I'm new in cryptocurrency, I'm trying to understand it but there still one thing I didn't understand about wallets!
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... do they store bitcoins on the device or on internet ?
but ultimately, a bitcoin is just a number associated with a Bitcoin Address.
bitcoin is just like e-cash, a bunch of data numbers stored in a public blockchain
a private key is the only way to control that bitcoin, losing it is the same thing as losing your bitcoin
with centralized e-cash, we might be able to reclaim lost fund if the e-cash provider has the system to verify the ownership of the e-cash by other means (id, account, etc)
this also can be done with bitcoin, but the practice would be against the main idea of bitcoin as
"distributed peer-to-peer digital currency"So if l have bitcoins in my mobile wallet and the mobile drop in water and gone!, did the coins gone too or I can get them back in a new mobile by the recovery key?
you can recover your fund on your new mobile wallet by using recovery key (seed) or private key
another great bitcoin ideas of
"you control your own money" and
"be your own bank" principle