Non-Custodial Wallet
A wallet where you control the private keys or seed phrase, so no exchange or third party can move your crypto for you.
A non-custodial wallet is a crypto wallet in which you, not a company, hold the private keys or seed phrase that authorize transactions. The wallet app may help you view balances, create addresses, and sign transactions, but it cannot recover your funds or move them without your approval. This design is often called self-custody because control and responsibility sit with the user.
It matters because it reduces reliance on exchanges, brokers, or payment apps that could freeze accounts, be hacked, or go offline. People use non-custodial wallets to store crypto, connect to decentralized apps, manage NFTs, or send funds directly on a blockchain. The trade-off is that losing the seed phrase or sharing it with a scammer can mean losing access permanently. For example, a hardware wallet or an app like MetaMask is typically non-custodial, while keeping coins in an exchange account is custodial because the exchange controls the keys on your behalf.
Other terms in Wallets & Security
Address Poisoning
A wallet scam where attackers plant lookalike addresses in your transaction history so you might copy the wrong recipient later.
Approval Phishing
A scam that tricks users into granting a malicious wallet or smart contract permission to spend tokens from their wallet.
BIP-39
A standard for turning wallet backup data into a human-readable seed phrase, usually 12 or 24 words.
Crypto Wallet
A tool that stores and manages the private keys needed to access and use cryptocurrency on a blockchain.