What is a crypto wallet?

People picture a crypto wallet as a digital purse with coins inside. It's actually more like a keychain. Your crypto lives on the blockchain. The wallet holds the keys that let you move it.

A wallet has two important parts:

• Your address. This is a long string of letters and numbers that people use to send you crypto. It's like an account number. You can share it, but remember that anyone with it can see that address's history on the blockchain.
• Your private keys. These prove that the crypto at your address belongs to you. Most wallets back them up as a seed phrase of 12 or 24 words. Never share these.

When you send crypto, your wallet uses your private key to "sign" the payment. The network checks the signature and records the payment.

Wallets come in a few forms:

• Apps on a phone or computer (often called hot wallets).
• Hardware devices that keep keys offline (often called cold wallets).
• Exchange accounts, where the company holds the keys for you. That's convenient, but you're trusting the company.

One beginner rule: always double-check the address and the network before you send anything. A wrong address or the wrong network can mean the crypto is gone for good, and there's no bank to reverse it.