FAQ
Nunchuk is built on open standards, ensuring you can always recover your wallet using the provided backups (BSMS files) and third-party software (like Sparrow and Bitcoin Core). Furthermore, if you use our On-chain inheritance protocol, the inheritance execution is guaranteed autonomously by the Bitcoin network, independent of Nunchuk's existence.
Nunchuk's assisted personal multisig wallets do not store any hot keys on your phone. Simply sign in to your account on a new phone and you'll be able to access your wallet again.
Nunchuk offers unique advantages in two critical areas: Privacy and Autonomy.
- Privacy (Zero KYC): Unlike Unchained (mandatory KYC) and Casa (conditional KYC for "Enhanced Verification"), Nunchuk's solutions are unconditionally Non-KYC. Our plans are built on cryptographic secrets, not proof of identity (like death certificates or government IDs).
- Autonomy (The Failsafe): Nunchuk is the first to offer an On-chain (Autonomous) inheritance protocol. This solution is guaranteed by the Bitcoin network and functions even if Nunchuk ceases to exist. Competitors rely on their company's ongoing operation, liveness checks, or manual verification for recovery.
You can create hot keys on your phone with the Free plan. However, there are no hot keys on your phone if you use an assisted personal multisig wallet via one of our paid plans. With an assisted personal multisig wallet, all of your keys are cold, while your phone functions as a watch-only interface and does not have any signing privileges. This design makes your wallet much safer and allows you to change phone without ever worrying about losing access to your funds.
Nunchuk utilizes advanced multisig configurations for our assisted plans:
- Honey Badger: Uses a 2-of-4 multisig wallet (day-to-day).
- Honey Badger Premier: Uses a 3-of-5 multisig wallet (day-to-day). These configurations include dedicated inheritance keys. If the On-chain protocol is used, the quorum requirements decay after the timelock expires (e.g., 2-of-4 decays to 1-of-3) to facilitate autonomous recovery.
Setting up an inheritance plan is included in the Honey Badger and Premier subscriptions; we do not charge additional setup fees. Claiming an inheritance via our guided service (The Smooth Path) is free of charge as long as the original subscription is still active. If the subscription has expired, a maintenance fee of 0.3% of the wallet balance will apply. Autonomous recovery (The Failsafe) is always possible without Nunchuk fees (standard Bitcoin network fees always apply when moving funds).
You can learn more about the Nunchuk inheritance plan here.
Nunchuk was developed using open tools and standards. That means we are interoperable with many popular Bitcoin wallets such as Sparrow or Bitcoin Core. Refer to our recovery guide for more details.
Your inheritance plan remains intact even if your subscription expires. Your beneficiary retains the ability to claim the inheritance. They can choose autonomous recovery (The Failsafe) or use our guided claim service (The Smooth Path). If the guided service is used after the subscription has expired, a maintenance fee of 0.3% of the wallet balance will apply.
No. At no point does Nunchuk have access to enough keys to move funds unilaterally. The process differs slightly by protocol, but sovereignty is always maintained:
- On-chain (Autonomous): The beneficiary uses the Inheritance Key Seed Phrase to sign the transaction locally. After the timelock expires, the Platform Key is disabled by the protocol, and the beneficiary has autonomous control.
- Off-chain (Flexible): The encrypted backup of the Inheritance Key is downloaded to the beneficiary's device and decrypted locally using the Backup Password (which Nunchuk never knows). The beneficiary signs with the recovered key, and the Platform Key co-signs to complete the claim.
Nunchuk supports many popular hardware signers, including Tapsigner, Coldcard, Blockstream Jade, Trezor, Ledger, and others. However, the requirements for the assisted inheritance plans (Honey Badger and Premier) are specific and depend on the protocol chosen:
- On-chain (Autonomous) Protocol: All keys must be Miniscript compatible. Crucially, the Inheritance Key(s) must support BIP-39 seed phrases (e.g., Coldcard, Jade, Ledger).
- Off-chain (Flexible) Protocol: Requirements are broader, focusing on devices that support encrypted backups for the Inheritance Key(s) (e.g., Tapsigner, Coldcard). Please review the detailed Hardware Requirements section on our Pricing page to ensure you purchase a compatible set of devices for your chosen plan.
Nunchuk offers two distinct inheritance protocols, allowing you to choose the enforcement mechanism that best suits your needs:
- On-chain (Autonomous) Protocol: The timelock is enforced directly by the Bitcoin network using advanced scripting (Miniscript). This guarantees execution autonomously, even if Nunchuk is unavailable. Once set, the parameters are immutable.
- Off-chain (Flexible) Protocol: The timelock is enforced by our platform. This allows for easy updates to the timelock date or parameters without migrating funds or paying network fees.
The best strategy depends on the inheritance protocol you choose:
- Off-chain (Flexible) Protocol: We recommend a "rolling-short-timelock" approach. Since this protocol allows you to easily change the date without migrating funds or paying network fees, pick a timelock date not too far in the future (e.g., 1 to 3 years). You can then review the plan annually and push the date back as needed. This provides maximum flexibility.
- On-chain (Autonomous) Protocol: We recommend a longer timeframe (e.g., 5 to 10 years). This protocol is immutable; changing the date requires creating a new wallet, migrating your funds, and paying network fees. To minimize the need for future migrations, choose a duration you are comfortable committing to for the long term.
We are always looking to add support for more hardware. Once integration with a particular device type has passed the bar for quality, we will include it in our paid plans. Stay tuned.
A Nunchuk inheritance plan does not rely on the original hardware signer's electronics working. All that is required is the backup of the Inheritance Key. The nature of this backup depends on the protocol:
- On-chain (Autonomous): Requires the 12 or 24-word Seed Phrase of the Inheritance Key.
- Off-chain (Flexible): Requires the Backup Password (which decrypts the key backup stored on our platform). As long as your beneficiary has the correct backup information, the funds can be recovered.
The Iron Hand wallet provides excellent multisig security. However, for life savings, security today is only half the puzzle. We strongly recommend the Honey Badger plans, which are designed for generational wealth preservation. They offer higher security configurations and our breakthrough autonomous inheritance solutions, ensuring your legacy is protected for the long term.
It depends on the protocol you choose:
- On-chain (Autonomous): No. The Inheritance Key is held entirely by you. Nunchuk only stores the wallet configuration data (BSMS/Magic Phrase). You are responsible for securing the Inheritance Key Seed Phrase and sharing it with your beneficiary.
- Off-chain (Flexible): Yes, but it is securely encrypted. The encrypted backup of the Inheritance Key is stored on our server. This backup can only be decrypted using the Backup Password, which Nunchuk never knows.
Nunchuk does not collect any personal information beyond email addresses. You can delete your account data at any time by navigating to ‘Account Settings > Delete Account’ inside the app. We have also gone out of our way to build many privacy-enhancing tools, such as end-to-end-encrypted messaging, Primary Key accounts, and an inheritance plan that does not rely on proof of identity.
Nunchuk is Bitcoin-only. Our singular focus on Bitcoin is the reason we are able to set the highest of standards for Bitcoin custody.
Not at the moment. You can purchase bitcoin P2P or from exchanges in your jurisdiction.
The primary differences are Autonomy and Flexibility.
- The On-chain (Autonomous) protocol is enforced by the Bitcoin network. It guarantees execution even if Nunchuk is unavailable (maximum autonomy/The Failsafe). However, it is immutable; changing the plan requires migrating funds to a new wallet and paying network fees (less flexibility).
- The Off-chain (Flexible) protocol is enforced by the Nunchuk platform. It allows you to easily update the plan parameters at any time without migrating funds (maximum flexibility).
The On-chain protocol provides the ultimate autonomous guarantee (The Failsafe). However, your subscription provides essential ongoing value (The Smooth Path) in two key areas:
- Active Security Management: Access to the Platform Key for day-to-day co-signing and implementing spending limits. This also includes ongoing key health checks, a comprehensive notification system, and assisted support for coin control, timelock adjustments, key replacement, and wallet rollover.
- Guided Assistance for Heirs: The subscription ensures that Nunchuk experts will guide your heirs through the recovery process, significantly reducing complexity and anxiety during a difficult time. If the subscription lapses, a 0.3% maintenance fee applies for this guided service.
Yes, but the process involves migrating your funds. Because the protocols use different underlying mechanisms and key types, switching requires creating a new assisted wallet and transferring the funds to it. Network transaction fees will apply. Nunchuk provides a semi-automated workflow within the app to simplify this migration process.
Nunchuk utilizes advanced Bitcoin standards (Native Segwit multisig and Miniscript) that provide strong practical resistance against the most discussed long-range quantum attacks. By default, your public keys are hashed and remain hidden from the network until you spend funds. If addresses are not reused, an attacker would only have a very small time window (between transaction broadcast and confirmation) to attempt to crack multiple private keys simultaneously, making attacks extremely improbable. We are committed to integrating new cryptographic standards as they are adopted by the Bitcoin network.
The Honey Badger plan includes 2 assisted multisig wallets. The Honey Badger Premier plan includes 3 assisted multisig wallets. Additional wallets can be purchased as add-ons.
No. They need the Magic Phrase and the inheritance key, and the Nunchuk app guides them through each step. Nunchuk restores the wallet for them, and if they get stuck, they can chat with Nunchuk support directly in the app.
Ledger, Trezor, BitBox02, Blockstream Jade, Foundation Passport, Keystone, Krux, Tapsigner, Coldcard, and other air-gapped signers. The device must be able to sign messages with the wallet's multisig key, and every device except Tapsigner must load a BIP39 seed phrase.
Every device Nunchuk supports, including SeedSigner and Portal: Ledger, Trezor, BitBox02, Blockstream Jade, Foundation Passport, Keystone, Krux, Portal, SeedSigner, Tapsigner, Coldcard, and other air-gapped signers. Your other keys only sign transactions, so unlike the inheritance key they never need to prove control by signing a message.
No. Nunchuk's servers hold the inheritance key's public information and, for a Tapsigner or Coldcard backup, an encrypted file that only the Backup Password opens.
It raises the chance of a leak during your lifetime, but the inheritance key alone cannot move your funds; see Security model. Keep it apart from the Magic Phrase.
The Magic Phrase and the inheritance key, which means a device holding it, its seed phrase, or the Backup Password. The claim completes only on or after the timelock date.
Hand them a device already loaded with the inheritance key, or rely on the Backup Password if you uploaded an encrypted backup. If they are comfortable with hardware signing devices, they can also load the seed phrase onto their own device. The app also supports recovering the inheritance key locally as a Software key, though bringing their own hardware is more secure.
No. Nunchuk's platform key will not co-sign a claim before the date, even with every secret. A buffer period adds more time, and you are emailed when it starts.
Direct: your Beneficiary holds every secret. Indirect: a Trustee holds them and claims on the Beneficiary's behalf. Joint control: one party holds the Magic Phrase and the other holds the inheritance key, so neither can claim alone.
Yes. With Phased Rollout, each beneficiary gets a percentage share and their own Magic Phrase, and each share can be released in stages over the years.
The off-chain protocol enforces the plan through Nunchuk's platform key, so the date and other plan details, such as the number of heirs or the distribution schedule, can change without moving funds. The on-chain protocol, built on Miniscript, writes the timelock into the wallet itself and already supports bringing your own hardware.
Yes, from the Services tab, without moving funds. Moving it to an earlier date must be approved with your own keys.
Preferably not, since it makes recovery harder for your Beneficiary. If you do, share it along with the seed phrase backup.
Yes, once setup has been started on mobile. From then on, any key, including the inheritance key, can be added from the desktop app, which is how keys that need USB are added. Desktop supports BitBox, Coldcard, Jade, Ledger and Trezor; some of these also work on mobile over Bluetooth, NFC or QR.