A hot wallet is an online and networked cryptocurrency wallet that is constantly linked. You can see how many tokens you have available and send and receive cryptocurrencies using hot wallets. Private keys identify a cryptocurrency as being yours. You'll get the key at the time of purchase. Public keys resemble usernames for accounts. So that the user can get tokens without disclosing their identity, they identify the wallet. Similar to personal identification numbers, private keys provide you access to your wallet. So you can transact, check balances, and more. The wallet is essentially worthless if any of these keys are missing.