Social Recovery

A Social Recovery is a security feature in cryptocurrency wallets. It enables users to regain access to their funds without a traditional seed phrase. Instead, trusted contacts, known as guardians, approve the recovery process. Synonyms include guardian recovery and trusted contacts recovery.

Users set up social recovery during wallet creation. They select 2-5 guardians and share encrypted recovery shares with them. To recover, the user starts the process on a new device. Guardians receive notifications and approve via their own secure apps. Threshold cryptography requires approvals from a majority, such as 2 out of 3 guardians. This uses multi-party computation (MPC) to reconstruct the private key securely without exposing it fully.

Social Recovery matters because seed phrases pose risks. Users often lose them or fall victim to phishing. This method eliminates single points of failure. It distributes trust across guardians, improving security for non-technical users. Wallets like Argent and Loopring implement it effectively.

Key characteristics include:

• Threshold approvals: Needs multiple guardians, not all.
• No seed phrase storage: Reduces loss or theft risks.
• Social trust model: Relies on personal relationships, so select guardians wisely.
• Revocable guardians: Users can change them periodically.

Caveats exist. Poor guardian choices invite coercion attacks. Always verify guardian identities during setup.