Cold wallet

A cold wallet keeps the private keys entirely offline, disconnected from the internet, to reduce exposure to remote attacks. Examples include hardware devices and paper backups. Because signing happens offline or on a dedicated device, cold storage is often used for larger, long-held balances, with the trade-off that access is less convenient than an online wallet.

A common misconception is that cold storage is immune to loss; physical damage, theft, or a lost seed phrase can still cause permanent loss. See hardware vs software wallets to compare approaches.