Cryptocurrency users prefer exchanges in front of self -ocustodyia wallets

The participation of users in autocustody wallets has decreased significantly in the last year, while the exchanges continue to consolidate their domain in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This is revealed by the report Vaneck Mid-July 2025 Bitcoin Chainheckpublished on July 24, 2025, which analyzes the behavior of users in relation to the custody of their digital assets.

According to Vaneck, The use of self -ocustodyia wallets fell from 30% to 23% in terms of monthly active userswhich represents an aggregate loss of approximately 14 million users in one year.

In contrast, the Exchange won about 4 million users in the same period. “Users are voting with their thumbs, and are increasingly choosing custodial exchanges above non -custodial wallets,” the analysis says.

The firm attributes this tendency to the operational fragility of self -ustody for most users, despite the philosophical value of sovereignty.

“If any native crypto is asked how it stores its private keys – in which you want to answer – it probably sounds risky, improvised or frankly precarious,” Vaneck warns, referring to practices such as paper annotations or the use of password managers.

As Vaneck mentions, the creation of new accounts and the increase in participation in exchanges does not necessarily mean that users are excluding the use of self -ocustody wallets. It may be the case that these users use a dual model where cryptoactives stored in exchanges whether means to trading or obtain or use immediate liquidityall this while keeping their long -term holdings in their self -ocustody wallet.

The report also clarifies that this preference for exchanges should not be interpreted as an absolute rejection of self -ustody. Some users could be active on centralized platforms for liquidity reasons or access to other markets, without completely abandoning their principles of digital sovereignty.

“We do not want to attribute the recent success of the exchanges about the Wallets only to their custody services,” Vaneck clarifies.

The firm concludes that, although the Wallets of Self -Custody remain a valid option, the market is inclined towards more accessible solutions and with institutional support, even outside the scope of the exchanges, such as the products quoted in the stock market (ETP) and the treasury actions of public companies.

In any case, this Vaneck data reveal that the cryptocurrency industry is increasingly resembled to bank and finance in custody modes and services available, including custody.

While this returns to Bitcoin more accessible to traditional investors and users, The transfer to third parties of the custody of the coins entails unnecessary and well -known risks.