Crypto's Self-Custody Mantra Evolves Amid Growing Complexity
Crypto's long-standing 'Not your keys, not your coins' mantra has been updated to reflect changing wallet technology and user control. The phrase was first coined by Andreas Antonopoulos but has now evolved to include descriptors, multi-party computation wallets, and entropy.
A recent blog post from wallet firm Nunchuk proposed the revised version: 'Not your keys, not your descriptors, not your coins.' Descriptors are essentially blueprints that tell software how to derive and manage addresses from private keys. In modern multi-signature wallet setups, losing the descriptor can make assets inaccessible even if all keys are safely stored.
Another variation, 'Not your MPC, not your coins,' has emerged with the growing attention on multi-party computation wallets. These wallets split a private key into multiple shares distributed across different parties or devices. The concern is that users may not have independent control over their assets if a third-party provider controls the computation process.
Some community voices have also started circulating 'Not your entropy, not your Bitcoin,' which highlights the importance of secure random number generators in creating seed phrases.