Self-custody

Holding your own private keys instead of trusting a platform to hold them.

Self-custody removes the risk that an exchange freezes, fails or is hacked, and replaces it with the risk that you lose your keys or seed phrase.

For long-term holdings, a hardware wallet plus a securely stored recovery phrase is the standard approach.

Related terms

Wallet

Software or hardware that stores the keys controlling an XRP Ledger account.

Custodial account

An account where a third party controls the keys to your crypto.

Seed phrase

The words that regenerate a wallet's private keys.