Custody and cash · 36 / 127 · 2 min
Omnibus
An omnibus wallet is one pile. The firm writes down who owns what. The chain sees the pile.
The chain sees the pile. The firm sees you, if its books are real.
A worked case
Customers believe each balance is a separate stack. The chain shows one wallet. When the firm stops withdrawals, the separate stacks were rows. The rows join a queue.
One address
Customer coins sit together. Your share is a row in their database. A withdrawal is the firm sending from the pile, if the pile is still there.
When it matters
If the firm fails, the chain does not know your name. The database does, if it is honest and if it survives. People find out which queue they joined.
One pile
FTX customers saw balances. The coins were not a set of private stacks the chain could attribute to each name. When withdrawals stopped in November 2022, the screen and the pile were revealed as different records. The company's books were the only place a customer's name appeared.
An omnibus wallet is that shape even when the firm is healthy. Your row is an entry. The chain's entry is the pile. A withdrawal is the firm choosing to pay the row.
Read it yourself
These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.
Apply the check
Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.
The firm, from the use of the pile.
The firm's books.
The firm, by spending the pile. A failure, which leaves the rows to argue.
Check yourself
Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.
After this you can say whether your coins are in a pile or in keys you hold.