SELF CUSTODY It’s important that we have a good grasp of what self-custody really is if we are to fully understand how to safeguard our coins. There’s a classic phrase “not your keys, not your coins”, what this means is when you download a wallet app to your phone, or a desktop browser extension, you are the only person who ever has access to the private keys that holds the assets contained in that wallet. Nobody else has the ability to move the coins or any other assets contained in the wallet except YOU. If for instance, you create an account with Binance, Coinbase or any other CEX, you can buy/sell tokens on their platform as long as you are logged in, but in reality, you do not actually have the “keys” to any of the token or coin you have purchased on their platforms, what happens is that on the basis of you been being logged in to the platform with your password and all, you are granted access to the keys of the coins or token. This is why experienced traders prefer to keep their tokens in private wallets and only move to an exchange when they are ready to sell or buy as the case may be. This minimizes the time and exposure to third party risks while your coins are out of self custody.
Tip number one is to always feel confident in your ability to practice safe crypto storage and management and to mitigate the risk associated with not practicing self custody. In essence , self custody is having control of your coins or token fully, by having them in private secure wallets. A good example of one is the phantom wallet.