Crypto Custody Guide

Crypto Custody Guide

Self-custody starts with your seed phrase

Before comparing wallets or custodians, learn how a seed phrase controls your coins and what makes it recoverable or lost.

A seed phrase stamped onto metal plates laid on a wooden desk beside a hardware wallet and a notebook, lit by window light

What You Gain From Understanding Custody

Custody choices decide who can move your coins and what happens when a key is lost, so the guide starts with the trade-offs rather than a product list.

01

Match the wallet to the threat

A phone wallet, a hardware signer and a qualified custodian defend against different attackers. Comparing them by who holds the key and what recovery looks like keeps you from buying protection against the wrong risk.

Compare wallet types
Two hardware signing devices and a printed recovery card laid out on a pale oak desk beside a closed laptop, morning window light across the surface

02

Learn why seed phrases fail

Most losses come from how a seed phrase is stored, photographed or typed, not from broken cryptography. The self-custody section walks through the specific habits that expose a phrase and the offline alternatives that reduce that exposure.

Seed phrase security
Hands writing on a small card at a kitchen table with a metal stamping set and sealed pouch nearby, warm afternoon light

03

Know when a custodian fits

Institutional custody shifts key control to a qualified custodian under a legal agreement, which suits some holders and not others. The guide sets out what that arrangement covers, what it leaves with you, and the questions worth asking before signing.

Institutional custody
Reviewing a printed custody agreement at a conference table with a pen and reading glasses, daylight from tall office windows
A seed phrase written in ink on a numbered paper card beside a metal backup plate, a pen and a closed hardware wallet on a wooden desk in daylight.

Seed phrase security

Self-custody starts with one written backup

Your seed phrase is the only key to a self-custodied wallet, so its backup matters more than the device that holds it.

  • Write the words by hand on paper or stamp them into metal, then check the copy word for word
  • Store the backup somewhere separate from the device, ideally in a fire- and water-resistant container
  • Never photograph, type or paste the phrase into a phone, computer or cloud note
  • Rehearse a restore with a small test amount before moving larger holdings
Read the seed phrase security guides

Where Your Keys Actually Live

Five custody setups, and what each one asks you to protect.

A hardware wallet on a wooden desk beside a handwritten seed phrase card, a metal backup plate and a pen, lit by window light

Self-custody and seed phrases

The keys sit on hardware you hold, and the seed phrase is the only backup. You control access, and you carry the whole burden of loss, theft and forgetting. Read how seed storage, passphrases and recovery drills fit together.

Seed phrase security
A phone and a hardware wallet side by side on a dark surface, cables coiled nearby, showing two very different devices for holding keys

Wallet types and key management

Hot, hardware and multisig wallets differ in where the private key is generated and who can move funds. The choice sets your exposure to malware, phishing and single-point failure before any transaction happens.

Compare wallet types
A secure data hall with rows of locked server cabinets and a badge-controlled door at the far end

Institutional custody

Qualified custodians hold keys in segregated, audited arrangements under a legal agreement. You trade direct control for contractual and regulatory recourse, and you depend on the custodian's solvency and operations.

A printed checklist and a sealed envelope on a table beside a notebook, arranged as a personal recovery plan

Threat models and recovery

A plan is only as good as the failure it assumes: a lost device, a coerced signer, a dead exchange or an heir who cannot find anything. Map those scenarios to storage, backups and access before you need them.

Start with the threat model

Your keys are only as safe as your plan

Custody choices follow from what you are defending against: a lost device, a phishing page, a coercive visitor, or your own death. Pick the model after you name the risk.

Read the custody and threat model articles

Email series

Get the custody security checklist

Five short emails on seed phrase handling, wallet threat models and recovery planning, each with a task you can finish in one sitting.

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