Self custody, done carefully
How to hold your own bitcoin without losing it. Practical guides on wallets, backups and the mistakes that cost people everything. No investment advice, ever.
Browse by topic
Latest articles
-
Bybit Wallet: Who Holds the Keys, and What the Hack Took
There are two things called a Bybit wallet. Your exchange account is custodial, so Bybit holds the keys. The Seed Phrase Wallet in the app is…
-
GameStop Wallets: What Happened and Where the Keys Went
GameStop wallets were self custodial, so GameStop never held the keys. The iOS app and Chrome extension were removed on 1 November 2023, but the Secret…
-
Rainbow Wallet Crypto: What the Friendly App Leaves to You
The Rainbow wallet crypto app is self custody for Ethereum and two dozen compatible networks, and it does not hold bitcoin at all. Your keys live…
-
Bitget Wallet: Who Holds the Keys in Each of Its Wallets
Bitget Wallet is the self custody app once called BitKeep, run separately from the Bitget exchange. Its standard wallet makes the keys on your phone and…
-
Opera Wallet: What Happened and Where Your Bitcoin Is
The Opera Wallet no longer ships. Opera pulled it from Android in January 2025 and from iOS in April 2025, then removed it from Opera One…
-
SecuX V20 Review: Bluetooth, the App and a Hacked Banner
What the SecuX V20 Bluetooth link carries and what it cannot reach, read from SecuX’s security FAQ and Nordic’s 2019 chip announcement, the hacked app banner…
-
Klever Wallet Review: Who Holds the Keys, and What Broke
Klever wallet keeps your keys on your phone under one 24 word phrase, but Klever’s own chain was exploited in June 2026 for 486 million KLV.
-
Ballet Crypto Wallet: Ballet Made Both Halves of Your Key
What is actually on a Ballet card, read from Ballet’s own 2FKG page, the BIP38 specification and the store on 22 October 2026: who made each…
-
Cryptotag Zeus Review: 20 Words Fit, 33 Words Do Not
What the Cryptotag Zeus actually holds, read from cryptotag.io, Trezor’s site and the Ledger shop on 21 October 2026: 12, 18 or 24 BIP39 words, a…
-
OneKey Wallet Review: Genuine Downloads, Sellers and Code
The OneKey wallet app is free and the hardware starts at $79, but two pages that rank for it are not OneKey’s. What is genuine, read…
-
Coldcard Mk4 Review: Not Sold Direct, Still Getting Fixes
The Coldcard Mk4 is gone from Coinkite’s store but still gets the same firmware as the Mk5; seeds made before 5.6.0 need checking.
-
Wallet Passphrase: How Five Devices Handle the 25th Word
How Trezor, Ledger, Coldcard, Blockstream Jade and KeepKey each handle a wallet passphrase, read from their own documentation on 18 October 2026, what five public threads…