Build the wallet experience around control, not SDK demos.
We design and implement embedded, user-controlled, developer-controlled and treasury wallet systems around identity, signing, recovery, ledger state and operations.
Current wallet platforms expose different control models. Circle, for example, distinguishes developer-controlled, user-controlled and modular wallets; the correct choice depends on who can move value and how recovery works.
COMMERCIAL / DELIVERY MAP
business obligation
integration boundary
accepted product state
operations / evidence
Control
User / backend / treasury
Choose who authorises transactions before selecting account type, signing SDK or custody provider.
Signing
MPC / passkeys / policy
Integrate the mechanism that fits the ownership and recovery boundary rather than exposing raw key-management complexity.
State
Wallet ≠ ledger
Product balances and business obligations are represented through accepted ledger events, not inferred from addresses alone.
Operations
Observable
Deposits, withdrawals, approvals, failed transactions, sweeps and recovery states are visible to operators.
Control model
A wallet project starts with one question: who is allowed to move the funds?
That answer determines authentication, signing, recovery, product UX, compliance boundary and treasury operations.
01 / USER
User-controlled / embedded
Users own and approve transactions through an embedded experience using provider-supported authentication, MPC or passkeys.
Outcome
User ownership
02 / BACKEND
Developer-controlled / programmatic
Backend services create wallets and execute transactions for deposits, payouts or automation under your policies.
Outcome
Automation
03 / TREASURY
Business-controlled treasury
High-value operations use explicit approval roles, policies, destination controls and segregated operating accounts or vaults.
Outcome
Governed movement
Delivery scope
What turns a wallet SDK into a production product capability.
The SDK handles part of key or transaction infrastructure. Your product still needs identity, authorization, accounting state, recovery and operations.
Wallet identity & lifecycle
Map users, organisations or payment accounts to wallet records deterministically.
Provisioning
Account mapping
Network/account types
Deactivation / recovery
Signing & authorization
Define who can initiate, approve and sign each transaction.
MPC/passkey integration
Policy checks
Limits and allowlists
Idempotent execution
Ledger & deposits
Translate external chain events into accepted product/accounting state.
Deposit addresses
Confirmation/finality
Internal ledger
Reconciliation
Treasury & operations
Separate customer-facing wallet workflows from downstream liquidity movement.
Sweeps
Payouts
Approval workflows
Audit and alerts
Proof
The difficult wallet work appears in our on-chain payment case study.
The implementation documents dedicated addresses, chain observation, finality, ledger posting and treasury as separate states instead of collapsing everything into wallet balance.
CASE / CUSTOM
Custom wallet stablecoin payment infrastructure
Dedicated deposit addresses, blockchain observer, confirmation engine, internal ledger, exception handling and treasury sweep.
GUIDE / MPC
MPC wallet integration guide
How to select and integrate MPC around signing authority, recovery, policy and product responsibility.
Architecture facts / verified August 2026
We use current wallet primitives, but keep product responsibility explicit.
Circle's current wallet documentation separates developer-controlled, user-controlled and modular wallet products, with different signing and ownership models. We use provider capabilities as implementation building blocks, not as the product architecture itself.
MODEL / DEV
Developer-controlled wallets
Circle documents programmatic backend-controlled wallets for payouts, automation, deposit collection and similar server-side use cases.
Circle WalletsMODEL / USER
User-controlled wallets
Users retain control and approve transactions inside the application, with provider-supported authentication and MPC key management.
Circle WalletsMODEL / MODULAR
Modular wallets
Passkey-based smart accounts provide a different model for user control, gas sponsorship and account modules.
Circle WalletsIf your product holds or controls assets on behalf of customers, custody and regulatory responsibilities may change materially. The control model should be reviewed before production rollout.
Related commercial paths
Wallets often exist because the product needs payments, deposits or treasury.
Use the adjacent paths when the buying intent is narrower than a full wallet platform.
USDC
USDC payment integration
Use provider or dedicated-address architecture for stablecoin payment acceptance and reconciliation.
COINGATE
CoinGate integration
Use a managed payment provider when checkout and supported settlement belong outside the wallet layer.
SERVICE
Wallet & Digital Asset Infrastructure
The full service covering control models, lifecycle, signing, treasury, recovery and operations.
Wallet development FAQ
Questions to resolve before choosing a provider.
The main cost and risk driver is usually the control and operating model, not the number of screens in the wallet UI.
Usually not unless key infrastructure is a deliberate core competency and regulatory/security responsibility of the product. Most teams should evaluate established wallet/custody providers and focus custom engineering on product state, policy and operations.
Yes in suitable wallet/provider models. The architecture also needs deterministic identity mapping, provisioning, monitoring, confirmation/finality policy and reconciliation at scale.
No. MPC describes a key/signing technique. Custody and control depend on who controls the signing credentials/shares and who can authorise transactions. The product operating model must be evaluated separately.
Not always. EOA-based wallets can be sufficient for many deposit, payout and treasury flows. Smart accounts are useful when you need programmable account behaviour such as gas sponsorship, batching or modules.
Wallet architecture discovery
Define control and recovery before committing to a wallet vendor.
Tell us who owns funds, who should approve transactions, whether you need deposits/payouts, target chains and treasury requirements. We will map the wallet control model and first production slice.