What is a self-custody wallet? (also known as a non-custodial wallet)

If a wallet is non-custodial, that means you as a user are fully responsible for storing and protecting the cryptocurrencies / assets held on it.

Think of it like this:

If you had $10K in cash, you could:

A: Put it in a bank (custodial)

B: Hide it under your mattress (self-custodial / non-custodial)

In the crypto world, the ‘banks’ would be cryptocurrency exchanges and the ‘mattress’ would be, well…still a mattress.