Wallets
Who holds the keys
One question separates every wallet from every other: if the company disappeared tonight, would your coins still be reachable?
19 Oct 2026 7 min
Buy and hold Turning money into crypto, and keeping the key to it.
Wallets
A wallet does not hold coins. It holds a key, and the key is the only thing the network accepts as proof that the coins are yours. Everything else in this section follows from that one sentence: whether the key sits on a phone or a separate device, whether it ever touches the internet, and whether it is yours at all or somebody is holding it for you. We describe what differs between devices. We do not rank them.
In this section
- 6 guides
Includes device directory
Guides in this section
Wallets
Hot, cold and hardware
Three categories, one variable: whether the key ever touches an internet-connected computer. That single difference decides what can go wrong.
19 Oct 2026 8 min
Wallets
Choosing a device
We do not rank them. Here is what genuinely differs between devices, so the comparison you make is your own.
19 Oct 2026 9 min
Wallets
What "offline" really means
The word is used loosely in advertising. Precisely, it means one thing: the key was born on the device and has never left it.
19 Oct 2026 8 min
Wallets
Moving between wallets
Upgrading to a hardware wallet, or leaving an app you no longer trust. The order of operations matters more than the destination.
19 Oct 2026 8 min
Wallets
If you lose access
A broken device is an inconvenience. A lost phrase is permanent. Knowing which situation you are in decides what to do next.
19 Oct 2026 8 min
Everything in Wallets
The full map of this subject. Items without a link are being written.
Where this sits
The whole compendium is four groups. You are in the one marked below.
Buy and hold you are here
Turning money into crypto, and keeping the key to it.