An ethereum relay is a way to manage interactions with ethereum smart contracts.
A relay acts as a bridge between an ethereum user and the network by taking actions such as deploying the contract, sending transactions from the contract, and other interactions.
As a Casa customer, you have multiple relay options. You can use Casa as a relay for the deployment of your vault smart contract, or you can use your ETH Pay Wallet as a relay.
Using the Casa Relay
Casa runs an ethereum relay, which will assist with interactions with your vault's smart contract. This means that Casa is managing multiple aspects of your contract. Using the Casa relay to help you manage this is the smoothest experience.
A relayer must front the fee for actions it takes on the network, such as creating a smart contract. This means that when you set up your vault, Casa will pay those fees that the ethereum network requires to deploy that contract on your behalf.
Note that because of the transparency of blockchain relayers, using the Casa Relay identifies your ethereum address to be associated with Casa. If you would like a greater level of privacy, and are a more advanced user, we recommend using your own ETH Pay Wallet as a relay.
For more details on how fees work with the Casa Relay, see our article Casa Relay fees.
Using the Pay Wallet Relay
As an alternative to using the Casa Relay, you can use your ETH Pay Wallet.
ETH Pay in the Casa app is a single-signature wallet, known in ethereum terminology as an EOA, or "externally owned address."
If you choose to use the ETH Pay Wallet Relay for your vault, you must have enough ETH in your ETH Pay Wallet to cover the cost of deploying the smart contract during vault creation. If you have not already funded your ETH Pay Wallet, you will be prompted to do so during the vault setup process.
For more details on how fees work with the ETH Pay Relay, see our article ETH Pay Relay fees.
What it looks like
When you set up your vault, you will be able to choose between using the Casa Relay, or your ETH Pay Wallet.
Important note: once you choose which relay you use, you will not have the option to change it in the future!
Once you've chosen your relay, you can continue with your vault setup.
See: Setting up your 3-key vault for ethereum (ETH)