The saying “It’s not your keys, it’s your wallet”, which is a phenomenon in the crypto world, will probably continue to be one of the details that investors should always keep in mind. Elon Musk Influential names such as also attracted attention with their new posts reminding this detail.
This statement is a fundamental principle in the cryptocurrency community and emphasizes the importance of having private keys to one’s digital assets. As cryptocurrencies become more popular day by day, it is really important to understand the functioning of centralized exchanges (CEXs) and the nature of asset ownership.
CEXs operate as intermediaries that facilitate the buying, selling and trading of cryptocurrencies. Users deposit money into the exchange’s wallets and transfer them to a place that also has control of these assets, and the places are actually intermediaries. In this arrangement, private keys are managed by the exchange and not by the individual user. This centralized control means that users entrust the security and availability of their assets to a third party, which can pose significant risks.
Same principle; It can also be applied to hold derivative cryptocurrency products such as wrapped assets, multi-layered assets, decentralized futures and regular perpetual assets. These financial instruments represent an underlying cryptocurrency but do not give the owner direct control of these crypto assets. Instead, they are generally subject to the terms and security of the issuing platform; This usually means that the user does not have the private keys.
Elon Musk and other crypto advocates emphasize that true ownership in the digital asset space comes from holding one’s private keys. The safest way to have direct control over your cryptocurrencies is to use a hardware wallet. These physical devices store the user’s private keys offline, making them immune to online hacking attempts and unauthorized access. Hardware wallets give users complete sovereignty over their assets without relying on third-party services for security.
The message for cryptocurrency holders is clear: the only way to truly “own” your assets and keep them safe is with a hardware wallet. Ownership responsibility brings with it the power of control.