Sovereign Recovery for ethereum vaults

"Sovereign Recovery" is what we call the ability to create a transaction outside of the Casa app using open-source, third-party tools. 

This article details how to perform Sovereign Recovery for ethereum assets held within Casa vaults. Sovereign Recovery instructions for bitcoin are also available. Note that this process is also different from the process of Sovereign Recovery for ETH Pay.

Gnosis is an open source multisignature contract wallet that one can use to recover a vault that was set up in the Casa app.

When a Casa vault is first created, the user is sent an email containing instructions for how to perform Sovereign Recovery through Gnosis if necessary. You can refer to that email for step-by-step instructions, as well as public key details regarding your specific vault. This email can be resent any time from the Account page in the Casa app. Here is a copy of those instructions:

1. Go to https://app.safe.global/welcome
2. Click Add Existing Safe
3. Choose the correct network where the funds are held: choose Ethereum
4. Add a name for the safe and enter the safe address. The safe address is your receive address in the Casa app.
5. (Optional) Edit the name of the contract owners. Owners are ETH addresses associated with your devices (mobile, Trezor, Ledger, etc).
6. Review and add the safe
7. Click on Settings in left hand navigation menu and then under "Manage Safe Account owners" click on the icon next to the first owner name that reads "Please connect your wallet" when you hover over it:
   
   1. To connect a mobile key:
      1. Export the mobile key's private key from the Casa app
      2. Follow the instructions here to convert your mobile key seed phrase into a private key
      3. Import the account using the private key with a browser wallet such as MetaMask
      4. Connect the imported account with the browser app
   2. To connect a hardware device:
      1. Select the device type
      2. A pop-up which allows you to connect your device will appear.
      3. From the Select Base Path dropdown, select Custom Derivation Path
      4. Enter the derivation path for your device, which can be found in your sovereign recovery email (A derivation path looks something like this: m/45'/60/0/0/0
      5. Make sure the Asset dropdown has Eth selected and the Network dropdown has Ethereum selected
      6. Click Scan Accounts
      7. Under Address, click the address with the correct derivation path then click Connect
8. Once an owner (device) is connected to the app, create and sign the transfer transaction:
   1. From the Dashboard, click View Assets from the top middle of the page
   2. Click Ether and click Send
   3. Paste the recipient address where the funds will be sent
      1. The recipient address is a valid ethereum address that the user has control of (holds the private key)
   4. Enter the amount to be sent and click Next
   5. Click Submit
   6. Sign the transaction with the device or through the browser wallet if using an imported mobile key
9. Disconnect the owner from the app, and connect another owner to sign the transaction
   1. Click the dropdown in the top right where the connected owner address is shown
   2. Click Disconnect
   3. Click Connect and repeat step 7
10. Once the owner is connected, click Confirm to sign the transaction
    1. Repeat steps 7- 9 until the required number of owners have signed the transaction
    2. Once the required number of owners have signed the transaction, you will be able to broadcast the transaction.
11. You can broadcast the transaction while signing with the last, required owner or with any other Safe connected wallet. The owner or external wallet that is broadcasting the transaction will be required to have enough ethereum to cover the gas required by the ethereum network.

The ability to perform Sovereign Recovery is one way in which Casa reduces single points of failure that can potentially compromise your security. 

For any questions or issues with Sovereign Recovery for ethereum, please contact us.