold signatures (FROST, Ed25519). Each device ends up with one share. A share on its own can't sign anything, and the full key never exists anywhere, not even during setup.
- Lose one device? Your other two can still send, and they can rebuild a share for a replacement. Then all three refresh their shares, so the lost device's old share stops working.
- One device hacked? It can't spend on its own. A second device has to approve, and that device shows you the recipient and amount it decoded itself.
- Two devices lost at once? The wallet can't sign any more unless you have backups. Make a backup on each device (Settings on each device, "Back up this device") and keep the 12 words on paper.
What ICE's servers do
Your devices need a way to reach each other, so ICE runs a relay that passes messages between them. The relay sees device public keys, pending transactions and signatures, and encrypted messages it can't read. It never sees private keys, shares, passkeys, pairing secrets or your 12 words.
The signer itself is a web page. Its code runs in your browser, and every approval asks for Face ID or your passkey on that device.
Honest limits
- It's a website. If someone took over the ICE website and changed the code, devices that load the changed page could be affected. This is the main reason real money waits for an outside audit.
- Browsers can clear storage. Safari may delete a site's data if you don't open it for about a week. Add ICE to your Home Screen and keep backups.
- Today the devices talk through ICE's relay. Being able to move funds even if ICE shuts down is a requirement before real-money launch.
- Not audited yet. We've done internal security reviews and an independent audit is being arranged.
Questions and bugs
This is a public test. If something breaks or looks wrong, especially anything about what a device shows you before you approve, please tell us.