How to properly store cryptocurrency

One of the most famous phrases in the crypto community is as follows: “not your keys – not your coins”. We are talking about private keys, i.e. unique combinations of letters and numbers that allow you to sign transactions and thus dispose of coins at the address.

Trezor Safe 5 hardware wallet

When a user uses centralised solutions like exchanges, they do not have access to private keys, which means that in essence the real owners of the coins here are the platforms. Therefore, as a result, crypto lovers must understand the peculiarities of its non-custodial storage and be responsible for the safety of digital assets themselves.

Employees of hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor predictably support this position. According to them, self-storage of coins allows investors to enjoy the growth of rates and at the same time protects them from the possible collapse of centralised companies. The clearest example of such a thing is the collapse of the FTX exchange in November 2022.

As noted by Trezor Bitcoin analyst Lucien Bourdon, the recognition of the first cryptocurrency by large institutional investors leads to the popularisation of digital assets and an increase in their value. However, there are still certain risks here. The expert is quoted by Cointelegraph.

The presence of institutional players leads to centralisation as individual organisations hold large volumes of bitcoins.

According to Bourdon, the emergence of large companies in the niche creates risks of increased volatility and negative investor sentiment. The latter are caused by fears of serious problems for such companies or even their collapse.

Self-storage of crypto allows you to insure yourself against such a thing, the expert notes. In this case, the investor independently stores a unique cid-phrase from his cryptocurrency addresses, does not depend on centralised intermediaries and decides when and what transactions to conduct. However, along with this also comes a great responsibility, as the loss of the cid will most likely lead to the loss of coins without the possibility of their recovery.

Trezor is not against the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies, because today it is a key factor in the development of the industry. For example, spot Bitcoin-ETFs recorded a net inflow of $38 billion by the end of 2024. However, the company’s staff reminds that holding shares in exchange-traded funds or MicroStrategy is far from the same as storing BTC, SOL or other coins using hardware wallets.

MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Sailor

Here’s a rejoinder to that.

If these institutions run into problems, the investors involved could suffer losses given the lack of the protection that self-storage of assets provides.

In the long run, self-storage coin enthusiasts are protected from these risks. BTC holders who control their own keys protect themselves from such vulnerabilities while benefiting from the growing acceptance of cryptocurrency and its long-term value.

Non-custodial storage of crypto protects investors in the long run. And if you learn to be careful with cid-phrases, this approach will allow you to survive bearish trends by accumulating promising coins without the risk of losing them.

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Who holds the most bitcoins

Large companies and governments continue to accumulate coins. For example, yesterday MicroStrategy reported buying 10,107 bitcoins worth $1.1 billion. Thus, the giant has accumulated 471,107 BTC, in which $30.4 billion was invested.

Ranking of companies with the largest BTC bitcoin reserves

However, ordinary private investors still own most of the bitcoin supply, Bourdon noted. At the end of 2024, various governments owned 471,000 BTC, equivalent to 2.2 percent of the cryptocurrency’s total supply.

Trezor representative is sure that this distribution of coins leaves governments in the role of catching up. Well, the dynamics itself emphasises the decentralised spirit of the first cryptocurrency, with power in the network distributed among individual players rather than centralised companies.

The expert continues.

Government adoption can bring about positive changes like incentivising financial discipline, promoting transparency and fostering economic growth. However, the true power of BTC lies in its ability to put control in the hands of the many, not just a select few.

Bourdon also touched on the topic of the US national cryptocurrency reserve. As it was revealed the day before, it may not consist of bitcoins, but of coins with American developers. And the representative of Trezor does not consider such an initiative worthy.

Unlike Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies that claim to participate in the strategic reserve do not have a fixed issue volume and are created or controlled by centralised structures. These assets lack the fixed scarcity and commodity characteristics that make BTC maximally suitable for the role of a reserve asset.

Cryptocurrency investors

Of course, Trezor is releasing hardware wallets that allow interaction with coins other than Bitcoin. So such a replica doesn’t seem particularly compelling.


Non-custodial storage is a standard in the cryptocurrency world. Thanks to it, investors take advantage of blockchain and decentralisation, and are not dependent on certain companies. And while this method involves a lot of responsibility, it's still worth getting to.


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