Step-Up Signatures

Why step-up

A normal session is enough for reading data and placing everyday orders. But some actions change the security posture of your account, so Aegis requires you to re-prove wallet control at the moment you perform them — not just when you logged in. This is called a step-up.

A step-up asks your wallet to sign a fresh challenge. On success, Aegis mints a short-lived step-up token scoped to that sensitive action. Because the token is short-lived, a stolen session alone cannot perform these operations.

Actions that require step-up

• Enabling automation for a strategy — automation ships disabled and stays off until you opt in.
• Adding or revoking a connection (an exchange API key or a linked wallet).
• Changing the primary wallet on the account.

These are exactly the operations an attacker would target, which is why each demands a fresh signature rather than relying on an existing session.

Account recovery

Because there is no email or password, recovery is built on the wallets and passkeys you already control. Recovery is deliberately 2-step with a cooldown:

1. Initiate recovery by proving control of a second verified wallet on the account (or a registered passkey).
2. Confirm after a mandatory cooldown period elapses.

The cooldown is a safety window. If someone tries to hijack recovery, the delay gives the legitimate owner time to see it happen and cancel before anything changes. Recovery never exposes funds — Aegis is non-custodial and never holds them.

Relationship to authentication

Step-up complements wallet authentication: sign-in proves who you are, while step-up proves you are still in control right now for the handful of actions where that matters most.