Every crypto wallet is built around a private key — the secret that authorizes spending. The single biggest difference between wallets is who controls that key, and that one answer shapes how much control, convenience, and risk you take on.
Custodial wallets
A custodial wallet — typically an exchange account — holds your keys on your behalf. It’s familiar: you log in with a password, and if you forget it, support can help you recover access. The trade-off is trust. You’re relying on the provider to stay solvent, secure, and available, and they can freeze or limit access.
Non-custodial wallets
A non-custodial (self-custody) wallet gives you the keys directly, usually as a seed phrase you back up yourself. No one can freeze your funds or stand between you and the network. The flip side: recovery is on you. Lose the seed phrase and there’s no support line to call.
Which should you choose?
- Choose custodial if you value convenience and account recovery, and you’re comfortable trusting a provider.
- Choose non-custodial if you want full control, censorship-resistance, and direct access to on-chain apps — and you’ll safeguard your seed phrase.
- Many people use both: custodial for trading, non-custodial for holding and using crypto day to day.
WATS Wallet is non-custodial: you hold your keys and can swap, send, and store across TON, Solana, and EVM networks from mobile or your browser.
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