Phantom Auth is the system Phantom uses to associate certain wallet customizations with you across supported devices. It uses cryptographic verification similar to blockchain transactions and does not expose your recovery phrase, private keys, or funds. This article explains how Phantom Auth works.
Phantom Auth does not help recover wallets, restore accounts, or troubleshoot access issues.
How Phantom Auth works
Phantom Auth works separately from your wallet accounts while using the same self-custody principles.
Here is what happens when Phantom Auth verifies access:
- A supported wallet setup method, such as a Secret Recovery Phrase (12 words), can derive a separate Authentication Public Key.
- This Authentication Public Key acts as an authentication factor for Phantom Auth.
- During authentication, Phantom uses the matching authentication key on your device to sign an anonymous verification message.
- Phantom verifies the signature to confirm you control the matching private key without requiring personal information for that verification.
This is the same general sign-and-verify pattern used for blockchain transactions.
What wallet customizations can Phantom Auth associate across devices?
Phantom Auth allow certain wallet customizations, such as account names, avatars, and usernames, to sync across devices.
What Phantom Auth does not do
Phantom Auth does not move assets, change wallet addresses, or give Phantom access to your recovery phrase, private keys, or funds.
It also does not make unsupported account types available for syncing.
Which wallet setup methods support Phantom Auth?
The following wallet setup methods support Phantom Auth and allow certain wallet customizations to sync across devices:
- Google or Apple accounts
- Secret Recovery Phrases
- Private keys
The following methods do not support Phantom Auth:
- Ledger hardware wallets
- Watch-only accounts
- Solana Mobile wallets using Seed Vault
- Google or Apple account that have been migrated to Phantom KMS.