Beginner
Self-custody
Also: self custody, non-custodial
Holding your own private keys instead of trusting an exchange or other company to hold them for you.
With self-custody no company can freeze, lose or lend out your coins, but nobody can recover them for you either. It suits people willing to protect a seed phraseSeed phrase A list of 12 or 24 words that can recreate all the private keys in a wallet. Never share it. properly, often with a hardware walletHardware wallet A small physical device that keeps your private keys offline and signs transactions without exposing them..