Archived article · Original source date: 2024-08-17
This article is preserved from the previous Solana Bulls site as a historical archive. It reflects its original context; references to products, people, market conditions, eligibility, or rules may no longer be current.
Editorial note: This article is educational and is not financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Products, protocols, yields, fees, liquidity, regulations, and tax treatment can change; verify current primary sources and evaluate the specific risks before acting.
Solana transactions can invoke several programs and change multiple accounts atomically. Fast confirmation makes careful review before signing more important, not less important.
Protect keys and recovery
Never disclose a private key, recovery phrase, or wallet backup. A lost private key cannot be reconstructed unless the wallet's recovery model provides another authorized recovery path, such as the original phrase, a multisignature quorum, passkey recovery, or a custodian.
Avoid ordinary cloud storage, screenshots, email, and chat for traditional seed phrases. Do not type a phrase into a website or application merely to connect, verify, migrate, synchronize, or claim an asset.
Verify the transaction
Confirm the domain, wallet prompt, program address, token mint, destination, asset changes, permissions, and fees. Simulation and human-readable transaction summaries are useful signals but can be incomplete or manipulated.
Use appropriate signing arrangements
Hardware wallets can isolate keys from a connected computer, while multisignature arrangements can require independent approvals. Neither prevents a user or signer quorum from authorizing a malicious transaction, so display and process verification still matter.
Separate risk
- Use a small testing wallet for new applications.
- Keep daily-use and long-term authority separate.
- Use distinct recovery material when separation is intended.
- Limit balances and application permissions to what the activity requires.
- Make a small test transfer before moving a significant amount.
Respond to suspected compromise
If recovery material may be exposed, create a new wallet from fresh material on a trusted device and move assets after verifying the address. If only an application interaction is suspect, inspect on-chain activity and supported permissions, but do not assume revocation alone protects a leaked seed.
Compare current wallet custody, recovery, and platform support in the Solana wallet directory, then verify the selected product through its official site.