Crypto glossary
Mobile crypto wallet
A mobile crypto wallet is a phone app that stores keys or account access, letting users send, receive and use dApps from their smartphone.
Mobile wallets come in two broad kinds. Self-custodial apps generate a seed phrase and keep the private keys encrypted on the phone, often protected by the device's secure hardware and biometric unlock. Custodial apps, such as the wallet inside an exchange's app, only hold login credentials while the company controls the keys. Many apps also scan QR codes, connect to dApps and support several networks at once.
For most people, the phone is the first and sometimes only crypto wallet. It is how users pay at shops that accept crypto, claim airdrops, sign into games and move stablecoins abroad. Modern phones offer strong app isolation, which makes a well-built mobile wallet safer than one running on a cluttered desktop browser.
A mobile wallet is still a hot wallet. Fake apps that imitate known brands appear in official stores from time to time, phones get lost or stolen, and SIM swaps can compromise linked accounts. Download only from the developer's official link, write the seed phrase on paper rather than in screenshots or cloud notes, and keep larger amounts in cold storage.
Example
A freelancer in Argentina receives USDT on a self-custodial mobile wallet, then scans a merchant's QR code to pay for groceries from the same app.