In today’s economic landscape, we must store and safeguard our assets with great caution. With the rise of the digital economy, cryptos have emerged as an increasingly significant part of our portfolios. That being said, compared to conventional asset management, managing crypto assets presents more challenges to beginners.

Crypto Asset Explained

Crypto assets refer to digital assets with value and ownership protected by blockchain and cryptographic technology. Iconic crypto assets include cryptos like BTC and ETH, stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, as well as NFTs covering BAYC and CryptoPunks.

The Significance of Managing Crypto Assets

In the legacy financial system, common strategies of asset management include:

1. Storing funds in trusted and low-risk banks, with well-protected accounts and passwords.

2. Keeping cash and valuable items in safes and safeguarding safe combinations or keys.

3. Entrusting funds to third-party asset managers.

4. Purchasing insurance to protect assets against unforeseen events.

In the crypto space, however, none of the above strategies are feasible. Crypto assets represent a novel form of digital assets with decentralized characteristics. What this means is that once our cryptos are stolen in a security breach, they are almost irrecoverable. In this context, finding ways to manage crypto assets efficiently and securely has become a top concern for crypto investors.

In the crypto context, security management means the secure storage of private keys and mnemonic phrases. In the world of crypto, access to the private key and mnemonic phrases is equivalent to control over the assets stored in the corresponding address. Service providers like wallets and exchanges are, therefore, divided into decentralized and centralized platforms, depending on whether the private key is managed by users or the platform.

For investors, there are chiefly two ways to manage crypto assets: third-party custody and self-custody.

Third-party Custody

There are several modes of third-party crypto custody, which include:

1. Depositing crypto assets on a centralized exchange for centralized custody, which allows investors to trade freely on the exchange.

2. Storing crypto assets in a centralized wallet that can help users retrieve their assets through alternative means in case the private key is forgotten.

3. Entrusting all crypto assets to a crypto trust.

Self-custody

While third-party custody offers great convenience, it also carries security risks. For instance, investors face the risk of losses if they keep their assets on an unreliable centralized platform or custodial agency. This is also why many investors still favor decentralized self-custody. Self-custody options mainly include:

• Mobile wallets: Non-custodial wallets running on mobile devices.

• Wallet extension: Non-custodial extension wallets running on web browsers like Chrome.

• Desktop wallets: Non-custodial wallets running through client software on computers.

• Hardware wallets: Offline wallets that store private keys independently on a piece of hardware.

Decentralized self-custody wallets have become the preferred choice of many crypto investors, as they don’t depend on the security performance of third parties.

One example is ViaWallet, a decentralized self-custody wallet app that supports a wide range of cryptos and NFTs. Additionally, the wallet also features versatile functions such as staking, mining, DApp browser, convenient swaps, and transaction acceleration. Download ViaWallet and access the one-stop solution for managing your cryptos: https://viawallet.com/