The Steam Wallet is your account balance on Steam. Money gets in through top-ups by card or gift card and through sales on the Steam Community Market. Money gets out by buying games, in-game items, Market listings or other Steam store purchases. It never leaves Steam.
This one rule shapes the whole CS2 economy. Because a Market sale pays in wallet funds, selling a skin on the Market is really a conversion into Steam store credit. If you already planned to spend on Steam, that is fine. If you wanted cash, the Market cannot give it to you.
Can I cash out my Steam Wallet?
Not directly. There is no withdraw button and Steam Support will not send funds to a bank. The common workaround is to buy liquid items on the Market with your balance, such as cases or popular skins, then sell those items on a third-party marketplace for real money. You lose the Market fee on the way in, the marketplace fee on the way out, and the price gap between Steam and cash prices. The cash-out guide walks through which items lose the least.
Selling wallet funds or a whole account to someone for cash is against Steam's rules and a common scam setup, so treat any such offer as a red flag.
Why are Steam Market prices higher than cash prices?
Because wallet money is worth less than cash to most people. Sellers on the Market raise prices to compensate and buyers pay them because their balance has nowhere else to go. That gap, often called the Steam-to-cash ratio, moves with demand. When many people want to cash out, the ratio widens and cash prices fall relative to Market prices.
Steam Wallet funds are also region-locked to the currency of your account, and Steam limits how much you can hold and how much you can add. For the exact rules, check the Steam Support wallet page from a bookmarked link rather than a link someone sent you.