Self-custody and cold storage

Holding your coins in a wallet where you control the keys, instead of leaving them on an exchange.

What it means

On an exchange someone else holds the keys; a hardware wallet keeps your own keys on an offline device.

What to watch

Who holds the keys, where your seed phrase backup is kept, and whether an exchange could pause withdrawals.

How Compass-Alpha uses it

The Wallets page lets you follow a self-custody wallet, including a hardware wallet, with just its public address.