What do they mean when they say that "a crypto wallet doesn't hold crypto, but private keys"?

[Min George]

I have seen this particular statement in crypto apps and platforms related to crypto. They always say that your crypto wallet doesn't hold bitcoin but your private keys.

What does that imply for a crypto user?

 

[gwolf666]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a question I've seen on various cryptocurrency platforms and apps. They always say that your crypto wallet doesn't "hold" Bitcoin, but rather that what you actually have are your private keys. What does this mean for the average user? Up until now, I understood that private keys are like a password or direct access to my funds, but not the Bitcoin itself. This implies that if I lose these keys, I lose access to my cryptocurrency, even though I might still have the address or the amount on the blockchain. I'm a bit worried about the security and control I have over my funds. It's important to understand this well to know how to protect our keys. Can someone explain more clearly what this means in practice? Thanks for your opinions and advice.

 

[kit_hung]

They always say that your crypto wallet doesn't "hold" Bitcoin, but rather that what you actually have are your private keys. What does this mean for the average user? Up until now, I understood that private keys are like a password or direct access to my funds, but not the Bitcoin itself. This implies that if I lose these keys, I lose access to my cryptocurrency, even though I might still have the address or the amount on the blockchain.

To say the truth, this phrase leaves me more perplexed.
I guess I have to invest much more effort and time into understanding cryptocurrency.
Much needed in the current highly digitized space.

 

[Stardom22]

For me l would be more surprised when the wallet has some assets in it yet they say so. l think they say so for an empty newly created wallet.

 

[Suba]

If you use a custodial crypto wallet, the private key will be stored by the crypto wallet platform, but if you use a self-custodial wallet, the private key or wordsphrase will be stored by you yourself.