Bitcoin Forum

Hi,


Just wondering , is it safer to keep money at an exchange like place poloniex or kraken what not or a wallet like Electrum?

It is very neat to have it all in one place like an exchange, for example, I currently mine and use their address to deposit my earnings for bitcoin I used to give my Electrum address but now I'm thinking it's better to just keep them at one spot?

Pros and cons of one vs another?


TIA

the cons of storing your funds in an exchange or online wallet:

• the owners of the exchange have access to your private keys, so they can use your unspent outputs (steal). so you lose everything
• if the exchange gets hacked, you lose everything
• if the exchange goes bancrupt, you lose everything
• if you do something against the exchange's TOS, they can block you (you lose everything)
• you're only able to do the things that were pre-programmed by the exchange's administrators. There's a big chance you won't be able to sign messages with your address, double spend inputs, pick your own fees,...

If you're not (the only one) in controll of your private keys, you're not (the only one) in controll of your funds.

The only "upside" i can imagine by storing all your funds on an exchange is that it's convenient... So you can pick: convenience or security.

You have already said the pros of storing money on an exchange but the cons is that when the exchange decides to shut down without warning and run away with your money. The pros of storing on electrum and the likes are that they are relatively safer because you have control over your funds but the cons is that it is a hassle to move bitcoin out of there when compared to the ease of moving in and out of funds from exchanges.

Damn that's a long list.

I thought these exchanges work under the same policy as the brokers did. For example I'm covered upto 500k for securities and 100k for deposits -by brokers I mean stock brokers using their platform. I thought these exchange people would have something similar.

What about wallet companies? Electrum ? what if it fails?

I'm not a trader, but in the time i've been involved with BTC, i've seen several exchanges getting hacked, starting to lock a lot of user's accounts and/or just plain run away... It is very rare to see the victims reimbursed.

As for your second question: electrum is an open source wallet (most, but not all, wallets are open source). If ThomasV decides to stop support, somebody else can continue where he left off. If nobody is interested, you can still use your recovery seed to generate your xprv, and derive your private keys/public keys/addresses from this xprv.
In short: in the (very slim) chance electrum ever seizes to exist due to no dev wanting to continue the project, electrum users will still be able to generate a private key to spend all unspent outputs that were spendable by addresses generated by their electrum wallet... However, it would take some technical know-how to do this.

Generally storing a significant sum of coins in an exchange for a prolonged period is a bad idea, however this is what I currently do (while accepting this risk).

Cold storage, if done correctly, is one of the safest (if not the safest) form of storing coins long term.

It's really a trade-off between accessibility and security, though there are physical wallets that offer the pros of both.

It is not safe to store your currency on exchange for long period of time. Don't put all eggs in one basket, to save all your funds at one place is the worst idea. There are many exchanges which are got hacked in the past, so try to put your coins in different places not on exchange.

I keep all my bitcoins in an online wallet at different sites. All the sites just will not run. It certainly creates some inconveniences due to the large price transactions, but first I'm not wasting my coins and maybe in the future I'm going to use large transactions, and secondly after August 1 was going to solve the issue. Wait and see.

I keep my bitcoins in my wallet , Electrum and so far I have not encountered any problem with it. If you leave your coins in online wallets or exchanges there is always a risk to them, exchanges may get hacked while online wallets maybe attacked and flooded with DDOS.

The most safest ways are the offline wallets. This might be a hardware wallet, a piece of paper, memorizing etc. Whatever works for you. Personally, I am fine with paper wallets.

The relatively safe ways are desktop wallets wallets like electrum, core client etc. Those are only as safe as your computer. If your computer is infected, and you don't have any password protection on your wallets you are unprotected. Even if you set passwords, there are copy/paste viruses. Most people didn't even realize that they were sending their bitcoins to the hacker's address. Unless you are a cautious person, you are still unprotected.

The most unsafe way is holding your coins on exchanges. Avoid. Not joking. Some exchanges may even lock your account if you stay inactive for a long time.

Keeping them on exchanges for what? they're not banks to keep your coins safe forever, I always deposit do my trades and withdraw when I'm done, keeping coins as a wallet in online services is the most idiotic thing one can do IMO.

Store your Bitcoins on a paper wallet always. Alternatively, if you don't want to have them on paper, but more liquid so you can spend them, then download a client like MultiBT where you will be able to store them safely (as long as your computer doesn't have viruses). :P

Store on a exchanger ? Definitely big no , too much risk my personal opinion is getting hardware wallet such a ledger nano and trezor , both are reputable hardware wallet put there i think its safest because you store it securely on your own and you can bring it anywhere anytime  :)

The safest are Trezor and Ledger hardware wallets. If you don't mind the fees, you could store the bulk of your coins on the hardware wallet and continue to use Electrum to send back and forth coins to be sold on the exchanges. But you will be trading safety for convenience though. It's all up to you  ;)

I want also to put it all on an exchange but on a local ones. But it's advisable to keep your bitcoin before this fork on an offline wallet.


I know what you are trying to explain, if your bitcoin is in the exchange you can use it immediately but the only bad thing about it, is that you don't hold private keys or seed. And if the exchange collapses you can't recover your coins that's why offline/desktop wallet is better.

i think you do not remember that what happen to bitfinex when it hacked and alot of the people money was lost to me i think it good to nvest your money in blockchain wher eyou can get additional security to your bitcoins.

Of course a hardware wallet is advised or why not store on your pc offline, if that is the case. 

It's not only about the fees. Hardware wallets don't grow on trees, you know ;)
Anyway, I agree that it's a good idea to buy one if you move your coins often. If you just want to store and are prepared to be doing it for a year or more, don't buy a hardware wallet. You'll pay money for a gadget that you don't need and by the time you start using your coins there will be new, better versions available.

that is what i also have the same case. i am also using onlne wallet for my bitcoins and for every time i really found it reliable and never feel any risk there. therefore i will like to continue with the same point.

I just had DGB BTC Zec Monero -some of them I've never even heard of to stay at Poloniex.

I'm a newbie at mining and I am not earning 100k yet but just enough to get my RIG pay for itself. To my wonder everything started falling in downward trajectory since I started mining lol , so I thought if I keep it on the exchange at the least I'd be able to get a idea of the value every day and eventually when they rise I can change them into BTC or USD


I am not using that money, just a place to park until value bounces up.

You guys talk about exchange falling like it's nothing, I'm not doubting it but this whole world is very new to me and even the possibility of that happening makes me doubt everything. In Stock trading (nasdaq and all) if a broker had even a remote possibility of crashing, it would have zero clients. Here I thought Poloniex and Kraken were the top dawgs.

I guess, I'll make individual wallets for DGB ZEC and already have BTC

btw if I install Electrum on a different computer I won't be able to access my BTC right? so anytime I need btc I'd have to open electrum from my home based desktop?

i also like to store my bitcoin mostly in my online wallet , but in fact for security reason i have distributed my bitcoins in different wallet so that now one can take my all bitcoin in one time.

Storing your money on an exchange will probably not be very safe, since the owners of the sites have your private keys, which means they could possibly steal all your Bitcoin from you. It won't be safe after the hard fork also

If you are always moving your Bitcoin and have a lot of it, I would recommend purchasing a ledger wallet or trezor, which is a hardware wallet that has all your private keys accessible to you and also very secure.

Well pros for wallet like Electrum is mainly security. When you use Electrum and hardware wallets, you have access to all your private keys, your seed and thus your Bitcoin. Online wallets like coinbase, coinjar...etc, have access to your keys and your Bitcoin is literally part of their entire Bitcoin fund. It is like a bank for Bitcoin. The same with exchanges. They are prone to hacking - check out the Bitfinex hack - and can easily freeze and steal your funds.

But of course, exchanges are better when it comes to convenience. But you are sacrificing security for convenience. If you are keeping/storing money, use a trusted hardware or offline wallet like Ledger Nano or electrum. You are much safer that way.

It is better to just deposit it in one account, for more control and with the best security caracteristics that can offer the vitual wallet you are saving your bitcoins.

If I'm away from my computer, how do I access my Electrum? it's linked only to my desktop right?

If you own a huge amount of bitcoin, then it is really worth the effort of securing it to the maximum level. But if you are just starting out and only have a small amount, I think online wallets are still ok, just for the sake of convenience. But as others have mentioned, the safety of your bitcoins depend on how much your online wallet provider takes care of their security.

and depending on how the owner keeps his account like ignoring his email which is likely to be phishing or any other suspicious matter. for huge bitcoin is not recommended for online wallet or wallet in exchanger.

it depends on how much you are receiving each time and can you make each go up like by asking the one paying you.

if it is small amounts and the withdrawal fee of the exchange is not that high, then in my opinion it is a good idea specially if you are a trade. for example you get deposits of <0.001BTC in there so your wallet doesn't get filled with a lot of dust and you won't be forced to pay a high fee. and at the same time you can use that small amount to trade and maybe make some profit on it.

but if it is larger payments or when it accumulates to a bigger amount then it becomes risky to continue keeping it there. as others also mentioned.

i am currently doing this for small dust payments, then buy an altcoin like LTC and cash it out as my investment.

Just like in investing, the best advice is never put all of your baskets in one egg...errr...should it be the other way around? Okay, I know you get what I mean. All things online no matter how established or fortified as they claim to be are all carrying risks. It is better to put your online wealth in different wallets though yes it can really be inconvenient at times.

These days the only secured are sites and wallets which can not be accessed online. As long as it is online, then the chance for it to be hacked is always there. When there is money inside, you can be sure that dark elements can smell them from afar. Inconvenience is nothing compared to losing some of your money. But then it is your call...nothing is guaranteed in this world that even if you diversify your wallets you can not be a victim anymore.

I trust my local bitcoin wallet provider like coins[.]ph and I have my bitcoin there for a long time, I also have myetherwallet and livecoin, but it is also depend on you on who you trust most of you bitcoin wallet provider then to insure the safe of your money.

Just save it on your offline wallets because in that way it is much safer than you store it on a online wallet not much if you are a trader and you will be opening it every time you want to trade something. If you store in on an online wallets there are many risk you will encountered just like it will be access by the owner of that site, or else if the site get lost or become a scammed site you wouldn't get it back.

Yeah same as you. Don't want to put all my eggs in one basket so I distributed my coins in like 4 to 5 different wallets. Better be sure than sorry. My distribution depends on my necessity like one wallet for my everyday transactions and some are for safe keeping and savings.

You can trust exchange websites that won't steal your funds, because only through you and me they gain profit as well the good reputation gets them more business. At the same there are several cases were the exchange goes out of use or other bankruptcy happens. It's good to hold your funds in offline wallets and hold in exchange the fund that you wish to do trading.

Well as i learned through time i store my money offline and there is a pump or dump thats the only time i will use exchange sites. Then after trade i will send it back to my offline wallet. And probably i do small trades so no worries for me. So different stories for big time traders. I do sometimes encounter cons of exchange sites but i think that is just normal amd it is one of its purpose. So its a risk that everyone can take but not all can benefit from it.

So far i am just usinh online wallet since I do not know how to use offline but I really want to use it since I guess it is more safer than having it on online as some stated and I believe to them too since there are lots of cons if we are using online. But for me I can easily access bitcoin in online wallet anywhere and anytime I want and even when I am.just using my phone so as long as I am connected in internet I can access to my money easily especially a local online wallet which is use only in your country

it is an unnecessary hassle that you are putting yourself through. securing 5 different wallets and maintaining this security is not an easy task that you can simply do, it takes time.
best option is just using one offline wallet for everything. you just boot it up and sign a transaction and then just sent it on your online wallet.
the worst case scenario you need only 2 maximum wallets, 1 cold storage and one your phone to have some pocket change with you all times.

I keep the bitcoin in my wallet and I feel it is quite safe, I will keep it until I feel no longer safe or the bitcoin price increases, I will sell all the bitscoin I have.

You are going to want to store your Bitcoins on a paper wallet for 100% security, otherwise you risk losing them. Even a paper wallet must be kept safe, because it is just like cash. If you lose it, it is gone forever and you can never get it back.

If I were you, I would invest in a hardware wallet to give you accessibility to store coins and to have it accessible when you want to trade it on an exchange. I will never store large quantities of bitcoins on any exchange. You can watch the markets and when you are ready to trade, you can then quickly transfer coins onto the exchange. < this is not ideal, because you might miss some good trades, if the confirmation takes a bit long, but it is the safest option >

Bitcoin exchanges are prime targets for hackers, because their software sucks. ^grrrrrrr^

Bitcoin is safe to store your money. Not only strong purpose, you can do transactions, exchange money and purchase things. There are a lot of advantages with the bitcoin and wallets.

Why not stay on using Electrum? It is the best application for me that is really secured.
Seeds are better than having an Email address and password which can be easily hacked.
You will just have to keep the copy of your seeds in a safe place.
Poloniex could have some problems with their website and that is the risk of keeping it there.

It's alright then like storing your coins at your own risk. We all know that storing all your coins in an online wallet is a risky thing. You never know when the hackers can attack you and when its get hack there's no turning back of yout coins. Well then its all up to you mate, hope over time you'll learn storing your coins offline if you like to sleep soundly at night. ;D

Storing money is good decision and i will recommend Bitcoin wallets. All said that wallets will be risky and hacked, it is foolish. Bitcoin is developed under decentralised secure system.

If you are talking about fiat then if i were you, i will just buy some bitcoins with my money to preserve my wealth and also get the chance to make money while i am just securing my money from the banks which is very low in interest. Bitcoin is a good way to store your money as long as you know how to secure your account.

Never trust any exchange. You don't know who you are dealing with. Numerous exchanges have fallen with their owners running with the money. This is why im also reticent to give them my real data. I dont know who is getting my data and what are they going to do with it. Given the precedents I just try to use fake names and VPN to not give them any data about me because bitcoin exchanges aren't properly regulated so it can be a mistake to give them your details along with the risk of losing your BTC.

Just buy the coins then put them in your wallet.

yes that is right i also do not trust on any exchange, to me i keep my bitcoins safe in online wallet, and luckily do not find anything wrong there, i will like to continue keeping my bitcoins in  online wallets.

Well, I keep bitcoin in online wallet because I know that my bitcoin and money is safe and secure. In addition to that, putting in online wallet will help you to keep your bitcoin safe.However, some people and bitcoin users keep their bitcoin in offline wallet or hardware wallet that you need to install to your computer.

I'm also keeping and storing my bitcoin in an online wallet and I have only one wallet as of now because my account is only one also but I'm planning to make another account next time if my current account would rank up to Sr. Member. Storing bitcoin in an online wallet is risky because in that particular situation people would possibly scam because there's a lot of scammers in this world. I must suggest to store your bitcoin in the safest bank near at your place to make sure it is safe.

I do prefer bitcoin wallet because with BTC wallet,there is security. It offers bookkeeping, portability and simple ways to give and receive cash.It’s rather like an online bank account, but even simpler to use. Each BTC is a unique solution to a mathematical problem, consisting of a short string of text which represents a figure. Let’s say you give someone a coin or fractional coin – the text string changes as it enters their wallet, and once a global network validates the transaction, your original coin is invalidated and the new coin becomes theirsoffer security. It offers bookkeeping, portability and simple ways to give and receive.

Using online wallet is good and safe rather than holding your money inside your pocket but putting everything in one wallet account I think that would be too risky you can have multiple account online and maybe still used banks in storing/saving your btc in that sense you lessen the risk of loosing everything in an instant also if ever bitcoin value decreases at least you have transfer some of them to your bank account.

I also prefer bitcoin wallet since it's safe and very versatile it can also your way of investment  but I don't kept it on one wallet i made different account, i also buy gold and keep it as an additional investment

For this moment,my money, I traded all
bitcoin for my future.. Yesterday I
keep on poloniex  but now I
keep it in to a wallet because more secure and I wait until 1 august for trading again.

bitcoin is very safe to store money now a days. its very fast to receive our money back when we want which no other money exchanges can't do now a days. it can be like a investment for our money with safe hands of bitcoin.

Of course its always be better if we store our bitcoin in different wallets, maybe 3-6 wallets will be fine. Much secured from getting hack.
Storing your coins in some exchange is like exposing your private key or seeds into public. Like they'll access it anytime and you don't have assurance that it will not be lose. Better be careful than losing all.

Usually, people usually say the safest place to keep money is bank. Previously when bitcoin is unknown, I also think so. I do not deny the bank's safety. But when you keep the money in your wallet is much safer, bad guys are hard to steal my information.

The safest way to store money is to put it in your own house,just think of the millionairs that didnt have bank accounts,because its the safetest way.For bitcoin you should put it to bitcoin wallets.And as the money grows you should keep it in your house

I think the best way to save money is to put it in a very secure wallet like coins.ph or blockchain becuse if you only store your money in exchager like waves, bittrex or others it may able to go down the value and sometimes because of advnce computer it can be hacked and then it will all gone in just one snap.

Putting in your house is not a applicable answer because the one we involve here is bitcoin and we all knoe that bitcoin is a digital currency. We must know where wallet we would store it. Like blockchain, polonoex. Like that
 But for me the safest wallet is blockchain because it has access in your mail so thay you dont need to worry.

Pros of saving them at an exchange would that you'll be able to buy/invest any altcoin instantly, providing they are also present in that exchange. That is probably the only pro for this.
But cons are many, security, losing all your funds, not actually owning your money, not able to buy instantly, or send funds to someone instantly.
Recommendation would be to always save on your own wallet, and only keep that amount on funds you would like to use for trading.

Yes, electrum is safer than other wallets. This is the best place to store your bitcoins and as a matter of fact. I tried to send now my wallet from exchange to my electrum wallet. And this is one of my preparation for the upcoming fork this coming August 1. Web wallets aren't safe at all, you don't have the private keys and they can be offline anytime.

bitcoin wallet is safety place for your money if you start investing in the bitcoin. you can use this to buy online purchases.

Its never been safe to keep your coins or bitcoin all in on an exchange wallet the risk involved on losing those money is high since you don't really posses the privatekeys of it which means only exchange owners do have access which means whey they do down or a problem do rise they can anytime ran off with the money since you don't have the possession of keys which means you coins are lost forever unlike on those wallets that you do have access on its keys do always have an advantage.

I recommend keep your funds maximum in bprivate key holding wallet . I have funds devided in 3 category
1) Blockchain and MEW other private key holding wallets
2)Trading Exchanges for Buying and selling(Bittrex,yobit etc)
3) Local Exchanges foe keeping money to withdraw for emergency.

Pls I advise you that it really pay to convert your money to BTC and store it into your wallet

I don’t think so keeping bitcoins in your e-wallet is risky. You can keep them as long as you want in your wallet for the security offered is great. If we talk about scammers, then becoming their victim is extremely our fault. Banks are also hacked often.

I agree with keep in one account then it will mempermudahkan us to control, we must also be more meticulous and careful in storing your money especially if this is bitcoin. don't forget we have to add the key so outsiders can't access in our accounts. When we save in the form of money that would be more secure in a bank in the real life.