Project
MERKI FAQ
Answers about MERKI: what it is, how the one-time keys work, which network it uses, how to buy $MERKI and what the prototype does not cover.
What is MERKI?
MERKI is an experimental smart wallet on Robinhood Chain, and only you hold its keys. Your account is a small contract, a keyhold, that accepts hash-based one-time signatures instead of the usual elliptic-curve signature. It is meant as a long-term vault next to the wallet you trade with every day.
How does MERKI work?
Your recovery phrase stays in your browser and produces an endless line of one-time keys. Every operation carries a signature from the key whose turn it is, and that signature names its successor. The keyhold checks the signature, retires the key that signed and stores the next key, all in the same step. The address stays put while the signing key keeps moving.
What does post-quantum mean here?
Only this: the signature that authorises your account is built from Keccak-256 hash chains, not from the elliptic-curve math a big enough quantum machine might break. The chain's own consensus, the wallet that submits your transaction, your device, your internet connection and your privacy are outside that claim.
Will my address move when a key is retired?
No. The address is fixed by your first two keys and is known before the keyhold exists, so you can receive funds first. Every accepted operation replaces the stored key, and the address stays the same.
Which network is MERKI on?
Robinhood Chain mainnet, chain id 4663. The keyhold uses the standard ERC-4337 EntryPoint v0.7 that is already deployed there; the site checks its code before any operation.
How do I buy $MERKI?
The $MERKI contract address is published on this site and on X @merki at launch. Until it appears here, there is nothing official to buy; a token that uses the name before then is not ours. You never need the token to use the wallet.
What if an operation gets stuck?
Signing it again would use the same one-time key twice, which is exactly what must never happen. Instead a key from a separate rescue line authorises one substitute that reuses the stuck nonce. Only one of the two can ever be included, and afterwards the keyhold advances both lines.
Are my transactions private?
No. Every keyhold operation is a normal public transaction on Robinhood Chain: amounts, recipients and timing are visible to anyone. MERKI changes how your account is authorised, not what the chain shows.
What can I try today?
The wallet works in practice mode right now: it creates a real recovery phrase, derives real one-time keys, signs and verifies real signatures in your browser and rotates a practice keyhold, without sending anything. Real operations switch on once the keyhold contracts are deployed on mainnet.
What does an operation cost?
In our Foundry tests an ETH transfer from a deployed keyhold uses about 182,501 gas inside the EntryPoint, and the first operation, which also deploys the keyhold, about 312,652. The transaction adds its base cost and the 2.2 KB signature as calldata. These are measurements, not fee quotes.
Do I need $MERKI to use the wallet?
No. Gas is paid in ETH by the wallet you connect to submit operations. Holding $MERKI does not change how the keyhold is secured.
Can I use the same phrase on two devices?
Do not sign from two devices with one phrase. Each device keeps its own journal of the keys it has used, and two journals cannot see each other, so two devices could sign with the same key. Restoring a phrase opens the wallet read-only for that reason.