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Crypto & Digital Assets

Custodial vs Non-Custodial Wallet

Also called: self-custody, custodial wallet, non-custodial

In a custodial wallet a company holds the keys and you hold an IOU; in a non-custodial one you hold the keys and the company holds nothing. FTX made the difference concrete: customers who believed their exchange balance was theirs became unsecured creditors overnight. Custody buys password resets and support at the price of counterparty risk that self-custody eliminates entirely.

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