Alisa Davidson
Revealed: July 01, 2026 at 8:00 am Up to date: July 01, 2026 at 4:19 am
Edited and fact-checked:
July 01, 2026 at 8:00 am
In Transient
Tangem’s analysis finds crypto customers more and more use self-custody wallets for lively asset administration, whereas consciousness and adoption proceed to lag.
Swiss {hardware} pockets producer Tangem has launched an unbiased analysis report inspecting the altering function of self-custody within the digital asset market. The examine, titled From Storage to Participation: The Rise of Energetic Self-Custody, was commissioned by Tangem and ready by unbiased client analysis and strategic insights agency Protocol Concept. Based mostly on responses from greater than 3,100 cryptocurrency customers in the USA, the report explores how buyers are more and more utilizing self-custody merchandise past their conventional operate as safe storage.
In line with the report, the idea of Energetic Self-Custody displays a shift in how digital property are managed. Slightly than counting on {hardware} wallets solely for long-term storage, customers are more and more using them to retailer, switch, spend and handle cryptocurrencies whereas sustaining management over their non-public keys. The analysis means that self-custody wallets are evolving right into a central entry level for decentralized finance, blockchain purposes and digital funds with out requiring customers to switch asset possession to 3rd events.
Tangem additionally highlighted its personal enterprise efficiency as an indicator of this pattern. The corporate reported income of $61.3 million in 2025, representing year-over-year progress of 102%, whereas month-to-month lively customers elevated by 50%, pushed by higher engagement with in-app companies. In line with the corporate, these figures mirror rising demand for self-custody merchandise that help lively participation within the digital asset ecosystem.
Analysis Factors to Rising Position of Self-Custody
The findings problem the notion that {hardware} wallets are used primarily by long-term holders. In line with the report, solely 9% of chilly pockets customers recognized themselves as passive buyers, in contrast with 25% of customers who hold property on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Energetic merchants had been additionally discovered to be 1.8 instances extra probably to make use of chilly wallets than passive buyers, suggesting that self-custody has turn out to be more and more built-in into lively funding methods.
The analysis discovered that 77% of chilly pockets customers purchase, promote or maintain digital property immediately by their wallets, whereas 46% actively handle stablecoins. As well as, 43% reported managing property throughout a number of wallets and blockchain networks, 41% commonly use cryptocurrencies for funds, and 30% join their wallets to Web3 purposes. The report concludes that {hardware} wallets are more and more serving as operational instruments for managing on-chain exercise moderately than functioning solely as safe storage units.
“For years, the business handled self-custody because the place the place property had been moved as soon as customers had been executed utilizing them. That mannequin not displays actuality. At the moment’s pockets is changing into the interface the place customers can securely handle, deploy, and develop their property with out ever giving up possession,” mentioned Darya Karpukova, CCO of Tangem in a written assertion. “Energetic Self-Custody bridges safety and on a regular basis utility, and this report confirms what our personal knowledge has been telling us for a while,” she added.
The report additionally recognized a major hole between the perceived significance of self-custody and its precise adoption. Whereas 66% of surveyed cryptocurrency customers mentioned self-custody is vital, solely 15% presently use chilly wallets. In line with the findings, 88% proceed to retailer digital property on centralized exchanges regardless of 46% expressing considerations about main trade safety breaches.
Researchers discovered that the most typical obstacles to adopting chilly wallets had been the assumption that they’re pointless or meant just for giant portfolios and long-term buyers, adopted by considerations over complexity and price. The report additionally indicated that adoption rises considerably as customers turn out to be extra accustomed to self-custody know-how, with consciousness of chilly wallets remaining considerably decrease than familiarity with centralized exchanges and software program wallets.
“What the information reveals is a persistent hole between how self-custody is perceived by non-users and the way it’s utilized in observe,” mentioned Jonathan Inglis, Founder & CEO of Protocol Concept in a written assertion. “Chilly wallets are nonetheless broadly related to passive storage, at the same time as their function more and more extends throughout storing, rising, and spending. That hole in understanding is limiting perceived relevance and slowing broader adoption,” he added.
The analysis additional means that customers with direct expertise of self-custody usually maintain extra favorable views of the know-how than these relying completely on centralized exchanges. Skilled customers had been extra prone to think about self-custody safe, versatile and suitable with decentralized purposes. They had been additionally extra prone to imagine it may very well be adopted regularly with out abandoning centralized platforms or exposing giant quantities of capital to threat.
In line with the report, these findings point out that the first problem for wider self-custody adoption is not usability however consumer confidence and training. The examine concludes that higher familiarity with self-custody instruments may help broader adoption as digital asset administration platforms proceed to evolve.
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About The Creator
Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, focuses on crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising traits and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and have interaction readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.
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Alisa, a devoted journalist on the MPost, focuses on crypto, AI, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a eager eye for rising traits and applied sciences, she delivers complete protection to tell and have interaction readers within the ever-evolving panorama of digital finance.
Extra articles