Lesson 1 of 2 · 7 min read
Keys and wallets
In crypto there's no support desk. That makes storage not a detail but the main event.
What a wallet really is
A wallet doesn't hold coins. It holds the key that lets you move coins; the coins live on the blockchain. Lose that key and they're still there, only nobody can ever reach them again. There's no authority that can step in, no password reset and no reversal. That's deliberate, and it means the responsibility sits entirely with you.
Hot and cold
A hot wallet lives on your phone or computer and is connected to the internet: handy for small amounts you actually use. A cold wallet is a device or a piece of paper that never goes online: safer, but more effort. The practical split is the same as with cash: what you need this week in your pocket, the rest in the safe. Keeping everything hot leaves you one phishing link away from losing all of it.
The recovery phrase
When you set up a wallet you get twelve or twenty-four words. Whoever has those words has your money, even without your device. Write them on paper, keep them in two separate places, and never put them in a photo, a cloud folder or a notes app. A photo on your phone is the most stolen backup on earth, because it syncs to the cloud automatically. Nobody legitimate will ever ask for those words.
Stocky says
Test your backup once with a small amount: wipe the wallet and restore it from your words. A backup you never tested isn't a backup.
Remember this
- A wallet holds your key, not your coins. Key gone is money gone.
- Small amount hot, the rest cold. Same as with cash.
- Never store the recovery phrase digitally, and nobody legitimate asks for it.
There is a quiz for this lesson
3 questions that check whether it stuck. They live in the app, because a quiz nobody grades teaches nothing.
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