Create an unsigned transaction

Build and freeze a Hedera transaction without signing, then sign with multiple keys or serialize to bytes for offline signing, multi-sig, or HSM-backed flows.

These methods allow you to build a transaction that requires further processing before it is submitted to a Hedera network. After you freeze the transaction you can use .sign(privateKey) to sign the transaction with multiple keys or convert the transaction to bytes for further processing.

Method	Type	Description
freeze()		Freeze this transaction from further modification to prepare for signing or serialization. You will need to set the node account ID (setNodeAccountId()) and transaction ID (setTransactionId()).
freezeWith(<client>)	Client	Freeze this transaction from further modification to prepare for signing or serialization. Will use the ‘Client’, if available, to generate a default Transaction ID and select 1/3 nodes to prepare this transaction for.
freezeWithSigner(<signer>)		Freeze the transaction with a local wallet. Local wallet available in Hedera JavaScript SDK only. >=v2.11.0

The example below uses setKeyWithAlias() to set the EVM Address from Public Key at account creation, the recommended pattern for EVM compatibility. See Create an Account for details, including the immutability behavior and when to use setKeyWithoutAlias() instead.

Java

//Create an unsigned transaction 
AccountCreateTransaction transaction = new AccountCreateTransaction()
    .setKeyWithAlias(ecdsaPublicKey)
    // DO NOT set an alias with your key if you plan to update/rotate keys in the future, Use .setKeyWithoutAlias instead 
    // .setKeyWithoutAlias(ecdsaPublicKey)
    .setInitialBalance(new Hbar(1));

//Freeze the transaction for signing
//The transaction cannot be modified after this point
AccountCreateTransaction freezeTransaction = transaction.freezeWith(client);

System.out.println(freezeTransaction);

//v2.0.0

Sample Output

crypto_create_account {
auto_renew_period {
seconds: 7776000
}
initial_balance: 1000
key {
ed25519: "\272g\374\310f\354\274\273bU\256\v\032$e\311\021p\216*L\332\277Y\343\230\277PUmy\373"
}
receive_record_threshold: 9223372036854775807
send_record_threshold: 9223372036854775807
node_account_i_d {
account_num: 6
realm_num: 0
shard_num: 0
}
transaction_fee: 100000000
transaction_i_d {
account_i_d {
account_num: 9401
realm_num: 0
shard_num: 0
}
transaction_valid_start {
nanos: 469101387
seconds: 1604559135
}
}
transaction_valid_duration {
seconds: 120
}
}