Self-custody, which is how Enta works, isn't automatically "safer" in every way — it trades one set of risks for a different set. Here's the honest version, including where it's genuinely harder than an exchange.
The core difference
On an exchange, the exchange holds the keys to your funds — you have an account with a balance, and you're trusting the company to let you withdraw it whenever you ask. With a self-custody wallet like Enta, the key lives on your device, controlled by your Face ID or Touch ID, and Shiga never holds it. See What is a self-custody wallet? and Why ENTA doesn't use a seed phrase for the mechanics.
Where self-custody genuinely wins
No one can freeze your funds. An exchange can freeze withdrawals — for a compliance review, a technical issue, or because it's in financial trouble. Nobody can freeze a self-custody wallet from the outside, because nobody but you holds the key.
If the company disappeared, your funds wouldn't. Exchange collapses have wiped out customer balances because the exchange held the money itself. In a self-custody wallet, your funds are on the blockchain under your own key — a company disappearing doesn't touch them. See Is my money safe if ENTA's systems go down?
No one at the company can misuse your funds, by policy or by hack of their internal systems — there's no pool of customer funds sitting anywhere for that to happen to.
Where self-custody is genuinely harder — no sugar-coating it
There's no "undo" button. If you send funds to the wrong address, there's typically no customer support team who can reverse a blockchain transaction the way a bank can reverse an unauthorised card charge. See Sent to the wrong network? What to do next for what's actually possible.
You are the one thing standing between your funds and loss of access. Enta removes the seed-phrase failure mode specifically (see Why ENTA doesn't use a seed phrase), and gives you a recovery path if you lose your device — but the responsibility for keeping your device and passkey secure is still yours, not Shiga's.
It's less familiar. An exchange account looks and feels like an online banking account. A self-custody wallet is a genuinely different model, and that unfamiliarity is a real cost for a first-time user, not a minor one.
So which is actually right for you?
Neither model is universally correct — they trade different risks. If you're mainly trading and comfortable with an exchange's terms, that's a reasonable choice for that use case. If you're holding funds you rely on and want certainty that no company decision can freeze or lose them, self-custody addresses that specific risk — in exchange for taking on more personal responsibility for how you use it.
Still have questions? Message us in the chat — we're happy to help.