How self-custody works here
What it means that Stablerail cannot move your funds, and what that puts in your hands.
Version 1.0 · Last updated
When you would read this
Read this before you fund your first wallet, and when you need to explain to your board or your auditor who can actually move the company's money.
What self-custody means here
Your funds sit in wallets that belong to your organisation. Stablerail operates the platform around them. We cannot move your money.
A payment can only leave a wallet if the required number of your authorised people approve it. Stablerail cannot supply that approval, cannot substitute for it, and cannot override it. There is no administrative route by which we release your funds, with or without your knowledge.
Your control is expressed through approval and signing. It is not a file or a phrase you keep on your laptop. When you approve a payment, you are exercising the control. When you refuse, nothing happens.
Only Admins and Signers hold signing capability. Requesters and Viewers never do, under any configuration.
What this puts in your hands
You decide who can approve. Your roles and your signing quorum determine who can move money and how many of them are needed. See "Set your signing quorum".
You decide the rules. Your policies determine what needs a second signature, what needs supporting documents, and what gets flagged. See "What the policy engine controls".
You carry the consequences of losing access. We cannot recover signing keys for you. If your people lose their devices, recovery runs through a support procedure, not through us unlocking your funds. See "Recover access to your account".
You carry your own compliance obligations. We screen every payment and record everything. What you do with those results, and what your regulator expects of you, is yours.
What to expect
Day to day this is invisible. You create a payment, it gets screened, someone approves it, it goes.
It becomes visible in three places: when a payment needs a second approver and that person is unavailable, when a payment is blocked and nobody can override it, and when someone loses a device.
Each of those is the design working, not a fault.
Common questions
Can Stablerail move our funds if compelled? No. We cannot produce the approvals a payment requires.
Can Stablerail freeze our account? Your Admin can engage an emergency lock that halts payments. Platform-level restrictions are governed by your agreement with us.
What if Stablerail is unavailable? Your funds remain yours. They are not held by us.
Can we get our keys out? Wallet key export is available. Speak to your account manager about the process, which is deliberately restricted.