With crypto, you have a paradox.

Crypto exchanges are convenient. They're easy. They allow you to spend crypto, earn crypto, earn rewards, cashback, you name it.

And it's very liquid. If you want to spend your crypto, it takes a second, you just swipe your card, which will be Visa or a MasterCard.

But the obvious drawback is that the money is not really yours. Hacks (Binance), fraudulent disaster (FTX), and compliance issues.

Almost overnight, several exchanges told their EU users: "we didn't get the MICA license, sorry, bye".

Everything's great when it's sunny, but a rainy day means your funds can easily get stuck, which is always annoying, and sometimes terrible if you have thousands or even tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars stuck.

With non-custodial wallets - cold or hot - you have the exact opposite problem. Your money is safe(r), at least theoretically. Sure, all of the above issues can still occur, but it's a lot less likely.

But the drawback is your money is not liquid at all. If you have 1,000 USDC in your MetaMask or Trust or whatever, how can you spend it? It's not immediate. There are layers.

Over the last few years, we've seen the rise of non-custodial wallets offering debit cards. In theory, it's the best of both worlds.

I've been using them for years and so far, I've never had any issues.

But there's a but. Ultimately, the only way to be 'safe' is to diversify. I hold my crypto across so many different platforms (both custodial and non-custodial).

Can any of them go wrong? Sure. It's always a possibility. Can all of them go wrong at the same time? Very, very unlikely.