What a Wallet Really Is?

Hello,

This may seem an obvious question but for the newcomers in the crypto scene this can be a little tricky.

A pocket wallet is used to save your paper cash and to utilize it whenever you want. This is not the case for a blockchain non-custodial wallet.

As you know every non-custodial wallet when created gives you a seed phrase and a private key that must be saved by you the best way you can. Why it gives you this seed phrase?

This phrase, that is associated to your private key, unlocks your funds on the blockchain and lets you send or receive coins. But didn't I put my coins on the wallet?

No, your coins are stored on the blockchain, the wallet service does not have your coins. So what really is a wallet?

A wallet is just a software that gives you access to your coins on the blockchain, basically it's a user friendly interface that lets you interact with your assets on the blockchain, making it easy to use to every new person that enters the crypto space. No coins are stored in the wallet and that's why it's called a non-custodial wallet, nobody has custody of your coins only you (the person with the seed phrase/private key).

You can always check your wallet balance by putting your public key (receive address) on a blockchain explorer (has to be the explorer of your coins blockchain).

The other feautures that a wallet service gives you like exchanging coins are from a third-party partner of the wallet that let's you make this swaps. Your coins are never held by your wallet.

This makes another thing possible, you can setup the same seed phrase on any amount of wallets you want, you don't have to send your coins to another wallet to change wallets. You just need to put your seed phrase in your new wallet and that's it, all your coins should appear there. Be carefull where you put your seed phrase, put it only on legit services or your coins can be stolen, seed phrases and private keys are to be managed like it's the key of your vault, which is what they really are.

Best Regards,

Cryptopeach