Glossary
Cold Wallet
16/04/2026
A cold wallet (cold storage) stores cryptocurrency private keys entirely offline — on a hardware device, paper, or air-gapped computer. Because keys never touch the internet, remote attackers cannot steal the funds.
Cold wallet vs hot wallet
| Cold wallet | Hot wallet | |
|---|---|---|
| Internet connection | None | Always connected |
| Security | Very high | Lower |
| Convenience | Lower | High |
| Examples | Ledger, Trezor, paper wallet | Exchange account, software wallet |
Types of cold wallets
- Hardware wallets — dedicated devices (Ledger, Trezor, Coldcard) that sign transactions internally without exposing the private key
- Paper wallets — a printed private key or seed phrase stored in a secure physical location
- Air-gapped computers — a device never connected to the internet, used only to sign transactions
Best practices
- Store the seed phrase (12–24 words) on paper or metal, physically separate from the device
- Never enter the seed phrase on any computer or website
- Keep a backup copy of the seed phrase in a different location
