In short
Swaps Wallet is a non-custodial passkey wallet on Tempo with no seed phrase, so your passkey is the key. If no other copy of it remains, you can permanently lose access. A backup key is a second passkey for the same wallet, kept somewhere else. Only you hold it. It helps if your wallet key is lost, not stolen.
No seed phrase.
Swaps Wallet signs with a passkey.
How it signs
A passkey secures the wallet with Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello or your device PIN. You approve sends with it. There is no phrase to write down.
With a seed phrase, the words are the key: anyone who reads them can move the money. A passkey has no words to copy. It is bound to swaps.app, so the wallet signs only on Swaps.
The key lives in your device passkey, never on Swaps servers, so Swaps cannot sign a wallet send for you. Access through Swaps, provider routes and token transfers may still be restricted. Can Swaps move or freeze the money in my wallet?
One key, one place.
With every copy gone, you can lose access.
When it’s gone
Your wallet key lives where you created it: on a device, in a password manager or on a security key. A synced passkey may be available on a replacement device through your credential provider; availability depends on your settings and access to that account.
Swaps cannot reconstruct a key or reset a wallet. If you lose every key, you can permanently lose access. What if I lose my phone or passkey?
If no synced copy remains, a backup key you added can get you back into your wallet when you sign in to the same Swaps account: get back in with your backup key. Getting back in adds a key on this phone. This phone’s key sends on Tempo only. Sends to other networks, Convert, Pay and bank payouts still need your wallet key. After you get back in: this phone’s key
A second key, somewhere else.
Another device, another password manager or a security key.
Where it lives
A backup key is a second passkey for the same wallet. You create it with your own device, password manager or security key, and it must sit somewhere other than your wallet key. Pick the place that already holds your wallet key and Swaps shows “That’s where your wallet key is”. Nothing is added.
Adding one is “Three passkey prompts. Nothing leaves your wallet.” Read Add a backup key: three passkey prompts.
Your wallet’s home offers a backup key on every visit. Add money and Receive don’t wait for it. A new wallet: we’ll offer you a backup key
Only you hold it.
Swaps never gets a copy. On the network, whoever has it can move your whole balance, so guard it like your wallet key.
What it means
Your wallet says it in one line: “Only you hold the backup. Swaps never gets a copy and pays the network fee to add it.”
Swaps cannot sign with it.
The Wallet Service Terms 3.2 set out how the wallet and its keys work.
Sign once. Know it works.
Then its status reads “Confirmed”.
The status words
Your backup key reads “Not added”, “Added, not confirmed” or “Confirmed”. Swaps says “Confirmed” only after you sign once with it and Tempo shows the key.
Your backup key’s status, and deleting it · Wallet key messages and what they mean
What a backup key can’t do.
Your backup key can’t lock out a stolen wallet key. Moving your money to a new address is what helps. Whoever has your wallet key can move your money before you do.
Seed phrase or passkey: three ways to keep a key.
| Question | Seed phrase | Passkey only | Passkey + backup key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds a copy | Anyone who reads the words. | You. Swaps never gets a copy. | You, in two places. Swaps never gets a copy. |
| If you lose it | You can lose access. | A synced copy may help. With none, you can lose access. | Your backup key can get you back in. |
| If someone takes it | They can move your money. | They can move your money. | They can move your money. A backup key can’t lock them out. |
Networks
Your dollars, on Tempo.
Swaps Wallet is a non-custodial stablecoin wallet: your balance is USDC on Tempo, which describes itself as the blockchain built for payments. Receive USDC on Tempo or from Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism and Polygon; send on Tempo or to Base, Ethereum and Arbitrum. You only see routes enabled for your account.
USDC from six networks
One balance
Sent on four networks
FeesNo Swaps fee to hold a balance or to receive and send on Tempo. Tempo gas is about $0.03 per transfer and can vary. Sending to another network carries a 0.15% Swaps fee. Sending to your own bank carries a 1% Swaps fee.
How it’s built
- Swaps Wallet is a Tempo passkey account: one passkey approves its payments and authorizes its other keys. Tempo: create a passkey account
- Tempo checks passkey signatures (WebAuthn, P-256) in the protocol itself. Tempo transaction spec
- Your backup key is an admin access key in your account’s keychain, added with your wallet key. The network keeps the key’s address and type, never its private key. Account Keychain · Access keys
- Swaps pays the fee to add it as a fee payer. That signature covers only the fee, so it can’t change what you signed or move your money. Fee sponsorship
- Passkeys follow the W3C Web Authentication standard. Yours are created on swaps.app and stay on your device, in your password manager or on your security key. W3C WebAuthn Level 3 · FIDO Alliance: passkeys
FAQ
Questions.
Does Swaps keep a copy of my backup key?
No. Only you hold it. Swaps never gets a copy and cannot sign with it.
Isn’t a synced passkey already a backup?
Not always. A synced copy may reach a replacement device through your credential provider, depending on your settings and your access to that account. When none remains, a backup key you added can get you back in when you sign in to the same Swaps account. Getting back in adds a key on this phone. This phone’s key sends on Tempo only. Sends to other networks, Convert, Pay and bank payouts still need your wallet key.
Why does Swaps say “That’s where your wallet key is”?
You chose the place that already holds your wallet key, and the browser refuses a second passkey there. Nothing is added. Choose another device, another password manager or a security key.
Do I need one before I add money?
No. Your wallet’s home offers a backup key and reminds you. Add money and Receive don’t wait for it.
What does adding one cost?
Swaps pays the network fee to add it, within the limits your wallet shows. Adding it on Tempo usually takes a few seconds.
How do I know it works?
Sign once with it. Its status then reads “Confirmed”, which Swaps shows only after Tempo shows the key. Swaps can’t check a confirmed key again: if you delete the passkey in your password manager, the status still reads “Confirmed”. It is still a key of your wallet on Tempo, and a copy kept elsewhere, or one restored from Deleted, can still sign. Delete it in Swaps too, then add a new one. Read Your backup key’s status, and deleting it.
Can a backup key stop a thief?
No. Your backup key can’t lock out a stolen wallet key. Moving your money to a new address is what helps. Read Your wallet key may be stolen and Payments into your wallet are paused.
Keep going.
- What a backup key is, and when it helps
- If you lose your phone or passkey
- Check a wallet address before you send
- Confirm your wallet key
- Wallet help
Sources
- Tempo: the blockchain built for payments · the network’s own description
- Tempo developer documentation · the network’s public docs
- About the security of passkeys · Apple Support
- Sign in with a passkey instead of a password · Google Account Help
- Web Authentication, Level 3 · W3C, the standard passkeys are built on