Lesson 1 of 6, about 4 minutes to read
What your wallet actually holds
Keys, addresses and token accounts, and why nobody else should ever see your recovery phrase.
A Solana wallet is a pair of keys. The public key is your address: anyone can see it and send tokens to it. The private key signs transactions, and your recovery phrase is a human-readable backup of it. Whoever has the phrase controls everything at that address.
Your tokens are not stored inside the wallet app. They are records on the Solana network, tied to your address. The app reads those records and asks you to sign when something should change.
Non-custodial means you sign everything
In a non-custodial app, the app never holds your keys or your funds. It prepares a transaction, your wallet shows you what it does, and nothing happens until you approve it in the wallet. PINGO works this way: when swaps arrive, every one of them will need your signature.
- No real app, support agent or airdrop needs your recovery phrase. A request for it is a theft attempt.
- Read what your wallet shows before you approve. A signature can move tokens, not only log you in.
- A hardware wallet keeps the private key off your computer and phone.
Token accounts
Each token you hold sits in its own token account linked to your address. Opening one takes a small deposit called rent, about 0.0015 SOL for a standard token account. Closing an empty token account gives that deposit back.