diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/api-keys.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/api-keys.ts
index e397b8103..d5d79e7d9 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/routes/api-keys.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/api-keys.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,23 @@ export function apiKeyRoutes(c: Container): Hono<{ Variables: AuthVariables }> {
       );
     }
 
+    // Prevent privilege escalation: a key may only mint keys whose scopes are a
+    // subset of its own. Session-authenticated sellers are the authority the
+    // keys derive from, so they may still request any scope.
+    if (ctx.get("authKind") === "api_key") {
+      const callerScopes = ctx.get("scopes") ?? [];
+      const denied = scopes.filter((s) => !callerScopes.includes(s));
+      if (denied.length > 0) {
+        return ctx.json(
+          {
+            error: "forbidden",
+            issues: [{ message: `Requested scope(s) not held by calling key: ${denied.join(", ")}` }],
+          },
+          403,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+
     const { plaintext, prefix } = generateApiKey(parsed.data.env as KeyEnvironment);
     const hash = await hashApiKey(plaintext);
 
diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/api-keys.ts b/apps/api/src/services/api-keys.ts
index fdf258918..53e646157 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/services/api-keys.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/api-keys.ts
@@ -53,13 +53,19 @@ export function isValidScope(s: string): s is ApiKeyScope {
   return (ALL_SCOPES as readonly string[]).includes(s);
 }
 
-export function parseScopes(raw: string): ApiKeyScope[] {
-  if (!raw.trim()) return [...DEFAULT_SCOPES];
+export function parseScopes(raw: string, allowedScopes?: ApiKeyScope[]): ApiKeyScope[] {
+  if (!raw.trim()) {
+    const parsed = [...DEFAULT_SCOPES];
+    if (allowedScopes) assertScopesSubset(parsed, allowedScopes);
+    return parsed;
+  }
   const parts = raw.split(",").map((p) => p.trim()).filter(Boolean);
   for (const p of parts) {
     if (!isValidScope(p)) throw new Error(`Unknown scope: "${p}"`);
   }
-  return parts as ApiKeyScope[];
+  const parsed = parts as ApiKeyScope[];
+  if (allowedScopes) assertScopesSubset(parsed, allowedScopes);
+  return parsed;
 }
 
 export function encodeScopesForDb(scopes: ApiKeyScope[]): string {
@@ -73,6 +79,17 @@ export function decodeScopesFromDb(raw: string): ApiKeyScope[] {
     .filter(isValidScope) as ApiKeyScope[];
 }
 
+/**
+ * Throws if `requested` contains a scope not present in `allowed`.
+ * Used to prevent an API key from minting another key with elevated scopes.
+ */
+export function assertScopesSubset(requested: ApiKeyScope[], allowed: ApiKeyScope[]): void {
+  const denied = requested.filter((scope) => !allowed.includes(scope));
+  if (denied.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Requested scopes not held by caller: ${denied.join(", ")}`);
+  }
+}
+
 // ── Key generation ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 const BASE62 = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
diff --git a/apps/api/test/routes/api-keys.test.ts b/apps/api/test/routes/api-keys.test.ts
index 9cabdcb64..8dcd443aa 100644
--- a/apps/api/test/routes/api-keys.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api/test/routes/api-keys.test.ts
@@ -202,3 +202,72 @@ describe("api-keys:manage gating", () => {
     expect(((await revoked.json()) as Record<string, unknown>).error).toBe("invalid_api_key");
   });
 });
+
+describe("scope-subset rule on create (6.6 — a key cannot mint a more powerful key)", () => {
+  async function mintKey(name: string, scopes: string[]): Promise<string> {
+    const { generateApiKey, hashApiKey } = await import("../../src/services/api-keys");
+    const { plaintext, prefix } = generateApiKey("live");
+    const hash = await hashApiKey(plaintext);
+    await container.apiKeys.create({
+      sellerId,
+      name,
+      prefix,
+      hash,
+      scopes: scopes as never,
+    });
+    return plaintext;
+  }
+
+  async function createAs(plaintext: string, body: Record<string, unknown>): Promise<Response> {
+    return app.request("/api-keys", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "content-type": "application/json", authorization: `Bearer ${plaintext}` },
+      body: JSON.stringify(body),
+    });
+  }
+
+  it("a key without offramp:initiate cannot mint a key that has it — 403, offending scope named", async () => {
+    const narrow = await mintKey("narrow-rotator", ["api-keys:manage"]);
+    const res = await createAs(narrow, { name: "escalated", scopes: "api-keys:manage,offramp:initiate" });
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(403);
+    const body = await res.json() as { error: string; issues: Array<{ message: string }> };
+    expect(body.error).toBe("forbidden");
+    const message = body.issues[0]?.message ?? "";
+    expect(message).toContain("offramp:initiate");
+    expect(message).not.toContain("api-keys:manage");
+  });
+
+  it("a key may mint an equal-or-narrower key — 201", async () => {
+    const caller = await mintKey("rotator", ["api-keys:manage", "links:read"]);
+    const res = await createAs(caller, { name: "narrower", scopes: "links:read" });
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(201);
+    expect(((await res.json()) as { scopes: string[] }).scopes).toEqual(["links:read"]);
+  });
+
+  it("the default scopes are still subject to the rule — 403 when the caller lacks them", async () => {
+    // DEFAULT_SCOPES (links:read,links:write,webhooks:manage) apply when the
+    // request omits `scopes`; a caller holding only api-keys:manage holds none
+    // of them, so the implicit request must be rejected too.
+    const narrow = await mintKey("narrow-default", ["api-keys:manage"]);
+    const res = await createAs(narrow, { name: "implicit-defaults" });
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(403);
+    expect(((await res.json()) as { error: string }).error).toBe("forbidden");
+  });
+
+  it("a wallet-session caller can still issue any scope — 201", async () => {
+    const res = await req("/api-keys", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "content-type": "application/json" },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ name: "session-issued", scopes: "offramp:initiate,api-keys:manage" }),
+    });
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(201);
+    expect(((await res.json()) as { scopes: string[] }).scopes).toEqual([
+      "offramp:initiate",
+      "api-keys:manage",
+    ]);
+  });
+});