In the wake of exchange hacks, insolvencies, and regulatory crackdowns, more crypto users are waking up to an important truth: “Not your keys, not your coins.” If your cryptocurrency is sitting on a centralized exchange (CEX) like Binance, Coinbase, or KuCoin, you don’t truly own it — you hold an IOU. The exchange controls your private keys, and in a worst-case scenario, they could freeze withdrawals, limit access, or even lose customer funds.