Skip to main content
Who holds the keys is the first architectural decision in any Bitcoin product, and Bitnob supports all three answers. Everything else in this section follows from which one you pick.

​
Custodial: the default

Every Bitnob account starts with a custodial Bitcoin wallet. Bitnob manages the private keys; you integrate the API for storing, sending on-chain, sending over Lightning, and receiving to any supported address format. If you are not sure which model you need, start here: Send bitcoin on-chain or over Lightning works against this wallet with no key management at all.

​
Business-managed custody

You generate and store private keys on your own infrastructure; users have accounts inside your application; Bitnob supplies the Bitcoin node layer, so you never run Bitcoin Core yourself. Bitnob cannot access keys and never touches funds; it relays blockchain information and signed transactions. This is the model behind custodial products you operate: exchanges, crypto neobanks, internal treasuries, payment processors. The endpoint catalog and integration flow are in Run business-managed custody.

​
Self-custodial

Keys are generated and held on the user’s device; signing happens locally; your backend never sees a private key or seed phrase. Bitnob’s role shrinks to infrastructure: broadcasting signed transactions, estimating fees, and watching addresses for activity. You take on wallet engineering, BIP39 seeds, derivation, coin selection, typically via a toolkit like BDK. The build guide is Build self-custodial wallets.

​
Address types

All three models speak the same address formats: Legacy (P2PKH), Nested SegWit (P2SH), Native SegWit (P2WPKH, recommended default), and Taproot (P2TR). The cost and privacy trade-offs between them are covered in UTXO management and Fees and confirmation strategy.