Wallets
Control, custody, seeds, signing, funding, recovery, and the mistakes that cost people everything.
Who actually controls the account?
It isn’t the app name. It’s whoever controls valid signing authority.
Self-custody
You control the keys, the signing, and the responsibility.
Exchange custody
The exchange controls the keys. Your balance may only exist inside its database until withdrawal.
Watch-only
You can view the account without holding signing authority.
Seeing an account in an app doesn’t prove you control it. Signing authority proves control.
Seeds, keys, and signatures
Your seed isn’t a password. There’s no reset desk behind the ledger.
- Never type your seed into a random website.
- Never leave it in plain text cloud notes.
- Never photograph it and forget it in your camera roll.
- Test recovery before trusting a setup with serious value.
Funding an XRPL account
An account becomes active on-ledger when it receives enough $XRP to meet the current reserve.
Address
The public destination beginning with r.
Destination Tag
An extra identifier exchanges often use to route a deposit.
Reserve
The minimum $XRP the account and its owned objects require.
Read before you sign
The wallet should show exactly what you’re authorizing.
Type
Payment, trustline, offer, NFT offer, or account setting?
Destination
Is the address correct?
Amount
Is the amount and asset right?
Issuer
For issued assets, is the issuer right?
Flags
Are permissions or settings changing?
Fee
Is the transaction cost reasonable?
The website’s button can lie. The signed transaction is what the ledger executes.
Regular keys and multisigning
XRPL lets accounts separate everyday signing from the master key and require multiple signers.
Regular Key
An alternate signing key you can rotate.
Master Key
The original account authority.
Signer List
A multisigning setup requiring enough signer weight.
Wallet mistakes that destroy accounts
Most wallet disasters are simple authority failures.
Did it click?
Answer these without guessing.
What proves account control?
Can a seed be reset?
What should you verify before signing?
Keep moving
Open the next application and keep building the full picture.