What is self-custody in crypto?

Self-custody means you hold your own private keys — no exchange, broker, or custodian controls your funds. You sign every transaction yourself. The trade-off is full responsibility: if you lose your seed phrase, no one can recover your funds.

How do I back up my crypto wallet?

Write your 12 or 24-word seed phrase on paper or steel (never digital) and store it in 2–3 secure physical locations (safe, deposit box, trusted family). Never photograph it, never type it into a website, and never share it with anyone — including support staff.

What happens if I lose my self-custodial wallet?

If you have your seed phrase, you can restore your wallet on any compatible app and recover full access. If you lose both the device and the seed phrase, the funds are permanently inaccessible — no recovery is possible. This is why backup is critical.

Is self-custody safer than an exchange?

Yes for protocol-level risk: an exchange hack or insolvency cannot affect self-custodial funds (FTX, Mt. Gox, Celsius all proved this). No for user-level risk: most crypto losses are now caused by user mistakes (phishing, scams, lost seeds). Use a hardware wallet for amounts above $10K.

What is a DeFi aggregator?

A DeFi aggregator is a platform that routes your crypto swaps across hundreds of decentralised exchanges (DEXes) simultaneously to find the best rate and lowest slippage. Instead of trading on a single DEX like Uniswap, an aggregator like Steyble splits your trade across multiple pools and chains to maximise your output.

What is a crypto super app?

A crypto super app is a single non-custodial platform that combines every DeFi service — token swapping, staking, perpetuals trading, prediction markets, copy trading, cross-chain bridging, and crypto cards — in one interface. Steyble is a crypto super app, meaning you never need to switch between multiple DeFi applications.

Is Steyble self-custodial?

Yes. Steyble is entirely non-custodial and self-custodial. You hold your private keys at all times. Steyble provides the interface and smart contract routing, but never holds, controls, or has access to your assets. Every transaction requires your explicit wallet signature.

How do prediction markets work in crypto?

Crypto prediction markets let you buy or sell shares in the outcome of real-world events using on-chain smart contracts. If you buy a 'Yes' share at $0.35, you receive $1 if the event occurs (a $0.65 profit) or lose $0.35 if it does not. Markets cover crypto prices, elections, sports results, and macro events. Steyble's prediction markets are non-custodial — your funds remain in your wallet until settlement.

What are perpetual futures in crypto?

Perpetual futures (perps) are leveraged crypto trading contracts with no expiry date. Unlike traditional futures that expire monthly, perps let you hold long or short positions indefinitely. A periodic funding rate keeps the perp price aligned with spot. Steyble perpetuals run on decentralised smart contracts — you trade directly from your own wallet with full transparency into liquidation parameters.

How does copy trading work on Steyble?

Copy trading on Steyble automatically mirrors the on-chain trades of verified top-performing wallet strategies. You choose the wallets you want to copy, set your position sizing and risk limits, and Steyble replicates their trades in real time. Unlike centralised copy trading, Steyble is non-custodial — you never give up control of your funds.

What is the best way to earn passive income with crypto in 2026?

The best methods for passive crypto income in 2026 are: (1) liquid staking ETH or SOL at 3.5–8% APY, (2) lending stablecoins on lending protocols at 5–9% APY, (3) non-custodial copy trading to mirror proven wallet strategies, (4) providing liquidity to stablecoin pools at 3–6% APY, and (5) on-chain prediction markets for event-driven returns. Steyble provides access to all five methods in a single platform.

What is the best DEX aggregator in 2026?

The best DEX aggregators in 2026 route across 15+ blockchains and 100+ liquidity sources with MEV protection. Steyble's swap aggregator covers 250+ liquidity sources across Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Base, and more — consistently delivering better rates than going directly to any single DEX. For large swaps, using an aggregator saves 0.5–2% per transaction.

The 4-Layer Self-Custody Test: A Framework for Evaluating Wallets

Most wallet comparisons miss the point. Use this 4-layer test — keys, signing, recovery, exposure — to honestly evaluate any wallet's self-custody claim.

The phrase 'self-custodial' is used loosely. A genuinely self-custodial wallet must satisfy four independent properties — and most wallets fail at least one of them. The 4-Layer Self-Custody Test is a framework for cutting through marketing claims and evaluating any wallet's actual control profile. Apply it consistently and the answer to 'is this product really self-custody?' becomes unambiguous.

Layer 1 — Key Custody

Question: who holds the private key?
Pass: the user's device, hardware wallet, or a multi-sig where the user controls the quorum
Soft pass: MPC where the user holds the threshold-required share — strict scrutiny on the recovery service
Fail: a remote service holds any signing share by default — even if 'recoverable by the user'
Test: can the user export a key or seed they can use independently of the vendor's app?

Layer 2 — Signing Authority

Question: who signs the transaction?
Pass: the user's local device signs, with no remote co-signer required
Soft pass: a co-signer is required only above a user-defined threshold
Fail: the vendor signs by default and the user 'requests' transactions through a UI
Test: can the user sign a transaction with the vendor's servers offline?

Layer 3 — Recovery Sovereignty

Question: can the user recover their wallet without the vendor's cooperation?
Pass: a written seed phrase or hardware backup is sufficient — vendor irrelevant to recovery
Soft pass: social recovery via guardians the user chose, with no vendor in the quorum by default
Fail: vendor must approve recovery, or 'recovery' depends on a vendor-side database
Test: imagine the vendor goes bankrupt overnight. Does the user retain access?

Layer 4 — Permission Exposure

Question: what standing authority has the wallet granted to third-party contracts?
Pass: bounded approvals (Permit2 with amount and expiry) and explicit standing-approval audit
Soft pass: infinite approvals with a one-tap revoke surface that the user can audit at any time
Fail: standing approvals are invisible to the user, or revoke surface does not exist
Test: can the user list every contract that can drain their tokens, sorted by approved amount?

How Steyble Scores

Steyble passes Layer 1 (keys generated and stored on the user's device, hardware-wallet-compatible), Layer 2 (local signing, optional account-abstraction co-signers under user control), Layer 3 (12-word seed plus optional social recovery the user configures), and Layer 4 (Permit2 bounded approvals and a built-in approval audit dashboard). Apply this test to any wallet you are considering — most marketing-heavy products fail Layer 3 or Layer 4 within minutes of investigation.