3 self-custody wallets to safeguard your crypto assets following the FTX crash

Temitope Akintade
Self-custody wallets

One of the most popular sayings in the crypto space – ‘not your keys, not your coins’ – has become prevalent due to issues surrounding the collapse of FTX. What this saying is reemphasising is the need for a self-custody wallet rather than storing digital assets on centralised exchanges. 

What the implosion of FTX and the subsequent drama has shown us is that no matter how big a centralised exchange is, you’re still never in full control of your funds. Given this, it is time to start looking at self-custody wallets to store digital assets. 

What is a self-custody wallet?

Self-custody wallets (non-custodial wallets) are designed to give users full control over their private keys. Note that with custodial wallets, private keys are held by a third party – a crypto exchange or a wallet provider, which means users don’t control their crypto assets. Instead, users have to trust that the third-party custodian will secure their crypto for them.

Read also: 3 sports tokens that could get a major price boost during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Custodial wallets have caused significant crypto losses in the past due to mismanagement and/or negligence of exchanges concerning securing users’ funds. FTX saga and the more recent AAX are fresh.

However, self-custody wallets provide you with direct access to public blockchains and full ownership of your assets as long you have access to your private keys. There is no dearth of self-custody wallets to use in the crypto industry, but we have come up with a list of the top three to secure your crypto assets. 

Metamask

Metamask was launched in 2016 by ConsenSys. It is one of the most popular self-custody wallets because it was one of the only available options during the massive DeFi boom back in the summer of 2020, which later came to be known as the DeFi summer. 

Over the past year, one of the main benefits of the MetaMask wallet is the integration with the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea. MetaMask allows users to create ERC-20-based wallet tokens, but it can also be integrated to function on other EVM networks such as the BNB Chain, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum. 

Metamask is one of the top 3 self-custody wallets

Additionally, the crypto wallet can be added as a browser extension that allows users to interact with decentralized apps (dApps) built on Ethereum and other EVM-compatible networks. MetaMask takes no custody of your seed phrase and private keys, providing you with complete control over your assets.

Trust Wallet

Trust Wallet is an open-source and decentralised crypto wallet owned by Binance. The application offers users various options to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Trust Wallet currently provides support for over 35 blockchains and more than 160 different digital assets. The wallet has in-house buy, swap, and exchange features that allow users to trade one crypto asset for another easily or buy crypto with fiat.

Trust Wallet is one of the top 3 self-custody wallets

Users can also interact with dApps on Ethereum and 14 other EVM-compatible ecosystems without compromising security and privacy. The wallet is available on iOS, Android, and desktop devices. It is one of the best self-custody wallets out there. 

Self-custody wallets

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Exodus Wallet 

Exodus is a simple, beginner-friendly wallet that supports more than 180 different cryptocurrencies. It also supports swaps between more than 150 different cryptocurrencies. It enables users to keep all their crypto in one place while plugging into multiple different exchanges.

Exodus Wallet is one of the best self-custody wallets

Exodus allows you to set custom fees to keep expenses low, as well as automatically set a fee to ensure the transaction is completed quickly. Exodus also works with the Trezor hardware wallet.

Lastly 

With all their advantages, the only downside to self-custody wallets is that losing the private key/seed phrase means you lose all access to your assets. So, it is very important to keep your private key in a safe folder/file. 


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