Bitcoin Forum

What are the drawbacks of using an exchange like Coinbase versus having my BTC in a personal wallet. I am new to BTC so using an exchange has made things easy to jump into. That being said, with August 1 approaching I worry I may be losing a lot of decision power should a hard fork occur.  :'(

What specifics freedoms do you gain from trading outside of an exchange service with relation to the fork?

 

Its quite simple, with your own personal wallet, you own your bitcoin whereas if you store it on an exchange, they have your bitcoin. They can vanish in a instant and you'll lose all your bitcoin. Not saying that they will, but that can happen. And have happened before too, remember hashocean?
So, it is always best to have your bitcoin in your own wallet.

Exchanges charge a percentage for withdrawal of funds. Usually withdrawal fee is around 5% mark. Personal wallets charge a transaction fee which is much lower than the 5% exchanges charge.

Personal wallets tend to be more secure if you're using one which gives you exclusive control over the private key required for transaction validation. Wallets also have more options in terms of how crypto data associated with accounts can be stored, encrypted or recovered. Note: the above doesn't apply to all wallets. Blockchain and assorted web platform based wallets hold the private key to move funds stored on their servers. With internet wallets, there isn't much difference between them and exchanges except for withdrawal fee.

Most of the customization options with wallets come from using desktop & similar wallets, hardware based wallets, etc.

I would definitely choose a personal wallet, preferably mycelium or electrum. Because they give lots of independence to the user. Exchanges provide very less options in sending or receiving and they'll decide what may happen to our Bitcoins. So go for personal wallet, it may be complicated at first but you'll understand it's value later on.

Its like putting your bitcoin in someone else hand. We have a saying here, if you don't have control of your private keys, then your bitcoin is not yours. So it you have bitcoin in a exchange like Coinbase, it is not your bitcoin because you don't have control of the private keys. Also another important reason not to put all your bitcoins in a exchange is in a event of a hack, most likely you will lose all your bitcoin. And you don't want that to happen to you. Its normal to be worry specially if there will be a hard fork in Aug 1 so make the necessary adjustments. We will have one week to week so I think you should be all good by then. Here, take a look at this thread put up by Theymos that will explain what can happen in Aug 1 and steps to take to protect our bitcoin if ever a split takes place.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2017191.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2012799.0

It's really simple, Personal wallet is like your own little bank everything is in your own control, your bitcoins are safe on the other hand if you keep your bitcoins in Exchanges you are not really in control of your BTC  ,they can do whatever they want with it if they want to but thats not likely to happen among trusted exchanges But it's still a good practice to keep your Bitcoin in a personal wallet like Electrum..

In simple words mate, if your bitcoin is deposited in an exchange wallet, they may be yours but they are stored not in your own safe house. Meaning to say, there are untoward things that may happen to them beyond your control. Wallets in exchange platforms may be safe but not very safe. In a personal wallet, there is no one else that can have access to it but yourself. No one has the access to your private key but yourself so that means to say they are all yours and yours alone.

If I were you I'd get my bitcoins out of the exchange before August 1. Why take the risk?

Didn't remember that hashocean once an exchange or wallet  :-\
There are different aspects to compare between exchange and personal wallet. Exchange have different kind of wallets with the purpose of trading with some altcoins you can store there some funds for trading but there cons since you don't own any private keys and recovery phrase of the wallet you are using. Whereas in personal wallet its recommended that you owned this sensitive information so you can recover your funds once your device broke or someobe stole it. And I tell you its really stupid idea to make an exchange wallet as your personal wallet so avoid of using them like that.

If you have your bitcoins in your wallet,then you have full control over it since you have its private key.If you have bitcoins in exchange,its under their control and only if they give you access,you would be able to use it.More over,there is a risk of exchange being hacked just as we saw previously in Mt.Gox.

Exchanges have their own terms and conditions same as the wallets have. The risk with these two is the security, with exchanges the security is quiet high still hacking happens causing the users to lack in trust over the concern exchange website. Such issues won't be there with personal wallets as the private key will be in our hands.

It's better to use a personal wallet than you use an exchange site like a coinbase that has a bad reputation in this community. At least if you use a personal wallet, you will be able to control it with the full hold of the private key in anticipation in case of turmoil on the 1 August.

They do have their own advantages and disadvantages depending on the current state on how you actively spend your bitcoin.If you are an active trade you will surely commonly use exchange wallet since you can easily buy and sell stuffs without the hassle on transferring funds from other wallet but when you do speak about privacy and security i would really choose up to make or put up my bitcoin on my own personal bitcoin wallet which i do have all the control.

Coinbase has what i would describe harsh terms of service which takes control away from its users and they keep track of all your transactions which if breached will get your account banned which imo is not the bitcoin way of financial freedom

Lets not jump into conclusions of what is or isnt going to happen, besides exchanges will not close down because of btc fork as other assets will be available which should be business as usual for day traders so no need for an outside exchange.

Its already late. Most of the exchanges are showing the message of delay in the network because of the preparation for segwit. Its better to transfer all the BTC to a personal wallet where you hold the private keys. There is no guarantee of a split but its best to be on the safer side. 

I come to think of this also but I don't want my trades to stop just because of bitcoin uncertainly as I can use other markets. But since Augusts are known to be wrecking portfolios I might consider moving my bitcoins to a personal wallet.

Any reliable exchanges offering bitcoins and its fork if ever split happens?

Bro, You have check the settings in the exchange site. Most of the exchange site also do have two-factor authentication. If you in security wise you can use both the wallet or exchange as your wallet. There is nothing problem with that.  As you said, please keep your private key or wallet.dat file. Then no one can hack your wallet.

Some of the good things that you get when using a Personal Wallet are already mentioned by the users above me. I would want to add that when using a Personal wallet you could sign a message to prove that you are the real owner of the wallet while from exchanges you couldn't do such thing like that.

Hashocean was a cloud mining service .It was not a wallet. Even I had an account in that hashocean and got cheated by them. Regarding wallets ,can any one suggest me which is the best wallet to store bitcoins which has private keys because I got a notification from my bitcoin exchange to transfer my coins to some other wallet . Previously I was using multibit, but it's not that good.

Only electrum for me is the best to choose if you want to transfer your bitcoin that you can backup your private keys .. Other than other wallet..
Most of the traders right now or who are holding bitcoins they are now transferring their bitcoin to the safety place and electrum is one of the great wallet that i think your bitcoin are safe.. make sure after you save your seeds backup private keys where your bitcoin saved..

This is what im doing on which im securing all of my bitcoin on electrum wallet specially when theres an approaching august 1 event. Keeping your bitcoin on exchanges or any other wallets without the posession of your private keys is very risky. This is the suggested thing to do as of now. Exchange wallet is only good if you are doing active day trades but remember dont leave your bitcoins for too long there.

Coinbase just is an exchanger its not a personal wallet. You can lost all of your bitcoin if you stored them in coinbase. so if you want to save them securely then move all of Bitcoin to the personal wallet (desktop, electrum)which give you private key for your wallet.Electrum is best one of them. After 1st August you can use again online wallet like blockchain or coinbase.

Exchanges have your Bitcoin with themselves but, personal wallets makes sure that your Bitcoin stays with you itself. You have your own private key and no one can access your Bitcoin unless and until you give your private key to someone. Personal wallet is the one of the best wallets and recommended ones and probably the  safest ones . Its better if a person uses personal wallet instead of exchange when security is of the main concern.