Introduction

Vela is a self-custodial smart wallet for EVM networks. You own your keys, but there’s no seed phrase to write down — you sign with a passkey, using your face or fingerprint.

This documentation covers how to get started, create a wallet, move tokens, and understand the security model behind it.

The short version

• Self-custodial. Your funds are controlled by a key only you can use. Vela (the company) cannot move, freeze, or recover your money.
• No seed phrase. Your signing key is a passkey in your device’s secure hardware. There is no twelve-word phrase to lose or have phished.
• A Safe smart account. Each wallet is a Safe smart contract operated with ERC-4337 account abstraction — which is what lets you sign with a passkey and read every transaction before you approve it.
• 12 networks, one address. Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Avalanche, Gnosis, Unichain, Tempo, Monad, and World Chain — plus custom networks — all at the same address.
• No blind signing. Transactions are decoded into human-readable intent (ERC-7730); unknown calls are flagged, not hidden.
• Open source. The wallet and all its services are public on GitHub so anyone can audit exactly what they do.

Who it’s for

Vela is built for people who want real self-custody without the footgun of seed phrase management — and for people who’ve been burned by it before. If you can unlock your phone, you can use Vela safely.

Where to go next

• Install Vela — it runs in your browser, no download needed.
• Create your wallet — your first wallet in under a minute.
• How passkeys work — the security model, explained plainly.
• Whitepaper — the full architecture and trust model.

If you’re more interested in the why than the how, the blog tells the story of how Vela is being built.