What does self-custody mean for my money?

You hold your funds directly, rather than handing them to a company that holds them for you and promises to give them back. Your dollars sit on the blockchain under your own address. Whatever happens to Sovra, your money does not depend on it.

What stops anyone else from moving my money?

Every wallet is controlled by a private key, the credential that authorizes money to leave it. Sovra wallets are built with Privy, which splits the key into separate shares kept in different places, so no single party ever holds a complete key. Not Sovra, and not Privy. A transaction can only be completed with your approval, from your device. You get the protection of holding your own key without having to manage one.

What actually happens when I approve a payment?

Your PIN or Face ID is the signature. When you confirm, your device authorizes the transaction, and it is signed and submitted to the network. Nobody at Sovra can trigger that step, and nothing moves without it.

Where does my wallet live, and why is the app just a window to it?

Your money isn't stored inside the app or on Sovra's servers. It sits on a blockchain, a public network that no single company owns or can shut off. What makes that money yours is a private code that only you control — Sovra never has it, so Sovra can't move, freeze, or lose your money on its own.

The app is just a window onto your money. It shows your balance and lets you send and receive, but the money itself is never inside it. Close the app, or even delete it, and your money is still there, untouched.

And because that private code is yours, you're never locked in. Even if Sovra disappeared tomorrow, you could still get to your money on your own. Entry 8 explains how.