The DeFi Wallet is a self-custody wallet: the private keys that authorise operations are yours and are kept on your device. Young Platform does not hold them, cannot use them for you and cannot recover them if you lose them. This guide explains how they are protected, when you are asked to unlock them and why the wallet password and backup are so important.
How keys are protected
1 The DeFi Wallet does not ask you to write down a seed phrase. The private key is generated and stored in a fragmented form (a technology called MPC, Multi-Party Computation): one fragment is on your device and, on its own, no single fragment allows you to operate. The fragment on the device is encrypted with the wallet password, which you created during activation and which only you know.
Unlocking the wallet means decrypting that fragment with the password: an operation that takes place on your phone and that only you can do. For this reason, the wallet password is distinct from the Young Platform account password and does not replace it: the former protects the keys, the latter protects access to the app.
When you are asked to unlock the wallet
The wallet locks at times when the app cannot take it for granted that you are the one using it. There are two cases:
- New device. You have installed the Young Platform app on another phone, or you have reinstalled it: the keys must be decrypted again on that device.
- New login to the app. You have logged out of the app or the app has disconnected you and you have logged in again: along with the account, you also unlock the wallet.
The lock only concerns operations: sending, receiving, swapping and managing positions. Your crypto stays where it is and lending positions continue to accrue rewards. For unlocking steps, see the guide "How to unlock your DeFi Wallet".
If you lose your wallet password
No one can recover the wallet password, not even Young Platform: we do not store it and have no way of reconstructing it. Without the password, the fragment on the device cannot be decrypted and access to the crypto in the wallet may be lost irreversibly.
For this reason, during activation, we ask you to confirm that you have saved it in a secure place, for example in a password manager. If you only remember it in part, you can try again with no limit on attempts. As long as the wallet is unlocked, you can change it from the DeFi Wallet settings, under Wallet password: see the guide "How to change your DeFi Wallet password".
The Google Drive backup
The backup saves an encrypted copy of the fragment stored on your device to your Google Drive. It is useful if you lose your phone or can no longer access the app from which you activated the wallet: from the new device you recover the fragment from the backup and unlock it with the wallet password. The backup does not replace the password: without the password, even the backup is unusable.
We advise you to enable it immediately after activating the wallet, from the DeFi Wallet settings. For the steps see the guide How to enable Google Drive backup.
Reclaiming full control of your keys
If you decide to no longer use the DeFi Wallet, you can export the keys to a non-custodial wallet of your choice, using the Full Key Takeover procedure set out in the Terms and Conditions. From that moment on, the wallet is no longer connected to the Young Platform app and the responsibility for custody is entirely yours.
Beware of scams
Unlocking the wallet, entering the password and backing up are operations that you only do yourself, on your own initiative, when the app asks you to in the cases described in this guide. No Young Platform operator will ever ask you to unlock the wallet, to enter or communicate the wallet password, to share your screen or to export the keys: neither by phone, nor via email, chat or social media. If a person requests such information or actions, it is in all probability a malicious person: even in the event that they claim to represent Young Platform, immediately interrupt all communication and send a report to Support.