Choosing a wallet

Custodial or not, hardware or software: each choice trades convenience against control.

A wallet is how you manage an account and its funds. The first big choice is who holds the keys. With a custodial wallet, such as an account at an exchange, a company holds them, a bit like a bank. You sign in with a password the company can usually reset, and you don't technically have your own account on the ledger.

With a non-custodial wallet, you hold the keys yourself. You can do anything the ledger allows without anyone restricting you, but if you lose the keys, there's no way to recover them.

The second choice is where the keys live. A hardware wallet keeps them on a small physical device, away from computers and phones connected to the internet. A software wallet keeps them on your phone or computer: easier to use, but less protected.

Whichever you choose, protect what unlocks it: the password for a custodial wallet, or the seed for your own keys.

Sources

Crypto Wallets (xrpl.org) (checked 2026-10-22)

General information about how the XRP Ledger works, not financial, legal or tax advice.