Account recovery

The short version

If you lose your phone, your money is still safe. It's in your wallet on Arbitrum -- not on the phone. But you need a way to prove you're you so Sippy can reconnect you. That's what your recovery email is for.

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If you lose your phone

Your funds don't live on your device. They live in a smart contract wallet on Arbitrum. Losing your phone doesn't mean losing your money. It means losing your current way to interact with it.

Here's what to do:

1. Get WhatsApp back on a new device

Restore your WhatsApp account on a new phone using the same phone number. WhatsApp has its own recovery process for this -- Sippy doesn't control that step.

Once you have WhatsApp working on the same number, message Sippy. Your account will reconnect automatically because your identity in Sippy is tied to your phone number.

2. If you lost access to your phone number

This is the harder scenario. Today, Sippy ties your wallet to your phone number. If you permanently lose that number, your options are:

• Use your private key backup to access your wallet directly from MetaMask or any Ethereum-compatible wallet. This is why exporting your key matters.
• Contact support -- we may be able to help verify your identity if you have a recovery email on file, but we cannot guarantee account recovery in all cases.

A recovery email makes it easier for support to help, but the most reliable backup is always your exported private key.

We're working on an admin-assisted relink flow for future releases.

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Private key backup

Your smart contract wallet has an underlying private key. This is the ultimate backup -- the mathematical proof that you own the wallet. With it, you can access your funds from any compatible wallet app (like MetaMask or Rabby), completely independent of Sippy.

You can export your private key from Settings.

Store it somewhere safe and offline. Write it on paper and keep it in a secure place, or use a password manager. Never share it with anyone. Never send it over WhatsApp, email, or any messaging app.

If someone gets your private key, they can take everything in your wallet. There is no way to reverse that.

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What Sippy can help with

• Reconnecting your wallet after a phone change -- if you keep the same number, it's automatic
• Helping with identity verification -- if you have a recovery email, support has more to work with (full relink coming in a future update)
• Showing you how to export your private key -- so you have a backup before you need it

What Sippy can't help with

• Reversing a transaction. Once a transfer is confirmed on the blockchain, it's permanent. No one can undo it -- not Sippy, not Arbitrum, not anyone.
• Recovering a lost private key. Sippy doesn't store your private key. If you lose it and lose all other access methods, the funds in that wallet may be permanently inaccessible.
• Recovering funds sent to the wrong address. If you send money to the wrong phone number and the recipient doesn't return it, the money is gone.

These aren't limitations of Sippy specifically. They're how blockchain works. The same properties that prevent anyone from seizing your money also prevent anyone from reversing your mistakes.

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The best thing you can do right now

1. Add a recovery email -- takes 30 seconds
2. Export and safely store your private key from Settings
3. Double-check phone numbers before confirming sends

These three steps cover nearly every recovery scenario.

What's next?

• Security model -- daily limits, confirmations, and other protections
• Recovery email setup -- step-by-step instructions