Non Custodial Wallet

Note about this article

🆗 The wallets we’ll describe here are wallets that you can install/configure/own (self custodial) and use with decentralized applications.

⛔ It is NOT the wallets from Centralized EXchanges (CEX) like Binance, Crypto.com, Kraken, etc. 

Introduction to Non Custodial Wallets

A crypto wallet is mainly a tool allowing interacting with one or several blockchains, depending on the wallet used. You can send/receive tokens on a blockchain as well as consulting your activities on these blockchains.

Several wallet types exist, from pure software wallets (that will be presented here), to hardware wallets (such as Ledger, Trezor, etc.).

Seed Phrase

Before using blockchains with crypto wallets, it is mandatory to understand 1 concept: the seed phrase. 

Seed Phrase Definition

It can be called differently (seed, secret, passphrase, recovery, mnemonic, etc.) depending on the application but it will always be a suite of 12 OR 24 random words. Why words? Because it is easier to manipulate than numbers. Accounts (or addresses) are derived from the seed phrase.

To keep it very simple, let’s consider the seed phrase as a master key. As long as you can access it, you will always be able to retrieve all the accounts associated to this seed phrase (it’s the same for a hacker 🙂 ).

The associated accounts are composed of 2 parts:

• One is public and can be shared to identify your account: it’s your public address or public key
• The other one is private and is used by the wallet to sign the transactions initiated on this account. It is never shared. It’s the private key.

Many accounts can be derived from the same seed phrase (it depends on your wallet). 

Sumup

• 1 seed => several account possibilities
• 1 account =>
  • 1 public key or address
  • 1 private key

THE Security Rule About the Seed Phrase

The one who can access a seed phrase, can also access the associated funds. So if you share it, you can lose all the funds associated to this secret phrase. If you lose it, you will not be able to migrate to a new environment (new computer, new browser, new phone, new setup, etc.)

Nobody will NEVER ask for your seed phrase. It is quite simple: if someone requests it, it is a scam.

You'll discover several ways of securing your seed phrase in the next pages, so please take the needed time to store it securely.

There is no bank, nor company, nor 3rd party involved here in securing your funds. You are the only one responsible for your funds => a great power = a great responsability. ;)

Non Custodial Wallet Examples

The wallet you need depends on the blockchain used. The most known/used blockchains are:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum Virtual Machine blockchains: It includes Ethereum of course but also: Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Moonbeam, Avalanche C-Chain, Gnosis chain, Astar, Cronos, Evmos, etc.
• Solana
• Cosmos
• Elrond
• Polkadot

Always double check the source used to download a crypto wallet. Hackers can deploy false wallets to steal your funds (usually by asking your seed to “restore” a wallet).