Crypto Wallet

A crypto wallet does not store coins; it stores the keys that grant access to them. The coins live on the blockchain, and the wallet holds the authority to move them.

The private key is the core. Whoever holds it owns the coins. Lose it and there is no recovery; let someone else learn it and the coins are gone the moment they act.

Wallets divide into two kinds. Hot wallets stay connected to the internet and are convenient but exposed to hacking; cold wallets stay offline, safe but cumbersome.

Leaving coins on an exchange amounts to handing your wallet to someone else. It is convenient, but if the exchange fails your coins can vanish with it — which has happened repeatedly.

Recovery phrases belong written on paper and kept offline. Photographing them or uploading them to cloud storage exposes them to online risk immediately. Coins sent to a mistyped address cannot be recovered either. Unlike a bank transfer there is no reversal, so testing with a small amount first is the safe practice.