Crypto Custody: How to Safely Store Your Digital Assets

When you own cryptocurrency, crypto custody, the practice of securely holding and managing digital assets. Also known as digital asset storage, it's not a technical detail—it's the difference between keeping your money safe and losing it forever. Most people think buying crypto is the hard part. It’s not. The real challenge starts the moment you click "confirm"—because now you’re responsible for keeping it safe.

There are two main ways to handle custody: hot and cold. Hot wallets, software wallets connected to the internet like MetaMask or exchange accounts. Also known as online wallets, they’re convenient for trading but risky if your device gets hacked. Cold storage, offline methods like hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) or paper backups. Also known as offline wallets, they’re the gold standard for holding more than a few hundred dollars worth of crypto. If you’ve ever heard someone say they lost their crypto because they forgot their password or got phished, that’s a custody failure—not a market crash.

And it’s not just about the wallet type. Your seed phrase, the 12- or 24-word backup that can restore your entire wallet. Also known as recovery phrase, it’s the master key to your crypto. Write it on paper. Store it in a fireproof box. Never take a photo of it. Never email it. Never type it into a website—even if it looks real. Over 20% of all Bitcoin ever mined is believed to be permanently locked away because someone lost or deleted their seed phrase. That’s not a glitch. That’s a mistake anyone can make.

People think custody is about tech. It’s not. It’s about habits. It’s about treating your recovery phrase like a spare house key you’d never leave on the counter. It’s about not trusting exchanges with your life savings—even if they say they’re "secure." It’s about knowing that if you don’t control the keys, you don’t control the coins. The posts below show you exactly how real people messed up, what tools actually work, and how to avoid becoming a cautionary tale.