Accounts API Infrastructure

This article describes the Accounts APIs, and its structure, which abstracts the complexity inherent to custody and security of digital assets.

Master Wallet

Your Circle Mint account has a master wallet that is automatically generated for you once you sign up.This master wallet is the default destination for the settlement of fiat and crypto deposits and the default origin for fiat and crypto withdrawals.The Circle Mint account is an omnibus account, hosted by Circle, meaning the balance you see in your account is blockchain-agnostic.

Your master wallet and any sub-accounts you create are buckets of value within Circle’s systems, allowing you to perform off-chain transfers within your overarching account infrastructure.

Sub-accounts

Sub-accounts are unique and distinct accounts that form the foundation of your individual Accounts API infrastructure. These sub-accounts allow you to segregate and manage funds based on your needs, such as customer funds, internal ledger use, or various other use cases tailored to your business requirements. With sub-accounts, you gain granular control over your funds.

Obtaining Your Master Wallet ID

You can find your master wallet identifier by inspecting the value of property masterWalletId in the response obtained from the configuration endpoint. Do so by making the following request.

Retrieve Configuration:

Replace ${YOUR\_API\_KEY} with your API key.

curl -H 'Accept: application/json' \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${YOUR\_API\_KEY}" \
-X GET --url https\://api-sandbox.circle.com/v1/configuration

Configuration Response

The response from the API call above will look like the following:

{
  "data": {
    "payments": {
      "masterWalletId": "0000000001"
    }
  }
}

You can store your masterWalletId value, as it will remain consistent for your account. However, if needed, you can always retrieve it again by making a request to the configuration endpoint.

Ready for the next step?

Take a look at how to create sub-accounts and make internal transfers with the Sub-Accounts quickstart guide!