What it means
The app or device that holds the key to your money on a blockchain and lets you send, receive and sign.
Strictly, a wallet doesn't hold tokens. They stay on the blockchain, recorded against your wallet address, and the wallet holds the private key that controls them.
How it works
Your address is public, like an account number, and you can share it to get paid. Your private key is secret: whoever has it can move everything at that address.
Wallets are custodial or non-custodial. With a custodial wallet, such as an account at an exchange, a company holds the key for you and can freeze or lose your funds. With a non-custodial wallet, you hold the key yourself.
They also come in different forms: apps on your phone or browser, called hot wallets; hardware wallets, small devices that keep the key offline; and embedded wallets, created inside an app when you sign in with your email.
Older wallets give you a seed phrase of 12 or 24 words to write down. Lose it and nobody can restore your wallet; share it and anyone can empty it. No real company will ever ask you for it.
Defied is a non-custodial crypto wallet for digital euros and dollars. Your wallet is an embedded wallet made with Privy on Base: you sign in with your email, there's no seed phrase to write down, and you can export your key to another wallet at any time. We never hold your money and we can't move it. See what a non-custodial wallet is.
Related terms
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Non-custodial wallet | A wallet where you, not a company, control the key, so only you can move what's in it. |
| Custodial wallet | A wallet where a company holds the keys and your money for you, the way an exchange or a bank app does. |
| Private key | The secret that proves a wallet is yours and signs every payment from it. Whoever has it controls the wallet. |
| Embedded wallet | A wallet created inside an app when you sign in with your email or Google, with no browser extension and no seed phrase to write down. |
This glossary explains terms in general. It isn't investment, tax or legal advice.