Where to keep your crypto: wallets for New Zealanders

Custodial or self-custody: who holds the keys?

Every crypto wallet is really a way of holding a private key — the secret that lets you move coins. The question that matters is who holds it. On an exchange or broker app, the company does: that’s a custodial wallet. You have a login and a balance, and you’re trusting the company to stay solvent, honest and unhacked. In a self-custody wallet, you hold the key, usually backed up as a 12- or 24-word recovery phrase. Nobody can freeze or lose your coins for you — and nobody can rescue you if you lose the phrase.

New Zealand has learned this the hard way. Christchurch exchange Cryptopia was hacked in January 2019 and went into liquidation; its roughly 960,000 account holders waited until December 2024 for liquidators to begin distributing bitcoin and other coins worth at least NZ$400 million, after the High Court ruled in 2020 that the crypto was property held on trust for customers. Auckland’s Dasset lost its banking partner, went into liquidation in August 2023 with about $6.9 million of liabilities against $0.6 million of assets, and has been the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation since February 2024. Customers who had withdrawn to their own wallets weren’t caught up in either.

Hot wallets vs cold wallets

A hot wallet keeps its keys on an internet-connected device — a phone app or desktop program. It’s free, quick, and good for amounts you’d be comfortable carrying in your wallet. A cold wallet keeps the keys offline, usually on a dedicated hardware device that signs transactions without exposing the key to your computer. It costs money and adds a step, but malware on your laptop can’t empty it.

A sensible split for most Kiwis: a hot wallet with a few hundred dollars for day-to-day use, and a cold wallet for anything you’d be upset to lose. If you only hold crypto inside Sharesies or a single exchange, you don’t have a wallet decision yet — but read the withdrawal section below before you buy more.

Wallets we’d shortlist

There’s no single best wallet, so here are well-established options by type. Localcoin, which runs many of NZ’s Bitcoin ATMs, recommends Trust Wallet, BlueWallet and Exodus to its customers — a decent starting list for app wallets.

Bitcoin-only users tend to pair BlueWallet on the phone with Sparrow on a laptop and a hardware device for savings. Multi-coin holders — especially anyone with USDT on Tron or Ethereum — usually want Trust Wallet or Exodus, plus a Ledger or Trezor that supports the same chains. Before you buy, check the device supports every coin and network you hold. For more on the coins themselves, see buying Bitcoin and buying USDT.

Lightning wallets and Stacked

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network makes small payments almost instant and nearly free, which is why Queenstown’s cluster of bitcoin-accepting cafés and shops runs on it. Stacked — the Queenstown company formerly called Lightning Pay, registered as Lightning Pay Ltd (FSP1005773) — launched a self-custodial Lightning wallet and describes itself as New Zealand’s last major non-custodial bitcoin exchange. You buy bitcoin with NZD and it lands in a wallet whose keys you hold; selling pays out to your NZ bank the next working day. It’s bitcoin-only, which is a feature to some and a limit to others. Lightning wallets are best for spending money, not life savings — move larger amounts to cold storage.

Buying a hardware wallet in NZ safely

The golden rule: buy direct from the manufacturer, or from a reseller the manufacturer lists as authorised on its own website. Ledger, Trezor, Tangem and BitBox all sell online and ship to New Zealand. The Kiwi Bitcoin Guide lists a local retailer, The Bitcoin Shop, that sells hardware wallets; we haven’t verified which brands it is authorised for, so check the manufacturer’s reseller list first.

On cost: hardware wallets bought from overseas are subject to New Zealand GST. Under IRD’s rules for low-value imported goods, items worth NZ$1,000 or less (excluding GST) are charged GST by the GST-registered overseas seller at checkout, a regime in place since 1 December 2019. Above NZ$1,000, GST and any duties are collected at the border by NZ Customs. Nearly every consumer hardware wallet falls under the threshold, so expect GST on your order total rather than a surprise bill on delivery.

Which NZ platforms let you withdraw to your own wallet?

A wallet is only useful if you can get coins into it. Most platforms Kiwis use allow crypto withdrawals; one popular app doesn’t.

Sharesies is the big one to understand. Its crypto is custodied by Kraken with you as beneficial owner, and you can send some coins in — USDC and USDT on certain networks among them — but transfers out aren’t available. Crypto bought there can only be sold back to NZD inside Sharesies. Our Sharesies Crypto review covers whether that matters for you. Whenever you withdraw anywhere, send a small test amount first, check it arrives, then send the rest. If you’re heading the other way — wallet to bank — read the cash-out guide.

The Easy Crypto wallet wind-down

Easy Crypto was for years the default way Kiwis bought crypto, and many used its wallet app. After Swyftx bought the business, Easy Crypto stopped trading in New Zealand by 30 March 2026; customers were directed to open a Swyftx account and use a Portfolio Migrator to move self-custodial wallet funds, and the wallet app was wound down. If you never migrated but still have the recovery phrase from a self-custodial Easy Crypto wallet, you can usually restore it in another wallet that supports the same coins and networks — do it on a clean device, and never type the phrase into a website. Export any old transaction history for your tax records. Our Easy Crypto page has the full timeline.

Recovery phrase safety

Your recovery phrase is the wallet. Anyone who sees it can take everything, from anywhere, permanently. A few rules worth following without exception:

• Write it on paper or stamp it into metal; never photograph it, type it into notes apps, email it or store it in the cloud.
• Keep at least two copies in different places — a fire or flood shouldn’t be able to take both.
• Never enter it anywhere except the wallet device you’re restoring. No genuine support person will ever ask for it.
• Do a test restore with a small balance before trusting the wallet with savings.

Inheritance: making sure your whānau can find it

Self-custody has a downside nobody likes to think about: if you die and nobody can find your recovery details, the crypto is gone for good. The fix is a short letter kept with your will that says what you hold, which wallets you use, and where the recovery details are stored — without writing the phrase into the will itself, which can become a public document once probate is granted. Some people split the backup between a trusted person and a safe deposit box. A lawyer can help with wording, and an executor will thank you for clear records — which IRD also requires you to keep for at least seven years.