Self-Custody
Holding your own private keys directly, so no exchange or company stands between you and your crypto.
Self-custody means you, and only you, can authorize moving your funds. It's the original promise of crypto: money no bank can freeze and no government can seize without the keys. A hardware wallet plus a backed-up seed phrase is the common form.
It cuts out counterparty risk — the danger that an exchange collapses with your balance, as several did in 2022. But it loads all the responsibility onto you. Forget the phrase, get phished, or skip backups, and there's no institution to make you whole.
Related terms
A wallet where you alone hold the private keys, with no company able to freeze or recover your funds.
Custodial WalletAn account where a third party holds your private keys for you, like a bank holding deposits.
Hardware WalletA dedicated physical device that holds your private keys and signs transactions without exposing them to your computer.
Seed PhraseA list of 12 or 24 ordinary words that backs up a wallet and can restore all its keys.