Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins
A warning that if you don’t control the private keys, you don’t truly control the funds.
"Not your keys, not your coins" reminds users that funds held on exchanges or custodial services can be frozen, lost, or mismanaged. True control requires holding your own private keys.
Best practice is to use non-custodial wallets for long-term holdings and keep only what you need for trading on exchanges. Always back up your mnemonic securely.
Related terms
5 linkedExplore connected entries beyond the alphabetical index.
Custodial Wallet
→A wallet where a third party controls the private keys on your behalf.
Non-custodial Wallet
→A wallet where you control the private keys, without relying on a third party to hold your funds.
Hardware wallet
→A physical signing device that keeps private keys isolated while approving cryptocurrency transactions.
Mnemonic
→A sequence of words used to generate and recover a private key, typically 12 or 24 words long.
Key pair
→A matched private key and public key used to prove control, verify signatures, and derive cryptocurrency addresses.
All terms and definitions may update as the Cryptionary improves.
