Most of this module has been about specific threats. This final lesson is the quiet routine that defends against all of them at once — practical wallet hygiene that experienced users treat as second nature.
Use more than one wallet
The single most effective habit is separating wallets by purpose:
- A vault wallet for long-term holdings you rarely touch — ideally a hardware wallet, never connected to random sites.
- A daily wallet for active trading with moderate amounts.
- A burner wallet for risky, first-time or unaudited dApps — funded with only what you can afford to lose.
If a burner gets drained by a bad site, your savings are untouched, because they were never reachable from there. This one structure neutralizes most catastrophic outcomes.
Get a hardware wallet for real value
A hardware wallet keeps your keys offline and signs transactions on-device, so even a compromised computer can't extract them. For any meaningful balance it's among the best protections available, and it pairs neatly with the vault-wallet idea.
Revoke approvals regularly
Make the approval review from Lesson 26 a routine — every so often, and after using anything new. Stale unlimited approvals are a standing liability; clearing them closes doors before they're ever used against you.
Keep the basics tight
- Seed phrase offline, in two safe places, never digital (Lesson 8).
- Bookmark official sites; reach DEXes through bookmarks, not search.
- Read signature requests before approving, every time.
- Keep software updated — wallet, browser and extensions.
- Be skeptical by default of anything urgent or free.
None of this is complicated, and together it removes the large majority of real-world risk. Self-custody asks you to be your own bank — wallet hygiene is simply running that bank well.
- Using one wallet for everything, so a single bad signature can reach your whole net worth.
- Keeping large long-term holdings in a hot wallet connected to many dApps.
- Setting up good wallets but never updating software or revoking old approvals.