BitHedge

Crypto wallets: the four decisions that actually matter

Before comparing apps, it is worth knowing which four choices you are making. Get these right and the shortlist writes itself. One disclosure first: BitHedge holds bitcoin and nothing else, so this page is here to help even if you leave it.

See what it doesGet supportComing to the App Store for iPhone.

1. Who holds the key

This is the decision everything else hangs off. In a custodial wallet — every exchange account, and a fair number of apps that call themselves wallets — a company holds the key and your balance is a number in their database. You get password resets and a support line. You also get withdrawal freezes, compliance holds, and counterparty risk if the company fails.

In a self-custody wallet the key is generated on your device and stays there. Nobody can stop you spending, and nobody can help you if you lose the recovery phrase. If a wallet can restore your access after you have lost everything, someone other than you holds a key.

2. Hot or cold

A hot wallet lives on an internet-connected device. It is convenient, which is exactly what makes it a spending wallet rather than a vault. A cold wallet keeps the key on a device that never connects — the signature is produced on the hardware and only the finished transaction crosses over.

The useful framing is a physical one: a hot wallet is the cash in your pocket, a cold wallet is the safe. Nobody carries their savings around, and nobody keeps a safe by the front door for bus fare. BitHedge is deliberately the first of the two, and we will not call it cold storage in the place where people search for exactly that.

3. One asset or many

A multi-chain wallet must understand several transaction formats, several fee models, token standards, contract interactions, and often a bridge or two. That is a great deal of code, and most of it is funded by a swap partner taking a spread on your trades. It works, and for someone actively holding six assets it is the right tool.

A single-asset wallet has one signing path and nothing to sell you. Fewer moving parts is a security property, not an aesthetic preference — token approvals, for instance, are a way to lose money that simply does not exist in a wallet that only ever signs a payment of a specific amount to a specific address.

4. What it does when you are not looking

The last one is about the company, not the cryptography. Does the wallet embed analytics? An advertising SDK? A crash reporter that ships your device identifiers somewhere? Does it require an account? Does it show you assets because someone paid for the placement?

These are answerable questions. The App Store privacy label is one source; the wallet’s own privacy policy is another, and a wallet that will not list the servers it contacts has told you something. BitHedge’s complete list is three endpoints, one of which is optional and is your own node.

Where BitHedge lands

Who holds the keyYou. Generated on your iPhone, never transmitted
Hot or coldHot. A phone wallet, for everyday amounts
AssetsBitcoin only. No tokens, no swaps, no buying
Data collectedNone. No account, no analytics, no server

If those four rows describe what you want, see how it works on iPhone. If they do not, the questions above are still the right ones to take to whichever wallet you pick instead.

Common questions

What is a crypto wallet?

Not a container for coins — the coins never leave their blockchain. A wallet stores the private keys that authorise moving them, and gives you an interface for doing so. That is why a wallet can be a phone app, a USB device, or twelve words on paper: all three are ways of keeping a secret.

What is the difference between a custodial and a non-custodial crypto wallet?

In a custodial wallet a company holds the keys and your balance is an entry in their database; they can freeze it, and they can restore your access. In a non-custodial wallet the key is on your device and only you can spend — nobody can freeze it, and nobody can recover it if you lose the recovery phrase. Exchange accounts are custodial even when the app calls itself a wallet.

What is the difference between a hot wallet and a cold wallet?

A hot wallet keeps keys on an internet-connected device — a phone or a laptop. A cold wallet keeps them on a device that never goes online, usually a hardware wallet, so a compromised computer cannot reach the key. Hot is for spending money, cold is for savings. Most people who hold a meaningful amount end up using both.

Do I need a different wallet for every cryptocurrency?

No — multi-chain wallets exist and work. The question is whether you want one. A single-asset wallet has less code, fewer third-party integrations, and no swap desk with a commercial interest in your trading. A multi-chain wallet is more convenient if you actively hold several assets. Both are defensible; they are simply built for different people.

Is BitHedge a crypto wallet?

It is a Bitcoin wallet. It holds bitcoin and refuses everything else — no Ethereum, no stablecoins, no tokens, no NFTs, no swaps. If you came looking for a wallet to hold several assets, this is not it, and it is better to say so on this page than to waste your download.

Which crypto wallet is safest?

The safest wallet is a hardware wallet holding keys that were generated offline, with the recovery phrase written on paper and stored somewhere only you can reach. Nothing on a phone beats that. What a well-built phone wallet can do is come close for everyday amounts: keys generated on device, held in secure hardware, never transmitted, with no company able to freeze or lose them for you.

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