---
updatedAt: 2025-11-12T01:52:18.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://ncw-developers.fireblocks.com/llms.txt
---

# Before You Begin

Before starting your Fireblocks EW implementation, it’s important to distinguish between the SDKs involved:

* The **Fireblocks EW client SDKs** (also referred to as the **EW SDK** and the **EW Core SDK**).
* The **Fireblocks SDK**.

Each serves a different purpose:

* The **EW SDKs** consist of platform-specific SDKs used in your *client app implementation*
* The **Fireblocks SDK** can be used for administrative EW operations and is initialized with an API user's private key. It can be used with one of two roles: [EW Admin and EW Signer](https://ncw-developers.fireblocks.com/docs/api-communication).