What Is a Non-Custodial Wallet?
Read time 1 min
Quick Answer:
A non-custodial wallet is a crypto wallet where you, not a company, hold the private keys. That means only you can move your assets, and only you are responsible for keeping access to them.
Keys, not coins
Crypto assets live on a blockchain, not inside an app. What a wallet actually stores is a private key: a secret that proves you own an address and lets you sign transactions from it. Whoever holds the key controls the assets.
Custodial vs non-custodial
With a custodial service, such as most exchanges, the company holds the keys on your behalf. You log in with a password, and the company moves funds when you ask it to. With a non-custodial wallet, the keys are generated and stored on your own device.
- Control: with a non-custodial wallet, nobody can freeze or move your assets without your key.
- Responsibility: if you lose both your device and your recovery phrase, no one can restore access for you.
- Privacy: you do not hand your keys to a third party.
What the recovery phrase is for
When you create a non-custodial wallet you receive a recovery phrase, usually 12 or 24 words. It can regenerate your keys on a new device. Anyone who sees it can take your assets, so it should be stored offline and never shared.
How Tavate handles custody
Tavate is a non-custodial wallet. Your keys and recovery phrase stay on your device and are never sent to us, which means we cannot access, move or recover your assets.
