Glossary
Self-custody
You hold the keys. There is no password reset.
Self-custody means the secrets that spend the coins are yours: device, phrase, backup. That is the point of a public ledger for many people. It is also the operational burden. Lose the backup and the coins are still on the chain, just not spendable by you.
An exchange account is custody by a company. Neither option is free of failure modes. Pick the one whose failures you can survive.
