Bitcoin Forum

I currently have crypto on Coinbase and Gemini. I'm not sure how you would go about putting them on a personal wallet, but is it worth taking the extra money and doing this? Those 2 exchanges seem fairly safe for holding the coins, but I also have no idea how much the hardware would cost.

You gotta learn from history sir: https://cryptosec.info/exchange-hacks

As for hardware wallets, they can be fairly cheap if you go for the budget options:

• https://shop.ledger.com/products/ledger-nano-s
• https://shop.trezor.io/product/trezor-one-white
• https://coldcardwallet.com/

P.S. We wouldn't be heavily shilling hardware wallets left and right if exchanges were "fairly safe". :P

"Safe" is an understatement is crypto, even the best exchanges out there have been hacked already. Extra money? buying hardware wallet, which cost less than $100 is worth instead of trusting your coins to an exchange, a third party which you don't have control, because you don't hold the private keys.

$100 is not big if compares it to the capital of account on exchange of many people. I know there are people have small crypto capital but many of them have capital is much bigger than $100. $1000 or $10000 capital is not unpopular among crypto investors.

Big surprise to see they hesitate to consider to use non custodial wallets (free) or hardware wallets with $100 cost.

"Not your Key's , Not your coin" , So yes it is worth it to take your coins to put in your hardware wallet.
I trust the exchange but I would be more comfortable knowing that I control my own wallet.

As long as you don't have the private key to access your bitcoin then you are not yet safe even if they are a reputable exchange. There are many reputable exchanges in the past that went bankrupt or made an exit scam taking all the cryptos of their users, Mt.Gox is one of them. Having a hardware wallet or a software wallet like coinomi, trustwallet, metamask is a better option. You just need to make sure that you write its passphrase and keep it somewhere safe so you can access it on any device you want.

A hardware wallet is just one option for making sure your BTC funds are as safe as possible. If you really don't move a lot of BTC for long-term usage and planning then a hardware wallet is the best option. If you are really satisfied with the security on Coinbase and Gemini then it is not necessary to invest in a hardware wallet. At Asia we use Binance and Huobi, it's just too cool, and there's no need to think about hardware wallet options.

The famous saying about " Not your Keys , Not your Bitcoin"

Buying Hardware wallet if you are going to Hold Good chunks of Bitcoin or other altcoin will Save your ass from a possible hacking or even scamming.

But the problem is how much are we talking about here? if OP is Going to buy Hardware wallet that costs 100$ and will only Hold another 100$ worth of crypto , i think this is not practical at the moment.

But this will always depend on how much He will hold and how much he can risk.

The reality is you do not truly own your coins, besides the risk of hacks, you could be restricted from using your funds by the exchange, just as the last time binance suspended ER -20 withdrawals - (https://www.bitcoininsider.org/article/105918/binance-suspends-ethereum-and-erc-20-token-withdrawals-quickly-reversing-course) or the time they limited Bitcoin withdrawals due to price spikes.
Having to wait minutes to access your funds is not true decentralization, reason why most say; ''if it's not your key, it's not your coins''.

You could start off with a non custodian wallet on a secure airgapped device, it presents more safety and security than centralized exchanges and allows you complete access to your keys. A hardware wallet is however the best option.

It depends of what amount of coins you want to store.
If you are talking about a small amount of coins,then it's OK to store them on cryptocurrency exchanges.
If you want to store a few BTC somewhere,then a hardware wallet is the best option.
I wouldn't be concerned about crypto exchanges being hacked.Some crypto exchanges might directly scam you.Others,like Coinbase,might block your account for any reason,which isn't a scam attempt,but it sucks to know that you can't withdraw your coins.

The first reply says it best, hardware is the way to go. They are the safest option right now, and with the ever-fluctuating bitcoin prices, today's loose change could turn out to be a substantial amount in no time so there is really no reason to cheap out on security and on your investment. I myself own Ledger and can say that it's a great reasonably priced tool that does the job.

It's either the exchange will play tricks on you, or someone from the outside hacks the exchange and take all of your cryptos, or worse an inside job connivance from the outside hacker and the exchange. Yeah, these are all possible. Not your keys, not your coins. Simple logic right there.
Nothing is better than storing your Btc from an offline wallet that will be kept by you.
Now, is it worth the extra money you use to buy a cold wallet rather than lying your crypto susceptible to any kind of harms?

Hardware wallets are one of the safest means to hold cryptocurrencies, but if the amount to hold is not much, you can use recommendable noncustodial wallet like electrum, but you will need to be able to protect your wallet from attacks just like you are protecting your exchanges from attacks, no wallet is safe until you protect it from both online and offline attacks. To download electrum, you can visit electrum.org, making sure you verify the signature too. But for high amount, the best to go for are hardware wallets, you can buy it from a reseller like Amazon, or buy it directly from the hardware company.

I do not think there should be any difficulty about this. You will buy hardware wallet like Ledger Nano or Trezor, you will make sure that it is new, remove the seal and open it. The wallet will generate seed phrase, and also you will need to input pin. You will be able to create new wallet, and get a valid address from the hardware wallet. On your exchange, go to withdrawal and input the address generated from the hardware wallet. The fee on exchanges are way to high, it will be good idea for high amount for the fee not to take most part of the coin you want to transfer.

Yes, for certain reasons.

• to have full control
• for privacy
• for flexible and low fee withdrawals

Exchanges have more attention from online hackers
Exchanges withdrawal can be under maintenance
Accounts can be blocked, which can be temporary, and can cause inconveniences
You do not have full control
It is not your key

Trezor Model One: $59
Trezor Model T: $159
Ledger Nano S: $59
Ledger Nano X: $119

Are you planning to hold? If so, get a hardware wallet. If you are going to trade, leave it there. It also depends on how much you have. If you have a lot and you plan to trade, you may also get a hardware wallet and keep part of your stash there.

Just imagine that you bought a house but the keys aren't in your hands but handled by other people.
Those people have the free-will to rob your house and wouldn't even put a notice to you, because you don't even have a key.

Worst case scenario in those type of situations would be freezing your money to their site though I never heard Coinbase freezing accounts just yet.

I mean yes, if everyone in this thread is advocating that it is worth it then it is worth it because a lot of people have lost their coins in these exchanges when those exchanges got attacked. Plus the added security that you are going to be the only one who will have the access to your wallet whenever you want it. And if it isn't enough for you, there are a lot of stories in this forum about how they got their coins stolen because they stored it in an exchange or online wallets.

the hundred dollars cost of a hardware wallet definitely worth it for a long term. I personally used trezor model one and still as solid as brick until now and maybe you consider saving up money in exchange safe based on your perspective but it's better safe than sorry not to mention if it's not some small amount but instead a huge one, you want to be fully in control of your wallet just like me just to make sure.
But itf it's just small amount maybe saving in exchange is enough, just my 2 cents.

It all depends on how much money you have on the exchanges. If you have 100-200$, it may worth the relatively low risk of them getting hacked (for real or pretended), change rules or go bankrupt.
If you have significantly bigger amounts of money there, it really worth buying at least a 60 EUR hardware wallet and sleep better.

Just imagine your coins gets stolen, you stop investing into Bitcoin and in some years they go up 20x or 100x. And imagine how will you be feeling about that.

You should do so and those safe exchanges will not be permanently like that in the upcoming months or years. You will be amazed if you managed to save your BTC to some of your personal wallets and found out the exchanges you are talking about know will be somehow get hacked. it has happened before suddenly and it might happen again. You just need to have a second thought about it. because having a hard wallet is very important for every holder out there.

I don´t see any mention of Exodus which is free but apparently has a good reputation.  Any comments?

the withdrawal fee of bitcoin isn't that much anyway so go after all you seem to have no plans of trading everyday. its normal for longterm holder to just withdraw from exchanges and put them on their personal wallet. hardware wallets are good for keeping your BTC. i have not tried any of it but only the private keys that i'm keeping as i feel comfortable doing it.  keeping a few BTC on exchange is an option, just to make sure you can withdraw funds easily.

Experiences is best teacher

I store them only on haedware wallet not connected on internet

For now is the only way that keeps me way more safe then all other solution


it's worth it? Absolutely, even with small ammount as you learn from small amount to take all responsability and keep safe your own money

If you plan to keep it away from any online Exchanges or any other online Crypto wallets, having a hardware wallet is recommendable but you should always keep in mind the different issues of having a hardware wallet. You should always keep your passwords written and hidden in a place that you would not forget or give it to someone you trust your money with.

You could always get it back and invest it into other Cryptocurrencies and that totally depends on you so whatever decision you are making, you should make sure that you should not give it to anybody you do not trust.

You do not have to buy a hardware wallet if you do not have more money. You can use a desktop wallet or mobile phone wallet so you can send your coin to that wallet, and you can control your coin directly. It is not good to save your coin at the exchange if you do not use that coin to trade because you do not know what will happen to your coin. But it is better to save your coin in the hardware wallet and keep it in a safe place at your home, and I think you can buy at a discount because sometimes, there is an event from the company that selling that hardware.

Exodus wallet is an online wallet while OP asked for a hardware wallet. Also, Exodus is completely close source, close source wallets are not recommendable because their source codes are not revealed to the public. It is not recommendable to use a wallet that is close source because if vulnerabilities are introduced into such wallets, we will not know.

As long as your coins are in a wallet on the stock exchange, they are owned by the stock exchange, you do not have access to this wallet, and in my opinion there are no safe stock exchanges nowadays. Something can happen to any exchange at any time, especially if it is for cryptocurrencies. If you do not trade or have not allowed your coins to "roll" from the exchange on your behalf, I do not think it makes sense to keep them there. The safest way is to keep them in a hardware wallet.

If you are a trader who trades on a daily basis, and you do not have any significant funds, then it does not make much sense to constantly transfer your funds from a crypto exchange to a hardware wallet and vice versa. Transaction fees would certainly be significant and might even erase your profits completely in the end.

I can’t say anything about the security applied by Gemini, but as far as Coinbase is concerned their security procedures are similar to something from SF movies (there is an article from a couple of years ago on this topic). In addition, they claim that as much as 98% of crypto assets are stored in cold storage, and that fiat assets are also insured with the banks with which they do business.

Of course this is not advice to store your crypto on any exchange, but if you are already trading crypto, then at least choose the ones with the best reputation.

If you are having no plans on using your coins that are being stored within your choice of exchanges, then better to keep those in a hard ware wallet for nothing is safe and secure online. Maybe those exchanges are having tough security claiming they cannot be easily hacked but still there are recent history of hack attacks that have been done on famous and top exchanges which brings out panic to users but have been made out a solution after such time. If you are not necessarily actively be using your coins in the exchanges, better spend off on purchasing hard ware wallets since exchanges and storage wallets have their own roles to play accordingly.

It's a decent wallet to keep your funds for day-to-day payments. As for long-term holding? Definitely not. You either use a really secure air-gapped device, or you just go the easy path and purchase a hardware wallet.

as long as you have the keys, it's all good, security first.
but if you are an active trader, you need to give more effort and fees for transactions. it's worthed if you are a big trader.
if you are a crypto hodler, you know what to do.

by the way, safepal s1 hardware wallet price only $39.99. it's backed and invested by binance. this wallet has wallet holder offerings too. it supports dex and defi.
however, they haven't mentioned that their product is open source (not sure about now).
you can follow the thread here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5257785.0
I have a safepal s1 wallet but barely use it. still comfortable with a mobile wallet for daily use.

If you are not involved in everyday transactions then it is best to transfer your money to your personal wallet.
Historically there have been so many people losing their money when they leave it on exchanges, even the largest exchanges cannot guarantee 100% security.

Not your keys, not your coins. But it depends on your lifestyle if you’re day trader you don’t one, if you’re a long term holder then secure one. Exchanges security are only temporary its better if you can store your crypto assets in a hardware wallet but be responsible and store your private key in a safe place.

I think it's best to keep your money in your personal wallet, even the best exchanges are vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Even exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini are still vulnerable, and people can lose their money.

It actually depend on your intention, if you have intention to hold for term investment then you can send your bitcoin to your hardware wallet it means, sending bitcoin to your hardware wallet is the right thing to do rather you just keep on your exchanges although you believe that those exchange is fair enought to hold your coin.

But, if you have intention for short term investment then holding your bitcoin in your exchange wallet is the right to do. Because, you will not bother selling bitcoin when the target price you want is reached. Can you imagine how complicated you are when you send your bitcoin to your hardware wallet and when the price that you wanted is already reached you will be difficult to sell your coin.

Its up to you, custodial wallets are safe although just know that they can be problematic because they tend to have lots of issues in withdrawal and accessing your money this keeps you from converting to cash when price is in ATH. In Hardware wallets you can control your money and when will you cash out. Although if you loss it there will be no insurance or support for your money.

If not, he can always use the electrum wallet. There's no need to shell out money for hardware wallet if he is thinking of the price. But I believe it is better to transfer your btc to your own wallet, not owned by any third party. In that way, you have full control of your funds. As you said, every exchange is vulnerable to hacking, whether it is a top exchange or not. So for me, it is worth taking your coins off out of the exchange, either by hardware or other bitcoin wallets like electrum.

Except for a small amount of capital for daily trading, I often withdraw my investments to my personal wallet, which makes me feel more secure.
Don't put too much faith in the safety of the exchanges, you should manage your own money.

It's a good idea to use online wallets like Electrum which have a pretty good reputation compared to saving on exchanges. I think storing Bitcoin
on exchanges is only what we are going to use for trading, if we really intend to store Bitcoin in the long term it is better not to store it on exchanges.
I've even heard of exchanges that freeze users' coins, with the excuse that there are no transactions for more than 6 months, this is not a good thing
in my opinion. But I forgot the name of the exchanges, but still I recommend using a hardware wallet as the safest place to store Bitcoin compared
to online wallets.

Electrum is not an online crypto wallet, it is a non-custodial desktop/mobile wallet that gives each user complete control over private keys, transaction fees and much more. However, as it has been shown in the past, Electrum or any crypto wallet of this type is not resistant to human carelessness, and sometimes it is not so bad for beginners to keep smaller amounts on crypto exchanges - at least until they understand the basics.

It is much easier to mess up the whole thing with a download fake desktop/mobile wallet, or store the seed inappropriately than to worry only about exchange login data.

Thank you for correcting my mistake, so that the information regarding Electrum is clear. And make newbies understand more about Electrum.
Because I never used Electrum, I just hear it often that it is highly recommended to store Bitcoin rather than store Bitcoin on exchanges.
Indeed, we have to be careful if we are going to download a mobile wallet, because many peoples do not check properly, finally downloaded
a fake mobile wallet. For how to store seeds safely, there are many topics in this forum that explain it.

Just to add, you can even encrypt your bitcoin wallet using a hardware device by connecting it to verified  (https://bitzuma.com/posts/how-to-verify-an-electrum-download-on-windows/)Electrum Bitcoin Wallet. Most people often uses Electrum as their wallet interface by integrating it to hardware devices in order to increase the privacy rather than using the Leger Live (if ever you are using Ledger Products). This means that you need to have your hardware wallet ready when you open the electrum application.

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In case OP still has any doubts why holding bitcoin to an exchanges is risky, then it would be better to take a look at this massive list of exchanges going AWOL. Regardless of how reputable and distinguished these exchanges are, it is still a matter of time before these incidents might happen.

[1] Exchange Graveyard (https://www.cryptowisser.com/exchange-graveyard/)

OP, if I could draw big red arrows pointing to the above post, I would because it's that important.  Coinbase and Gemini are probably the least likely to not survive a hack, but one of the first things you should have learned when getting into bitcoin is that if you don't have control over the private keys to your coins, you don't control your coins--someone else does, and there have been horror stories of people losing fortunes because of exchange hacks or exit scams perpetrated by exchanges.

So yeah, I'd say get your coins off those exchanges and buy a decent HW wallet (Ledger and Trezor are going to be the ones most members here would recommend).  They're definitely worth the small investment it takes to purchase one.