Who controls assets and keys before payment, and where that control changes.
Topic definitions
Definitions in this topic
12
Centralized exchange (CEX)
Also seen as CEX · centralised exchange · centralized crypto exchange · exchange account
A platform-operated crypto account where the company controls account infrastructure and typically executes trades or transfers for users. A CEX-linked card usually depends on an eligible exchange account or balance.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
An exchange dependency can shape custody, account access, supported balances, conversion, and transfer routes. It should be visible even when the card itself uses a familiar payment network.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide labels the exact dependency as CEX account required or No CEX account required only when approved facts support it. CEX dependency can inform custody and control comparisons, but it never changes ranking because of a commercial relationship.
Also seen as CEX account required · exchange account required · No CEX
CEX dependency indicates whether using the card requires an account with a centralized exchange. The dependency can cover signup, funding, custody, rewards or card management rather than every part of the payment flow.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
An exchange account can add identity checks, account restrictions and another operational dependency. Conversely, no required exchange account does not prove that the full card flow is self-custodial.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide states the approved account requirement and its scope. Public copy uses “No CEX account required” only when evidence supports that exact negative, never the ambiguous shorthand “No CEX.”
Also seen as wallet-linked · via connected wallet · wallet-direct spending · connected crypto wallet
A connected wallet is a crypto wallet authorized to interact with a card-related application or spending flow. Connection alone does not prove that assets were deposited, transferred or made directly spendable.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
A wallet connection may grant viewing, signing or spending permission while funds remain elsewhere. Users need to know which assets, networks and transaction steps the connection actually enables.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide describes the approved permission and asset boundary instead of calling every connection a deposit. It records custody, conversion and settlement separately from the fact that a wallet is linked.
Also seen as custodial account · provider custody · provider-controlled balance · provider-controlled funds
A setup where the provider or a named partner controls the relevant assets, account balance, or signing keys. This describes a control boundary, not a judgment that the product is automatically safer or worse.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
The user may depend on the provider for access, transfers, recovery, and settlement. The responsible entity and the exact controlled balance matter more than the label by itself.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide displays custodial only when approved facts establish the relevant provider-controlled boundary. It can affect custody and provider-dependency explanations, but affiliate status never changes that treatment.
Also seen as custody model · wallet custody · custody boundary · asset control
The arrangement that determines who controls assets or the keys needed to move them at a particular stage. Custody must be scoped to the relevant wallet, account, card balance, or settlement step.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
A card can combine user-controlled assets with provider-controlled settlement or credit. A single custody label is useful only when its account and payment-stage boundary are clear.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide treats custody as a structured product fact within Custody & control, not as a marketing badge or automatic quality verdict. Unknown or disputed custody boundaries receive no positive credit and remain visible.
Also seen as control until payment · funds before payment · wallet control · user-controlled until payment
A cryptocard.guide comparison fact showing whether the user keeps control of the relevant funds until a card payment is executed. It is narrower than the full custody model and does not describe every later settlement step.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
Two products with similar wallet language may move control at different stages. This fact focuses the comparison on when value leaves the user-controlled environment for the card payment.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide uses only an approved explicit value for this comparison and the Funds control lens. Unknown control receives no positive treatment; the fact does not replace separate custody, payment-model, or settlement evidence.
Also seen as hybrid control · hybrid settlement · hybrid smart-wallet flow
Hybrid custody describes a card setup in which control changes between the user, a wallet, the provider or another partner at different stages. No single custody label accurately covers the whole journey.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
The user may control assets before funding while a provider controls settlement funds later. Without the stage and balance scope, a broad custody label can give a false impression of continuous control.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide records each approved control boundary separately and explains when control changes. Hybrid custody is displayed as a scoped product fact, not treated as an automatic benefit or penalty.
Also seen as noncustodial · non-custodial account · non-custodial wallet · non-custodial MPC wallet
A setup described as not holding the user’s relevant assets or full signing authority. The exact key, co-signing, recovery, and settlement arrangement must still be checked; it is not always identical to self-custody.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
The term can cover several technical arrangements. Users need to know who can sign, freeze, recover, or move funds and which product stage the claim covers.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide preserves non-custodial as a separate approved classification rather than automatically rewriting it as self-custody. Public copy should state the wallet or account scope and expose any unresolved control boundary.
Also seen as key management · key export · wallet key
A private key is a secret credential used to authorize control over blockchain assets. Someone who obtains it may transfer the associated assets without the owner's approval, and completed transfers may be irreversible.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
Key control is central to custody claims, but exposing the key creates immediate security risk. A comparison service, card provider or ordinary support form should not need the user's private key.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide may describe approved key-control arrangements as product facts but never requests, stores or verifies a user's private key. Definitions and forms must not encourage secret submission.
Also seen as seed phrase · recovery phrase · recovery code · wallet recovery words
A seed or recovery phrase is a secret set of words or data used to restore access to a crypto wallet. Possession can provide broad control over the wallet and its assets.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
Sharing a recovery phrase can permanently compromise the wallet, even when the request appears connected to card support or verification. It is not an identity, referral or account-recovery code.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide explains the security boundary only and never asks users to submit a recovery phrase. Public forms and examples must avoid layouts that could be mistaken for secret-entry fields.
Also seen as self-custodial · user-controlled wallet · user-controlled assets · keep your keys
A setup where the user controls the relevant wallet assets or keys before payment. Card use can still depend on identity checks, supported networks, permissions, issuers, processors, conversion, and settlement partners.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
Self-custody can reduce reliance on a provider-held preloaded balance, but it does not make the entire card payment chain user-controlled or remove product access rules.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide applies the label only to the approved wallet or asset boundary and never infers no KYC, unrestricted asset support, or full-chain control. The Funds control lens also considers practical funding, spending, fees, and transfers.
Also seen as enabled asset · spendable stablecoin · cash balance · card-enabled wallet asset
A wallet asset is value held in a crypto wallet; a card balance is the value the payment flow can actually use. Connection, approval, transfer or conversion may be required between them.
Practical explanation
Why it matters
Seeing an asset in a wallet does not prove it can fund a purchase. The distinction reveals whether funds remain user-controlled, must be moved, or are converted before card authorization.
How we treat it
cryptocard.guide names the approved asset location and spending boundary. Wallet holdings do not become deposit routes or spendable card balances unless the documented product flow establishes that connection.