Checks to make before you move crypto
- Step 1
Know who controls the keys
A wallet you hold the recovery phrase for is yours. An account on a platform is that platform holding keys on your behalf. Both are valid; the difference matters.
- Step 2
Store the recovery phrase offline
Write it down and keep it somewhere private. A phrase in a photo, an email, or a chat is a phrase that can be taken.
- Step 3
Check the wallet supports the network
A wallet that holds an asset does not automatically handle every network that asset exists on. Match it to the network the order names.
- Step 4
Copy the address from the order only
Use the address the current order displays. Do not reuse an address from a past order, a screenshot, or a message.
- Step 5
Send a small amount first if unsure
On an unfamiliar wallet or network, a small transfer confirms the path works before you commit a larger one.
A wallet holds keys, not coins
Cryptocurrency exists on its network, not inside an app on your phone. What a wallet actually holds is the set of keys that prove you may move it. That is why the recovery phrase matters so much: it regenerates those keys.
It also explains why a lost phrase is final. There is no central record to appeal to and no administrator who can issue a replacement.
Custody versus self-custody
A balance on an exchange is custody: the platform holds the keys and you hold an account. That removes the burden of protecting a phrase, and it means your access depends on that platform.
A self-custody wallet reverses both sides. Nobody can freeze it and nobody can restore it. Neither model is universally better; what matters is knowing which one you are using at any moment.
Networks are a wallet question too
Supporting an asset and supporting every network that asset lives on are different things. A wallet may display a balance while being unable to send on the network an order requires.
Check this before you start rather than mid-transfer. The order names the network it expects; your wallet has to be able to match it.
Habits worth keeping
Copy addresses from the order you are working on, never from history or a message. Verify the first and last characters after pasting, since address-swapping malware exists.
On an unfamiliar combination of wallet and network, send a small amount first. The cost of that test is almost always lower than the cost of a misdirected transfer.