What is a crypto wallet?

Wallet: A program or device with which you manage your crypto. In fact you keep the key, not the coins themselves.

Your coins are not really inside your wallet, they are on the blockchain. Your wallet stores the key that proves the coins are yours and lets you send them.

There are wallets on your phone or computer, and hardware wallets. A hardware wallet is a small device that keeps the key offline. You can also leave crypto on a trading platform, which then holds the key for you.

If you hold the key yourself, you are responsible for it. There is no help desk that can restore your money if you lose it.

Example
Say you have 2,000 euros worth of crypto on a trading platform. If that platform goes bankrupt or is hacked, you may not be able to reach that money. In your own wallet you are in control, but you are also responsible for the seed phrase.

Watch out
Fake wallets and fake apps are a common scam. A real wallet or help desk will never ask for your seed phrase.

Read more in the guide Hardware wallet: keeping your keys yourself, but how?.

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