Private Vault
The Private Vault is Orbinum's private storage layer for shielded assets. Your balances and transaction history are never recorded on-chain as plaintext — they exist as encrypted notes stored locally in your browser, decryptable only by your wallet. This page covers how the vault works, how to recover notes if you lose your device, and what risks you must understand before using it.
How the Vault Works
Every note is stored individually in your browser's IndexedDB, encrypted with AES-GCM 256. Only your wallet can unlock the vault. There is no plaintext balance anywhere on or off-chain.
When you connect your wallet, the app requests a deterministic signature. The vault encryption key is derived from that signature — the same wallet always produces the same key. There is no separate password or seed phrase.
The vault stores notes — each note encodes an asset, an amount, and an owner key. Your displayed balance is the sum of all unspent notes. When you transfer or withdraw, notes are consumed and new ones are created.
The Orbinum team has no access to your vault. There is no cloud backup, no recovery service, and no admin reset. You are solely responsible for maintaining access to your wallet.
Vault Operations
Every interaction with the vault is one of three operations. Each is proven with a zero-knowledge proof before being accepted by the network.
Move public tokens from your wallet into the private pool. Your on-chain balance decreases and a new encrypted note is created in your vault. The amount is hidden from that point forward.
Send shielded tokens to another vault user. The sender's note is nullified; a new note for the recipient is created on-chain, encrypted with their viewing key. Neither the amount nor the recipient address is visible on-chain.
Withdraw shielded funds to a public address. The note is consumed and the equivalent public balance is restored. This is the only operation that makes an amount visible on-chain again.
Recovery & Rescan
If you lose your device or clear your browser storage, your local notes are deleted. Reconnecting your wallet alone is not enough — you must run a Rescan to attempt recovery.
How to recover your vault on a new device
- Connect the same wallet you originally used to set up the vault.
- Sign the vault key derivation message when prompted. This regenerates the same encryption key from your wallet.
- Run Rescan from the vault settings. The app will scan the blockchain indexer for all encrypted commitments and attempt to decrypt each one with your key.
- Wait for the scan to complete. Progress is shown in real time (notes scanned, notes found). Duration depends on total chain activity.
- Recovered notes appear in your vault with their current spend status verified on-chain.
What can be recovered
- Notes from shielded deposits you made
- Notes received via private transfers
- Both spent and unspent notes
- Notes never submitted to the chain
- Local drafts or test notes
- Notes created with a different wallet
Best Practices
- Keep your wallet seed phrase safe. It is required to regenerate your vault key. Without it, Rescan cannot recover your notes.
- Do not clear browser storage or uninstall the app without understanding that local notes will be lost.
- Use Rescan whenever you switch devices or after a browser data reset, not just when notes seem missing.
- Do not use the vault for large amounts in MVP. There is no encrypted export or automatic sync yet. Wait for those features before treating the vault as long-term cold storage.
FAQ
Can I export or back up my vault?
Not yet. Encrypted note export and import is planned for a future release. Currently, vault data is local to your device and browser. Running Rescan on a new device is the only supported recovery path.
What if Rescan finds fewer notes than expected?
The scan can only find notes that were committed on-chain and encrypted with your viewing key. Notes that were created locally but never submitted, or notes created with a different wallet, will not be found. If you believe notes are missing after a complete scan, verify the wallet address matches the one used to originally shield the funds.
Is my vault safe if my device is stolen?
Yes, under normal conditions. The vault key is never stored in plaintext — it is derived from your wallet signature at unlock time and kept only in memory for the session. An attacker with your device cannot read your notes without also controlling your wallet. Ensure your wallet application and device are properly protected.
If I reconnect my wallet on the same device, do I need to Rescan?
No. If your local IndexedDB is intact, reconnecting your wallet and signing the key derivation message is sufficient to unlock and read your existing notes. Rescan is only needed when local storage has been lost or you are setting up on a new device.