Choosing a Wallet
There are five ways to hold an æternity account for Superhero, and three of them are the same
program on different surfaces. They differ less in what they can do than in where the key sits and
what gets you back in. Pick by surface and by recovery model. All of them hold the same kind of
ak_... account on the same derivation path.
Recommended: passkey
For most people, start with a passkey. On superhero.com, tap "Continue with passkey" and approve with Face ID, a fingerprint or your device PIN. That creates your account: no seed phrase to write down, nothing to install. Make sure your passkey syncs (iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager or a password manager), because on a passkey-created wallet the passkey is your backup. See The Built-In Wallet.
Comparison
| Browser extension | Mobile app | Web wallet | Built-in wallet (passkey, recommended) | Raw key (agent) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Superhero Wallet | Superhero Wallet | Superhero Wallet, at wallet.superhero.com | Superhero app itself | Your own process |
| Custody | Yours, in the extension | Yours, on the device | Yours, in a hosted page | Yours, in this browser's storage | Yours, in an env var |
| Platforms | Chrome, Brave, Opera, Firefox | iOS, Android | Any browser | Any browser; in-page signing in the installed PWA | Anywhere Node runs |
| Install needed | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Unlocks with | Wallet password | Device biometrics, if enabled | Wallet password | Passkey, passphrase or recovery code | Nothing; the key is live |
| Change the unlock secret later | Yes | Biometrics on or off | Yes | No | n/a |
| Portable backup | Seed phrase | Seed phrase | Seed phrase | Seed phrase, or a syncing passkey | The secret key |
| Export one account's private key | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | It is the key |
| Ledger (æternity app) | Chromium only | No | Yes | No | No |
| AirGap cold signing | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| In-app dæpp browser | No | Yes | No | n/a | n/a |
| Multi-chain | Yes | Yes | Yes | æternity only | æternity only |
| Good for agents | No | No | No | No | Yes |
The first three columns are one program built from a single source tree, so the differences between them are platform capabilities, not different products.
Hardware and cold signing
Both hardware options in Superhero Wallet are æternity-only.
Ledger connects over WebUSB and uses the æternity app on the device. You can discover accounts that already have activity or derive one at an account index you type. Ledger accounts sign transactions and messages on the device. Two limits:
- Not on Firefox, which does not implement WebUSB.
- Not on the mobile apps.
That leaves the Chromium extension and the hosted web build.
AirGap is the offline-device path and works on the extension, the mobile apps and the web
wallet alike. You scan your AirGap Vault's QR code (or paste the airgap-wallet://?ur=… string) to
import accounts, then scan a second pair of QR codes to get a transaction signed by the offline
device and broadcast it from Superhero Wallet. Set AirGap to QR code V3 or the pairing will not
decode. AirGap accounts cannot sign messages, only transactions.
What else Superhero Wallet offers
Beyond holding coins, the standalone wallet has features superhero.com does not, available on all three surfaces unless noted:
| Feature | Where |
|---|---|
.chain name manager: register, bid in auctions, set pointers, transfer, set default, auto-extend | Account details → Names |
AEX-9 tokens, including adding one by pasting its ct_ contract address | Account details → Assets |
| Multisig vaults: generalised-account vaults with authorized signers, a consensus threshold and a proposal queue | Dashboard → Show multisig vaults |
| Permissions manager: per-host standing permissions and a daily spend limit | More → Settings → Permissions |
| Address book with import | More → Address book |
| Gift cards: funded invite links, toppable and reclaimable | More → Gift cards |
| Claim tips for a URL you can prove you own | More → Claim tips |
| Network manager: Mainnet, Testnet and custom networks | More → Settings → Network |
| Secure login: password change, auto-lock interval, biometrics on mobile | More → Settings → Secure login |
| WalletConnect sessions | EVM chains only |
| In-app dæpp browser | Mobile apps only |
WalletConnect in Superhero Wallet is for EVM chains, not for æternity. æternity æpps connect over AEX-2 instead; see Connecting a Wallet.
Pick by who you are
First time, on a phone
Use a passkey (recommended): tap "Continue with passkey", approve with Face ID or a fingerprint, and you have an account. Make sure your passkey syncs. On a passkey-created wallet the passkey is your backup, and there is no phrase export screen. If you prefer a seed phrase, install the Superhero Wallet mobile app.
First time, on a desktop
Install the browser extension. A desktop browser tab does not install the in-page signer, so
desktop signing needs it. The extension also gives you the multi-chain wallet, an address book and
.chain name management in one place.
Trading actively and holding real value
Use the extension (desktop) or the mobile app, with a written seed phrase stored offline in two places. You want a portable backup and storage a browser cannot evict.
Nothing to install
Use a passkey (recommended), or the web wallet at
wallet.superhero.com. Read The Built-In Wallet and
Web Wallet first.
A hardware device
Use the extension on a Chromium browser or the hosted web wallet, and import your Ledger's æternity accounts. An AirGap Vault pairs with any of the three Superhero Wallet surfaces. Neither option exists in the built-in wallet.
An agent
Use a raw key in an environment variable, in a dedicated account funded with a capped amount. Every other option requires a human to approve each signature.
node scripts/superhero-wallet.mjs generate
export AE_PRIVATE_KEY=<the_key_it_printed>Read Agent Safety and Wallet Security before funding it.
You already have an æternity account
Connect it. Any of the three Superhero Wallet surfaces imports your existing seed phrase, and superhero.com connects to it. In a browser tab the built-in wallet does not offer phrase import.
What actually differs: recovery
| Wallet | What gets you back in on a new device |
|---|---|
| Extension, mobile, web wallet | The seed phrase or, for one account at a time, that account's exported private key. |
| Built-in wallet from a phrase | The seed phrase. Its passphrase and recovery code are same-device only. |
| Built-in wallet from a passkey | The passkey, only if it syncs. The recovery code is same-device only. |
| Raw agent key | The secret key string. |
| A Ledger or AirGap account held in Superhero Wallet | The device's own recovery words. The Superhero Wallet seed phrase does not restore it, because the wallet only stores its public address. |
The same applies to an account you imported by pasting a private key: it cannot be restored with the seed phrase, only with that private key.
The built-in wallet's storage is evictable in a way an installed wallet's is not: clearing site data deletes the encrypted vault, and Safari's tracking prevention can evict it after about seven days of no interaction. That is survivable with a written phrase or a syncing passkey and fatal without either. Backup & Recovery has the full matrix.
You can use more than one
- The extension for real value, the built-in wallet for a small hot balance you use for posting and tipping.
- A phone and a desktop on the same seed phrase. The same words give you the same addresses everywhere.
- A separate agent account entirely, which is the recommended pattern.
Related
- Browser Extension: install and first run on desktop.
- Mobile App: the native apps and the PWA install path.
- The Built-In Wallet: how the in-app vault works.
- Backup & Recovery: the recovery table above, expanded.
- Connecting a Wallet: what happens after you have chosen one.
- Web Wallet: what
wallet.superhero.comcan and cannot do. - Superhero Wallet on the æternity docs hub (opens in a new tab): the standalone wallet's own documentation.