Historically, financial systems have forced people to leave assets in the custody of others.Cryptocurrency gives us the opportunity to be in control of our own digital assets and financial futures.To access this opportunity, we *must* custody our own digital assets.

Custody refers to the protective care or guardianship of something. Today, people routinely leave assets in the custody of banks, investment managers, and centralized exchanges. But trusting others w/ your assets can have downsides.When you have complete control over your assets, you don’t need to worry about any third-party’s choices.

It means you’re in full control and your assets are yours and yours alone.Crypto wallets like MetaMask are called *self-custodial* for this reason: You are the only one who can access your Secret Recovery Phrase .

There are no custodians giving you permission to control your assets or preventing you from interacting with them.The network is always on and available to you.But it also means you—and you alone—are responsible for the security of your assets. You must make good choices, like keeping your Secret Recovery Phrase safe.

That's because whoever has access to your SRP owns your digital assets.When you use MetaMask, that’s *you* - MetaMask doesn’t store any data about your wallet.No one can log into your wallet “on the back end” or lend out your assets without permission.

Our goal at MetaMask is to give everyone on the planet the ability to take back control of their identity, their interactions with the world, and their futures .