Security alert · Oct 9, 2026: Ledger devices bought from a reseller in Southeast Asia were drained. Buy hardware wallets only from the maker. What to do →

Multisig Setup

Checklist

Blockstream Jade multisig with Sparrow (QR or USB)

Last reviewed: October 2026

TL;DR

A Blockstream Jade or Jade Plus can be one of the three keys in a Sparrow 2-of-3, over USB or fully by QR code. Like the BitBox02 and the Ledger, it registers your multisig, so it can check receive addresses itself. I haven’t used a Jade in this setup myself: the steps follow Blockstream’s and Sparrow’s own documentation, checked October 2026.

Where the Jade fits

The setup guide uses a Trezor Safe 5, a BitBox02 and a Ledger Nano S Plus. A Jade can replace any one of them, as long as you still end up with three different makers. It works with Sparrow in two ways: plugged in by USB like the other devices, or air-gapped, passing everything back and forth as QR codes through its camera and your webcam.

What makes it useful in a multisig: Blockstream says the Jade can store up to eight multisig setups and uses them to verify receive addresses and to check change addresses automatically when it signs. That puts it with the BitBox02 and the Ledger, not with the Trezor, which only shows what Sparrow sends it.

How the PIN works: the blind oracle

The Jade has no secure element. Instead, your seed is encrypted on the device, and unlocking it takes three things: your PIN, a secret on the Jade, and a secret held by a server Blockstream calls a blind oracle. The app you use passes the encrypted messages between the Jade and the oracle. According to Blockstream, the oracle never learns your PIN or anything about your wallet.

  • Three wrong PINs and the keys are gone. The Jade and the oracle both delete their part. You then restore the Jade from your seed backup. In a 2-of-3 that’s not a disaster, but it’s one more reason to rehearse a recovery.
  • Unlocking needs the oracle. Over USB, Sparrow does the talking. In QR mode the Jade Plus uses a companion web page on your phone or computer, with four QR scans in total. If the oracle were ever unavailable, Blockstream points out you can still restore the Jade from the seed, or run your own oracle.
  • SeedQR is the other way in. The Jade Plus can also unlock by scanning a hand-drawn QR code of your seed. Anyone who finds that card can spend from that key, so for this setup I’d stick with the PIN and keep the seed on metal only (step 5).

More on the trade-offs between chip designs: open vs closed source hardware wallets.

QR or USB?

USBQR (air-gapped)
UnlockingPIN on the Jade, Sparrow contacts the oracleQR PIN Unlock via a companion web page
Adding the key to SparrowConnected Hardware WalletAirgapped Hardware Wallet → Jade → Scan
Registering the multisigHappens when you display an addressExport the setup from Sparrow as a QR code
SigningClick SignScan the transaction, scan the signed result back
NeedsA USB cableA webcam on the signing computer

Blockstream’s QR guides are written for the Jade Plus. Both routes end in the same multisig; you can even use USB for setup and QR later, because the wallet itself doesn’t change.

What you need

  • A Jade or Jade Plus, bought as described under What it costs below, that passed the tamper check. Blockstream also offers a Genuine Check at verify.blockstream.com (not for the older Jade Classic).
  • Current firmware. At the time of writing that’s 1.0.41 (August 22, 2026), which Blockstream calls an important security update.
  • Sparrow installed and verified on your signing computer (step 3).
  • For QR: a webcam that can read a QR code from the Jade’s screen.

Close the Blockstream app on the computer before you connect the Jade by USB. Blockstream notes it can stop Sparrow from finding the device.

Steps

1. Set up the Jade

  1. Follow Blockstream’s setup for your model. On the Jade Plus you can do it without a computer: Set Up Jade → Advanced Setup → Create New Wallet.
  2. Write the words on paper, never in a photo or a file, and later on metal (step 5). The Jade checks your backup by asking for some of the words.
  3. Skip the SeedQR, then pick your connection method (USB or QR) and set a PIN that you don’t use anywhere else.

2. Add it to the wallet in Sparrow

This happens in step 6, in one of the three keystore tabs.

  1. USB: connect the Jade, click Connected Hardware Wallet → Scan, enter the PIN on the Jade, then Import Keystore.
  2. QR: on the Jade go to Options → Wallet → Xpub Export, open its options and set the wallet type to Multisig, script Native SegWit. In Sparrow click Airgapped Hardware Wallet, find Jade and click Scan, then hold the Jade in front of the webcam.
  3. Either way, check that the derivation path reads m/48’/0’/0’/2′ and write down the master fingerprint next to the device letter.

3. Register the multisig on the Jade

  1. USB: open the Receive tab in Sparrow and click Display Address. The Jade asks to register the wallet.
  2. QR: in the wallet’s Settings tab click Export, choose Jade Multisig and show the QR code. On the Jade, choose Scan QR and scan it.
  3. The Jade walks you through each signer: fingerprint, derivation path and xpub. Compare every fingerprint with your notes before you confirm. A key you don’t recognize means stop.
  4. You can see the registration later under Options → Wallet → Registered Wallets.

The Jade can export a registered setup back to Sparrow as a QR code. That’s a handy extra copy, but it doesn’t replace the printed and USB copies of the descriptor from step 7.

4. Check an address

  1. USB: click Display Address in Sparrow’s Receive tab and compare every character with the Jade’s screen, as in step 8.
  2. QR: on the Jade choose Scan QR and scan the address QR code in Sparrow’s Receive tab. The Jade searches your wallet’s addresses for a match. If you know the address is further along than the first 500, use Skip.

Different result? Stop and read receive address doesn’t match the device screen.

5. Sign

Over USB you sign as with the other devices. With QR: click Finalize Transaction for Signing, then Show QR. Scan the animated code with the Jade, check the amount, address and fee on its screen and confirm. The Jade then shows the signed transaction as a QR code; click Scan QR in Sparrow to read it back. Try this with a small amount first (step 9).

Common mistakes

  • Leaving the Xpub Export on the default Singlesig. You’d import a key on the wrong path (m/84’/0’/0′) and build the wrong wallet.
  • Confirming the registration without comparing the fingerprints.
  • Entering a wrong PIN three times. The Jade wipes its keys and you restore it from the seed.
  • Keeping a SeedQR card in the same drawer as the Jade.
  • Trusting Sparrow’s address without checking it on a device that has the multisig registered.

What it costs

On Blockstream’s own shop the Jade Plus costs $149 in plastic and $169 in metal, and the original Jade $67 (October 2026). Prices change, so check the shop.

Buy from Blockstream · Buy on Amazon
Use code Y9CHA5 at checkout on Blockstream’s shop.

Buy only from the maker’s own shop or from Amazon.com itself (“Ships from and sold by Amazon.com”), never from a reseller: here’s why. Whichever you pick, do the tamper check when it arrives.

Related