This guide provides considerations when setting up a Safe Multisig.
Key Decisions
When configuring a Safe Multisig, you'll generally make three decisions:
- How many signers?
- What threshold?
- Which signer wallets to use?
There's no single best answer to these questions, and no universal Safe Multisig configuration. It truly depends on your specific use case.
How Many Signers?
It's generally advisable to use more than one signer account. When managing funds as a group, this is essential since more than one person should have access. Even for individual fund management, multiple signer accounts provide additional authentication factors.
What Threshold?
The threshold of a Safe Multisig specifies how many signer accounts must confirm a transaction before execution.
It's advisable to use a threshold higher than 1, so no single account can execute transactions independently—at least one additional account is always required to verify and execute Safe Multisig transactions. This means even if an attacker compromises one account, they cannot move funds.
Additionally, it's good practice to set a threshold lower than the total number of signers. This way, if one signer loses access, users aren't automatically locked out of their funds—other signers can still execute transactions and replace the lost signer account. This functions as a built-in recovery mechanism.
Which Signer Wallets to Use?
This depends on which signer wallets you already use. Safe Multisig is compatible with MetaMask, hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor, and mobile wallets supporting WalletConnect such as Trust, Argent, or Rainbow.
You can also use the Safe mobile app as one of your signers to confirm transactions. This mobile app provides the best balance of security and user experience for confirming transactions.
Common Safe Multisig Setups
Due to its popularity, many Safe Multisig wallets use at least one MetaMask signer. MetaMask is followed by hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor. The Safe mobile app is also becoming increasingly popular as a signer choice.
A common individual setup is a Safe Multisig with 3 signers (1 MetaMask, 2 hardware wallets) and threshold 2. MetaMask plus one hardware wallet are used daily to sign and execute transactions. The second hardware wallet is stored securely in case one of the other 2 signers is lost.
A common group setup for collective fund management uses 1 signer account per individual with a threshold of 3. This prevents any single individual from executing transactions, and all transactions are verified by two others. However, not all signers must confirm every transaction, which can benefit time-critical transactions.
If different transactions or assets require varying signer counts, organizations sometimes use separate Safe Multisig wallets for different assets with different signer configurations and thresholds.
For information on creating a Safe Multisig, refer to the appropriate documentation.
Note: If you wish to create a Safe Multisig gaslessly without deploying immediately, you'll need to select a 1/1 setup. You can add more signers in settings after creation.