What is Self-custody?

Holding your own crypto keys via a wallet you control, rather than leaving funds on an exchange that holds them for you.

How it works

Not your keys, not your coins. Self-custody removes exchange risk but makes you responsible for the seed phrase — lose it and the funds are gone. The usual threshold: meaningful amounts go to a hardware wallet; small spending money can stay hot.

Example

In practiceYou move long-term holdings to a hardware wallet and keep only active trading funds in a hot wallet.

Hot wallet or hardware wallet?

Hardware for anything you can't afford to lose; hot wallets only for small, active amounts.

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