Are you new to the blockchain and looking for basic information about your Vault?
Check out this article instead! Otherwise, this section has detailed information for people who are more experienced with the blockchain.
What happens when I create my Vault?
When you create your Vault, you’ll receive a public address and a private key. The public address is your address on the Polygon blockchain (and other Ethereum-compatible blockchains) where the record of your Collectible Avatars is stored. The private key is the only way to access your Vault, and, if you lose the private key, you could lose access to your Collectible Avatars in your Vault.
The default experience for those creating a Vault for the first time while purchasing a Collectible Avatar from the Collectible Avatar Shop is to secure your Vault by encrypting your private key with a unique password for Vault. This should be a password that only you know (separate from your Reddit password), and the encrypted version is stored on Reddit servers. Since it is encrypted, Reddit is not able to see your private key and cannot use it.
People manually backing up a recovery phrase must store this somewhere secure. The recovery phrase is 12 words in a particular order that can be used to recreate your private key within Vault or in other wallets. On Android and iOS your recovery phrase will be accessible in the Your Stuff section of the avatar builder, by tapping the gear icon in the top right corner. On desktop web (new Reddit), your recovery phrase is not accessible in the UI just yet (unless you’re using Community Points), though this feature is coming soon! Keep your recovery phrase safe – we recommend using a password manager like LastPass.
It is very important that you never give your Vault password or recovery phrase to anyone else, ever. No Reddit employee will ever ask you for either of them.
Where can I access my Vault recovery phrase?
On our native mobile apps your recovery phrase is accessible in the Your Stuff section of the avatar builder, by tapping the gear icon in the top right corner. On the Reddit website (new Reddit), your recovery phrase is not accessible in the UI just yet, though transfer functionality is coming very soon!
This recovery phrase is very important—whoever has this will have full control over your Vault and the items in it. If you lose your recovery phrase you could lose access to your Collectible Avatars. For that reason, it's very important to make sure it is stored securely and properly backed up.
If you created a Vault to store Community Points, you will also have access to your recovery phrase and Vault settings in the side drawer of the Reddit mobile apps.
It is very important that you never give your Vault password to anyone else, ever. No Reddit employee will ever ask you for your Vault password. You must remember your Vault password. If you lose this, Reddit cannot help you recover your Vault.
How can I manually secure my Vault?
People who are creating a Vault for the first time have a couple options.
When purchasing a Collectible Avatar from the Collectible Avatar Shop, the default experience is to backup your Vault using a Vault password.
People who want to secure their Vault by manually backing up a recovery phrase, before purchasing a Collectible Avatar from the Collectible Avatar Shop, can check out additional information on creating a Vault and backing it up with your recovery phrase here. (Caution: we only recommend this for advanced blockchain users).
People who already have a Vault, will also have access to your Vault in the side drawer of the Reddit mobile app. It is very important that you never give your Vault password or recovery phrase to anyone else, ever. No Reddit employee will ever ask you for either of them.
If I already created a Vault for Community Points do I need to create a new Vault to purchase Collectible Avatars?
No, if you already have an active Vault on Reddit, you won’t be asked to create a new Vault when you purchase a Collectible Avatar from the Collectible Avatar Shop. Any Collectible Avatars you purchase will be stored in the Vault that you previously created, and that is actively associated with your Reddit account.
Please note, these Collectible Avatars will not yet appear in the Vault UI you access for Community Points. Instead, for now, your Collectible Avatars will be accessible in the Your Stuff section of the avatar builder which you can access by navigating to the Style Avatar sections in the side drawer of the mobile apps and in the top right dropdown menu on our website, then clicking You.
How can I tell which Vault is my active Vault?
To find out which Vault you are currently using on Reddit, tap Vault in the side drawer of your mobile app, then tap the three dots ‘...’ next to Vault in the header to open the Vault settings. At the top of this screen you can see the address for the active Vault. This functionality is only available on the mobile apps today, for those who created a Vault using Community Points.
Note that you can only have one active Vault at any time. Your Collectible Avatars will be sent to the Vault that is actively associated with your account at the time of purchase.
Can I have multiple Vaults?
You can have multiple Vaults associated with your Reddit account, but only have one active Vault. If you create a second Vault on a Reddit account that already has a Vault, then the second Vault will become the active Vault associated with that Reddit account. In that instance, the original Vault and any digital goods stored in it, such as Collectible Avatars, may be unrecoverable if you have not retained your original Vault’s password or recovery phrase.
You must remember your Vault password. If you lose this, Reddit cannot help you recover your Vault.