"Not your keys, not your coins" gets repeated like a religious chant, but nobody explains what it means in practice. Here it is: what wallets actually are, the real trade-offs between the types, and a simple storage plan by how much you hold.
First mental model fix: your crypto lives on the blockchain, always. A wallet holds the keys that prove the coins are yours and let you move them. Whoever controls the keys controls the coins. Every wallet decision flows from that one sentence.
| Custodial (exchange account) | Self-custody (your own wallet) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the keys | The platform (MEXC, Easy Crypto, etc.) | You, and only you |
| If you forget the password | Reset it, like any account | Seed phrase recovers it. No seed phrase, coins gone forever |
| If the platform fails or is hacked | Your coins are at risk, possibly gone | Irrelevant, your coins are not there |
| If YOU get phished | Some platforms can freeze or help | Nobody can reverse anything |
| Best for | Active trading balances | Savings and long-term holdings |
Neither is "the right answer" universally. Exchanges have failed and taken customer funds with them (FTX is the famous case). Individuals also lose coins to lost seed phrases and phishing constantly. The honest rule: trade on exchanges, store in self-custody.
When you create a self-custody wallet you get 12 or 24 words. Those words ARE the wallet: anyone with them controls your coins from any device on earth, and without them nobody, no company, no government, can recover your funds.
Storage sorted? For the trading side, see why we rate MEXC for active NZ traders, cons included.
Read the MEXC reviewMEXC links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Crypto is high risk.