Wallet 101: your coins are not in your wallet.

Hello everyone.

After reading few comments here and there, I realized there might some confusion from time to time regarding wallets, and it's always a good idea to repeat such an important concept.

A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, software or a service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. But your coins are not stored in there!

Metamask, Trezor, Trust, Atomic, Daedalus or any of the many others out there are not actual wallets as the name suggests. Your crypto isn't physically inside your wallet, but it's logged in the digital ledger, where it can't be changed (let's not go into details here). Your wallet stores your keys and gives you the ability to access the blockchain, where your coins really are.

This is the reason you should never share your private keys with anyone. They are the only way to access your assets on the blockchain. It seems very simple for those who are into crypto for a while, but there might be some confusion regarding this concept.

Have a good day!