A recent incident involving the Coldcard hardware wallet has cost users real money, and now a top executive at rival Trezor is weighing in with a familiar argument: hold your own keys.
Trezor's Chief Commercial Officer, Danny Sanders, published an article addressing the Coldcard incident. In it, he wrote that someone always holds your keys, and it should be you.
The Coldcard Incident
Details about what exactly went wrong remain thin. What is known is that the incident resulted in financial losses for affected users. The event has prompted a response from Sanders, who used the moment to reinforce the case for self-custody.
Sanders' Argument
Sanders didn't mince words. His core message: if you don't control your private keys, you don't control your funds. He argued that users should take direct custody of their assets rather than leaving them on exchanges or with third parties. The article frames self-custody as the only way to truly own your crypto.
The Self-Custody Debate
The Coldcard incident is a reminder that even hardware wallets come with risks. But Sanders' response shifts the focus to a broader principle: whoever holds the keys holds the money. The debate between self-custody and exchange custody has raged for years. Each approach has trade-offs. Exchanges offer convenience but require trusting a central party. Self-custody gives full control but puts the burden on the user to secure their keys.
Trezor, a manufacturer of hardware wallets, has a clear stake in this argument. Its products are designed to let users hold their own keys. Sanders' article reinforces that positioning. The incident, meanwhile, shows that no solution is foolproof, but the message from Trezor is consistent: the keys should be yours.
For now, users affected by the Coldcard incident are left to sort out the fallout. Sanders' article doesn't change that. But it adds a voice to the conversation about who should bear the responsibility for securing crypto assets. That conversation is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
