Wallet
Ferramenta que guarda as chaves criptográficas usadas para acessar e movimentar cripto; ela gerencia as chaves, não os ativos, que ficam na blockchain.
Key points
- A wallet is the tool that holds the cryptographic keys used to access and move crypto.
- It does not hold the assets themselves, which exist on the blockchain, but rather the keys that prove ownership and authorize transactions.
- There are wallets under the user's own control and wallets custodied by third parties, with different levels of control and responsibility.
What is a wallet?
A wallet is the instrument that allows a person to interact with a blockchain, holding their keys and signing transactions. Unlike a physical wallet, it does not contain the money itself: the assets are recorded on the network, and the wallet only manages the keys that give access to them. Whoever controls the keys controls the funds.
How it works
A wallet manages a pair of keys for each account: the public key, which generates the address for receiving, and the private key, which authorizes spending. When sending a transaction, the wallet signs it with the private key and broadcasts it to the network, which verifies the signature. Most wallets derive all keys from a recovery phrase, a sequence of words that represents complete access.
Wallets are divided by who controls the keys. In self-custody wallets, only the user holds the keys and the recovery phrase, which gives full control but also full responsibility. In custodial wallets, a third party holds the keys on the user's behalf, which simplifies use but transfers custody to that intermediary.
There is also a divide between wallets connected to the internet, more practical for day-to-day use, and wallets kept offline, safer for storing value over long periods. Each format balances convenience and security differently.
Why it matters
The wallet is the gateway to using crypto: receiving payments, holding stablecoins, and authorizing transfers. For a freelancer who gets paid in crypto from abroad, it is in the wallet that the value arrives before being converted into reais through a crypto off-ramp. Understanding that the security of the funds depends on protecting the keys is the first step to using it well.
Risks and limitations
In self-custody wallets, losing the recovery phrase means losing access to the funds, with no support desk to recover it. Exposing the key or the phrase to third parties, whether through carelessness or a scam, allows them to steal the assets. In custodial wallets, the risk shifts to the soundness of the intermediary that holds the keys.