What it means
MPC in signing systems
Wallet products may use threshold cryptography so several participants contribute to a signature without one participant holding the complete signing secret in ordinary operation. MPC is broader than wallets and is not simply another name for multisignature.
Assessing a deployment
Security depends on the protocol, threshold, assumptions about compromised parties and implementation. Key generation, share storage, backup, resharing and recovery are part of the design. A threshold label alone says little about who controls the infrastructure or whether one organization can override the intended controls.
Related concepts
Multi-signature wallet, Key management, Cryptocurrency wallet.
In practice
A concrete example
A custody service distributes signing participation across separate systems and documents what happens if one participant becomes unavailable.
Technical notes & boundaries
Threshold cryptography does not remove endpoint, policy or recovery risks. Do not infer NIST certification of a product from references to NIST research.
Go to the source.
Original references used for this definition. Product details and standards can change.