The two models
What this means in practice
Venly-managed is the simpler path. Venly creates and holds the wallet, so transfers and payments work with no extra setup from the customer. Self-custody means your customer keeps control of their own wallet and keys. Before Venly can move their funds, the customer grants a one-time approval by signing a message — see Approving transfers without gas.Single-key wallets only
A self-custody account wallet must be controlled by a single private key — an externally-owned account (EOA). Smart-contract wallets, such as a Safe multisig or an ERC-4337 smart account, are not supported for now. Several steps need a signature that recovers to the wallet’s own address: the permit that lets Venly move funds, and the wallet-ownership proofs some virtual bank accounts and pay-out routes ask for. Only an EOA can produce those (EIP-2612 and EIP-191); ERC-1271 contract signatures are not accepted.Permit and allowance endpoints
The permit and allowance endpoints only apply to self-custody accounts. Calling them on a Venly-managed account returns:A wallet’s
type field tells you which model it uses — VENLY_MANAGED or SELF_CUSTODY. You’ll see it in the list wallets response.No wallet infrastructure yet?
Self-custody assumes your customers already hold wallets. If they don’t — and you’d rather issue wallets yourself than send users to a third party — you can become a wallet provider with the Venly Wallet API. See Become a wallet provider.Next steps
Approving transfers without gas
The one-time approval a self-custody wallet signs.
List wallets
Read a wallet’s
type to confirm its custody model.Become a wallet provider
No wallet infrastructure? Issue wallets to your own users with the Venly Wallet API.