Bitcoin Forum

I do a lot of P2P Trading. So, it is easier and reasonable to have my assets at exchange platforms such as Binance. Perhaps that explains my biases. But that's by no means an unfounded bias because I've seen over times that it is better to have my Crypto at Binance than cold wallets.

When it comes to total security and privacy of my assets, I always use cold wallet system. As they say, it is not fully yours unless you have full control, and cold wallet system is the option that gives you the total control over your assets. Therefore, a simplest cold wallet system is as simple as writing down the associated private key on something like a piece of paper and deleting every electronic data related to it.

Once that is done, only you, and you alone will ever have access to the assets in the cold wallet. No government, no hacker, no institution will ever gain access or obtain the information therein without your active approval. But the problem here is, if you ever lose your private key for any reason, your assets will be gone forever! There'll be no one to hold, no one to cry to, and no help whatsoever to retrieve it back.

These are the reasons why I started looking at Binance and other exchange platforms as alternative and credible means to store assets for maximum benefits. Platforms like Binance has some of the most advanced security protocols in place, and the insurance of my assets gives me added sense of security. If anything goes wrong, I have someone to hold responsible and get my money back. And they're more than capable to pay back, provided the loss isn't from your end.

BINANCE SECURITY PROTOCOL

Security Features*	|
____________________________________________________________________	|
2 Factor Authentication	|
Address Management	|
Device Management	|
API Access Control	|
SMS Authentication	|
Email Authentication	|
IP Whitelisting	|
App Based Safe Sign-in	|
Security Notifications	|

Features Explained

• 2 Factor Authentication: Preferably - Google  Authenticator. This ensures that your account can only be accessed through your (Android or iOS) devices.
• Address Management: A system that allows you to whitelist which address to withdraw to. This to me, is the most important security feature with Binance. Once this is enabled, withdrawal can't be made to another address.
• Device Management: Let's you choose which device that can access your account
• API Access Control: To create Binance API - Login to your account. After logging into your Binance account, click [API Management] from the user center icon to create your API.
• SMS/Email Notification: You get pass code via SMS and Email to complete your sign-ins.
• IP Whitelisting: You simply whitelist only your IP address to access your account. Every other IPs are blacklisted.
• App Based Safe Sign-in: Every sign in option mentioned above can be bottled into App base safe sign-in, including fingerprint login feature.

MY SECURITY PROTOCOL  

My Security Measures*	|
____________________________________________________________________	|
Highend Mobile Device	|
Latest Anti Virus Definitions	|
Nord VPN	|
Incognito Private Browser	|
Secure Internet	|

Features Explained

• Highend Mobile Device: I access my Binance account sticky from my mobile phone. So I got a Brand new Samsung Note 21 directly from Samsung store, free of any contamination.
• Latest Anti Virus Definitions: I then installed original Norton Anti Virus, the highest version with all protections enabled.
• Nord VPN: I prefer Nord VPN due to the high recommendation. Therefore, I had to purchase Nord VPN before doing anything with the phone!
• Secure Internet: I rarely connect to Wi-fi. I subscribe to mobile internet bundle with is always more than enough for me and I'm online anywhere I go.

With these in place, I've never had any cause to worry and I store plenty assets in the Binance account for my P2P trading and other uses. And use the same to Hodl some coins.

I'm of the believe that anyone use these and enjoy great peace of mind keep their crypto at Binance or Coinbase. Any time I feel like the volatility is going to work against me, I quickly convert to USDT plus you have plenty to do with your assets to grow it, instead of letting it sit idle in the Cold Wallet in the name of absolute control.

Another thing I do is that, I avoid being phished. So, I'm extremely careful what I do with the mobile despite the security measures. And the Google Authenticator is probably one of the best security inventions of the 21 century.

My Submission: If you're only bothered about the security of your assets but careless about personal privacy, storing your assets at Binance is the most credible option for you. I feel safer keeping my money at Binance than having it in the bank.

But if you're concerned about privacy. You don't want the government or anyone else to know anything about your money movement, then Cold Wallet your best option.

The bottomline is that, your asset is just as secure at Binance as when you're handling it via cold wallet. Plus you have the added incentives of doing more with your assets to grow it.

Doesn't sound like a piece of mind at all to me, someone else being in control of my crypto.


Tell it to the people that lost bunch of money during MtGox fiasco, and many other exchanges that failed miserably. Even though it may seem like Binance is at the top since forever, they are around only for a couple of years and there were other exchanges like them that went bust so if you think that Binance/Coinbase are too big to fail, think again. Also, there is soemthing called selective scamming, you might wanna check it out.

Once shit hit the fan (and it will eventually), "your" money won't be safu.

That doesn't sound right.  :-\

Dude, read what you write. At first you say that there's nothing like having a cold wallet, because you have full control over your assets. Now you say that handing out your coins to Binance maximizes your benefits. It's contradictory.

Platforms like Binance get hacked all the time, and that's reasonable; they keep a lot of money in reserves and thus, are marks for hackers.

Except that if something goes wrong, either they get hacked (https://cryptosec.info/exchange-hacks/), or they run bankrupt, they have every right to use your that money since it's legally considered their property. The moment you deposit money on such platform, you lose custody.

---

---

Furthermore, you have a false sense of security. You've already done KYC; prepare for all that info, such as what you own, what's your name, where you live, what your face looks like, what's your drivers' license etc., to roll over the dark net, chain analysis companies, other companies that want to spy you, governments and every other pal who'll pay for them.

You lost me here already. Why do you need a centralized exchange for P2P trading? That defeats the entire purpose of using P2P!

I don't recommend storing my crypto in Binance even though you said it's safe but a platform that have huge funds in it is more likely to get attack by hackers so, I'd rather store my cryptos in cold wallets. If they get hacked or goes bankrupt then it's either you are funded (not 100% chance to get refunded) or not. They have your personal information too if you did complete KYC. Better just use Binance for trading and once you are done transfer your crypto to other wallet. It's up to you and we can't force you to stop using Binance to store your crypto.

The problem with.your very quick response is that you didn't take time to read my post. If you do, you'll understand that there's no contradiction.

At Bunance, you have options to do more with your Crypto to grow it. You can't do that while your coin is sitting at the cold wallet. We know that you have total control when you have your asset secured in cold wallet but that control is never absolute. You can still lose your assets through other means.

A piece of paper isn't close to perfection, inscribing it on metallic pieces in different locations is one of the ideal ways of storing a seed phrase and private keys to your assets or bitcoin, papers are vulnerable to fire and highly fragile material.


That's why proper backing up your private key(s) or seed phrase is the first thing you do before funding any associated wallet address from that seed. If you take caution while making sure that your recovery phrase is done as recommended, you can always have a shoulder you can lean on when problems ensued in the future.



I don't want to be biased, let's keep things on a neutral ground. In your second paragraph, what do you mean 'if you ever lose your private key', you think Binance is incapable of penetration because they own the best cyber security employees in the world? Because nothing has happened doesn't mean it 'may' not happen. If Binance has a security bridge, I hope you have read their policy terms, you may get compensation but SAFU doesn't have enough liquidity that guaranteed you 100% of what they hold in their custody.






Some people don't know the difference between Google Authentication and Autthy, the second is tied to phone number and many used it on their Binance and other exchanges accounts, any hacker or bad actor can recover your authy with phone number and get access to your exchange account, can you see now that a lot of people lack proper information. Using of cold wallet remains simple and safe for everyone.


Some days ago, I wanted to use Kucoin to swap BTC because of their KYC-less terms and I never knew they disable Native segwit address(Bech32), I decided to confirm before broadcasting the transaction, I was surprised it was disabled without making an announcement. This problem cannot happen to wallets where you hold their private keys, Cold wallet remain the best.


Let's not discuss these, I believe you know the implication of Email and phone numbers when it comes to security.



Allow me to add this bonus, I have a colleague who uses Binance and for some reason, he used VPN a lot, he forgot to switch his VPN IP address from the US and was using Binance consistently, they warn him multiple times in his email but he doesn't go there to read as he hasn't made any recent withdrawals, do you know his account is still locked despite many messages and explanations to customer support, they haven't released his funds. Just be cautious of centralized exchanges, you may not have any issues, but others are silently making the same mistake of trusting centralized exchanges.[/list]

Around early last year, when I didn’t know any better I would have shook hands with you on this subject. My time on bitcointalk has taught me to never trust my crypto to centralized exchanges no matter the rep they may have. You have spent significant time here as well yet you still trust Binance to hold your bitcoins. I don’t think there’s anyone here that will support your opinion on centralized exchanges being safe for storing crypto. Not your keys not your bitcoins

There's Binance P2P which is a very active marketplace with billion of USD worth of Crypto exchanged every day. If you're a P2P Trader and you're not there, you're probably leaving a lot of money on the table. Some of you, if not all, probably have one of two accounts with banks. And your personal data are already all over the places with credit Cards companies. I don't really understand why we can't do transactions with exchange platforms because you fear for your personal data?

Like I said, if your concern is on privacy and personal data, you don't want government to ever know anything about your Crypto holdings, then stay anonymous with cold wallets. But you want efficient use of your Crypto while minimizing profits, stay with exchange platforms. You may never understand what  I'm talking about until you begin to experience it.

At this point, you should read and grasp the differences between centralized and decentralized exchanges, custodial and non-custodial wallets. You are attempting to defend the benefits and values of centralized exchanges over cold wallets, which are not the same thing.
There are other aspects that are unpleasant with centralized exchanges, but your subject focuses on security, which is very poor when it comes to the protection of your coins. You won't understand the importance of cold wallets unless you learn more about privacy.

Actually my first time seeing someone trusting a KYCed exchange than non custodial Wallets in this forum. The gospel has always been "Not your Key, Not your Coin". But I am reading a totally new and different gospel from you mate.
But I have this to contribute.:
There is no doubt that Binance has in place sophisticated security system. But no matter the armour and Arsenal that Binance uses, if government or any agency wants to freeze your coin, they will do it within a second and non of those security types will save you.

You can make an argument that Binance is the best exchange and it will be clearly understood. But not to compare Liberty with an exchange.
Bitcoin is liberty and anything that thwarts total liberty is not a better option anyway.

All this does not matter if you have no control over your private keys. "Not your keys, not your money"

If you woke up one day and Binance was gone completely offline. That would be the end of "your funds". There would be no way of accessing or withdrawing them.
Stop this kind of misleading posts please.

Speak for yourself, if you have done something that is general doesn't mean everyone in other parts of the world wants the same thing. Why do you think some people prefer privacy coins for transactions to pseudonymous coins? Everyone on earth doesn't think the same thing.
Again, making a mistake and repeating is a foolish thing, you know that your personal information is not safe with banks, why repeat such mistakes by doing it with centralised exchanges.

How can you prove this statement will be valid for Binance forever?

Yes, Binance got hacked but the traders didn't lost their money but turn back the history lot of exchanges which were popular but got hacked and ended up paying nothing to the users. You're thinking the exchange are more of a bank no they aren't because banks can refund the money incase of robbery in their vault or something but there is no assurance to cryptocurrency exchanges.

#Not Your Keys Not Your Funds

Binance is a crypto exchange platform where millions of people trade Billions of USD worth of Cryptocurrency assets on daily basis. Countless of traders and investors have millions in their respective accounts, trading, holding, and investing there on daily basis. These people are not fools. It is extremely difficult to understand why making a post about why I trust the platform and how I secure my account could generate such negative reactions?

Does it mean that trading on Exchange platforms is not part of Crypto related matters that this forum supposed to cater for, and discuss about? Cryptocurrency is money, a medium of exchange, and not everyone wants to remain 100% anonymous with it. If people like Elon Musk and Michael Saylor were 100% anonymous, perhaps they won't have influenced and helped inspire the Crypto growth the way they are doing right now.

All I wanted was to share my experiences with Binance and the steps I'm taking to secure my accounts, with hope that someone or some members would learn one or two from it. If you're not using Binance, Coinbase, or any KYCed platforms, that's your personal desicion and you have your well founded reasons for that, which I also respect but mind you, millions of people are using the platform on daily basis and we too are part of this Crypto community.

Healthy discussion is the lifeblood of every useful community. The moment single opinion cult like discuss is allowed to prevail, independent thought begins to die.

Everyone is coming up with one permutation or the other about how Binance could wind up tomorrow, how Binance could be hacked and all the asset will disapear. Hello! Nothing is assured in this life. Not even the life we live. Binance and other Exchange platforms are not building their multi billion Dollars company just to fold up or get hacked. These companies are responsible, ethical, and in many cases well audited. Nothing is 100% fail proof, not cold wallet or anything for that matter. Life could happen and you lose access to your keys. Many have. As at my last check, over 140 Billion are sitting in cold wallets inaccessible forever.

So please, quit being hysterical and understand that Crypto was money before anything else.

Thank you for your powerful responses and I indeed respect your opinions. That doesn't mean my own opinion is invalid.

Thank you.

Perhaps this assertion is one of the keys to discuss here. In fact, there are bound to be many people that are Ok using an Exchange, and who have no idea nor skills to perform self-custody of their crypto assets. For those that need to use an Exchange at some point, or do not know better, Binance is an option to consider amongst others.

Of course using an Exchange bears potential dangers (some of those are mentioned on this thread), and we’ve seen these come true for this or that Exchange with gruesome consequences historically. On the other hand, there are people that are technically incapable of managing their custodial environment alongside the security considerations it requires. It could even be counterproductive for some people, who’d get muddled-up and end-up making a mess out of the whole situation.

It’s all going to boil down to what one is capable of doing, and for a whole spectrum of people, an Exchange is as far as they’ll get. Now that doesn’t make it the most recommendable solution, and for those with some degree of crypto-savviness, one wouldn’t put on the same scale having your funds on an Exchange as performing a healthy and secure self-custody of the funds.

Added to the list of "Last topics I want want to read on a Monday morning"


This is where you've got everything wrong.
Who are you going to hold responsible for it? Please let me know, who?
A company claimed to be registered in the Cayman Islands that is NOT authorized to operate there (https://decrypt.co/75042/binance-not-authorised-to-operate-in-cayman-islands)?

Ability to pay it back! Lol!
If their BTC cold wallet address gets emptied they will have zero way of compensating for that, no way in hell.!
Remember the fiasco when the so-called SAFU fund was not able to compensate even 6 000 BTC and they've had to get funds from somewhere else?
Binance claims to have 1 billion of energy funds set aside, that's 30k coins,  while they have 250k of their customer funds in one address, and that's just BTC.

No large exchange will ever be able to pay back a total hack, and it makes no sense, they would rather go bankrupt and start again under a different name.

You're perfectly right but let me point out that even some who are technically savvy chose to keep Crypto at Binance because of other values they get. I am a risk taking entrepreneurs and would like to risk and grow my assets rather than having it sit somewhere safe and secure with zero growth. Like I stated in the original post, if you have nothing to do with your assets, you just want to keep it safe, then go learn cold storage. But if you want your assets to keep working for you, Binance is safer than we think.

Being cautious with leaving large funds on exchanges for a long time and self-custody of assets is what people are telling. That's not being hysterical.

I'm pretty sure some people in here also use centralize exchanges but for trading purposes only. That means they remove their funds out once the trade is done. Majority of people you said that trade millions or billions probably does the same.

I trust binance just as much as you trust it too friend but we are humans and we both know what humans are capable of right? A trusted human can change some day and do the unexpected, I trust CZ but he is a human after all.

If you're afraid that Binance "cold wallet" be hack and get emptied, don't you think you should therefore be more afraid of your personal cold wallet? Because I believe it's likely million times easier to hack yours than theirs.

But the good news is that no exchange platform can be hacked to the level of getting everything emptied. The worst could be a billion dollar worth of coin. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But that's just unrelated. Of course and you can loan your money or use these PoS-kind-of yield nonsense, which come with shitcoins, to make money, but that doesn't mean you don't lose privacy, security, custody. Again, the moment you hand out your coins to Binance, they're no longer yours; with or without a profit.

No, because no other person on Earth cares as much as me, for my money's safety and privacy.

You can't "hack" my coins if you don't know I own any.  ;)

Dude, read the link I gave you: https://cryptosec.info/exchange-hacks/. Centralized exchanges have got hacked, can get hacked and will get hacked. Only an ignorant would continue believing they're safe.

Some here OP trusted binance too but not on the edge that we are gonna rely on compensation that if binance got a total rekt it is.

He can compensate some probably or a bigger funds, however we cant be sure if he can compensate everyone if binance experience a total hack. Unless he could divulge that he owns the same fund somewhere that equals the total coins and tokens worth inside binance.

One simple question that I want to ask you after reading your long post is that, who owns Binance? I am sure you would answer CZ! Which unfortunately means a single individual owns and controls the exchange. What if he thinks and implements it is time to shut the shop. What will you do then?

Now, you might say every company or a an organization is being owned by a single individual. Yes, they are but the big difference here is that they all have an official addres of their offices worldwide. The problem with Binance exchange is that it doesn't and nobody can track them or find them incase if they shut shop.

I would suggest you to think twice before using any exchange as a wallet to hold your crypto assets. I personally would only use an exchange wallet for trading and nothing more.

My wallet was never hacked, Binance had been hacked (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/binance-bitcoin-hack-over-40-million-of-cryptocurrency-stolen.html)!
My wallet can't be reached via the web, theirs can!

There is no majik one million times stronger protection, it's how you guard the access to the data containing the private keys, in my case you don't even know what to look for, a text file, a picture in the bedroom of me and my wife with half of the key in the background, a bunch of numbers on a steel plate in the kitchen, where is the key? In Binance's case you already know, it's digital and in the possession of the ones allowing withdrawals from the cold wallet to the hot wallet, easy to social engineering targeting.


Yup, you're wrong, there is no limit anywhere on the maximum amount of coins that can be transferred out of an address.
How would that even work?

I trust binance but not 100%. Binace is the top exchange but not ideal for your crypto storage. Because binance controlled by others.
Your asset is your. If its controlled by other thats will not be fair man.

You're wrong!
How many exchange platforms have been hacked that is suspected of an insider job?  A Comprehensive List of Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacks (https://selfkey.org/list-of-cryptocurrency-exchange-hacks/)
It might not be emptied but it will end up them immediate shutdown, luckily for those who will recover like Upbit exchange they cover losses.

Though considering Binance has a feature of high-security level and has a promised feature of SAFU which is your fund is safe, it doesn't mean you will trust your crypto asset to them, the golden rule of holding crypto must be our priority.  "Not your keys, Not your coins".

You explain about security at length which is actually only a small part of your strong reason. Simply put, you are not confident in your ability to secure private keys. Yes, some people decide that because the centralized system has the possibility to recover.
Actually your compelling reason is this (which should be explained in more detail):
I have said many times that the centralized service has 1000's of "advantage" offers to get you to hand over your crypto. In this perspective, blockchain is not really needed for you. As long as something has a profitable scheme,  you will enter even though you are actually being controlled.

While Binance boasts about its security, about keeping the funds "SAFU" and so on, while they do have a strong marketing and a pretty good history too (afaik they've always reimbursed when there was a problem), I would like to emphasize that they're still a custodian, and not your keys, not your coins.
I will come with even more: just search the forum about the Nigeria users Binance has frozen their funds without warning - most probably because Bitcoin is not legal in Nigeria and Binance may have received an official note about that.

So yeah, all big established exchanges are nice and good... until proven otherwise or until it happens to you. So.. better be wary and don't keep too big funds there.

Ending with an immediate shutdown seems to be a drama for some exchanges in the past.
I've even had a number of assets still on the exchange that were hacked and couldn't come back until now.
No matter how secure the exchange is, of course there will still be loopholes. Only Binance, which at that time was the most popular and largest exchange, could still be hacked. this proves nothing is on all systems.

Remember about the CRYPTOPIA exchange hack incident which was hacked 2x between February 2019 and February 2021. This resulted in a lot of losses.

But the most detrimental exchange hack incident was the MT.GOX exchange which suffered a loss of around $600 million.
This is the reason why no one can safely store all assets on the exchange, because we do not have complete control.

Binance exchange is not a ''crypto storage'' of any kind and it should not be used like that by anyone, even CZ is not keeping his coins there, but OP obviously thinks he is smarter than him. :D
You are giving someone else control over your coins and they can freeze your account anytime they want and for whatever the reason, so all those security features you mentioned (IP Whitelisting, 2FA, notifications, etc) means nothing.
On top of that you are using VPN... that can only make things worse for you, if you use it with Binance there is a chance they may flag you as suspicious.

Dripstoil's problem is not that he completely trusts the exchangers and considers the safest crypto storage, but that he is trying to prove it in his post and convince other people of the correctness of his point of view. It is OP's personal business where and how to store his crypto and it is not for us to judge with his choice. Many here understand and voice that the exchangers is completely unsuitable as a crypto storage and contradicts the idea of "not your keys, not your money". The bad thing here is that newcomers, having seen and read this topic, may decide that binance or any other is trustworthy, which in the future may lead to negative consequences for them.

or if someone sends you mixed coins (where you don't know anything about it) Binance will freeze all of your funds. https://news.bitcoin.com/as-fatf-regulations-galvanize-crypto-mixing-applications-are-targeted/
I'm not sure how easy it is to remove a suspension from a Binance account. especially for such reasons.

Everything I would agree with except storing crypto in Exchange whether it's Binance or any other centralized exchange. A few days back I bought some tokens from the Binance and moved them to my Ledger. I feel secure now at least Binance couldn't freeze my funds anyway. Whatever the security we can't prevent freeze funds by them. It's not all about only scams. I use Binance for trading, but not for storing big amounts not matter how secure it is.

I don’t think OP realize this is a risk that comes with dealing with centralized exchanges. Because Binance is regulated, the authorities can request for information of their customers for investigation purpose and Binance will have no choice but to comply without consulting or seeking approval from their customers. Even worse, your account is frozen, it will not be easy to prove your innocence and recover your money.

Thank you Op for raising such a critical topic and stood to defend your conviction. I must say that it is not easy to do here where majority believes in pseudo-anonymity.
In as much as your view defeats the core purpose of bitcoin, it is undeniable that you had some facts in your article.

• Your post pointed out some cool security features that I and some other members of this forum are not aware of
• You also stated that privacy is a choice, while some are very conscious not to realize any bit of information that may jeopardise their identity, some are ready to give out their information.
• Importantly, you said whoever wishes to increase his/her portfolio doesn't store coin in a cold wallet

You stated facts and I agree with you that exchanges are part of crypto and majority of bitcoin bought are gotten from exchanges. So, the choice to using exchanges or not is highly subjective and doesn't make anyone less a bitcoiner.

A custodial hot wallet will never be as secure as a cold wallet. Being isolated from Internet and other environments is always more secure than being always online. Storing coins by yourself is always more secure than trusting others to store them.

Storing a portion of your coins on exchange, maybe 10-20%, is acceptable if you are actively trading with them and making consistent profits. Storing all your coins there is just stupid.

It would have made some small sense to make such a topic in 2011, even though it were still just as wrong back then too. But it makes no sense to still say the same thing and use "centralized exchange" and "security" in the same sentence when we have had lots and lots of cases where the CEX scams its users whether at a large scale (like shutting down completely and never giving users money back) or selectively at a smaller scale (like Bittrex that scammed about 20% of its users and stole their money).

People don't tend to understand these terms and for them Binance is safe because it has security protocols like 2FA and their well built system but still they are diluting the whole purpose of decentralisation with involvement of these CEX for their funds.

Not your keys not your coins is well known phrase for all of us in this crypto space but still there are lot of users who stores their funds in these exchange without even realising the fact how risky is it as the exchange has your keys and they store funds  on your behalf and what if they change their mind and try to scam you ? Your funds are gone and you can't do anything after that.

The hacks are well organised on these exchanges and the other part is their KYC factor as you are revealing your identity to them and that also with restrictions.They act like central banking over your funds asking for lot of things under AML policy but they all are government puppets wanted to have full track of their users.If not submitted your account is freezed and you are locked out of funds as practically the funds are in their custody with keys to it.

Binance might have said they will repay customer funds in case of bankruptcy contrary to what Coinbase has said (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5398503.msg60120228#msg60120228) but still avoiding them is best option as funds are not safe at all in any manner over these CEX.

Even if in some imaginary situation it would be possible to pay the total damage, I wonder how someone would feel waiting 5 or 10 years for it? It has always been fascinating to me that in a country like Japan, such a case has not yet been resolved after 8 years, and in the event that someone hacks specified Chinese wandering crypto exchange, maybe the whole thing would be solved by the Chinese Communist Party ::)

---

I can understand that due to the need to trade it is necessary to have a part of BTC on crypto exchange, but I would never use such platforms as a way for long-term storage no matter how secure someone considered them. I know that it is a great challenge for many to be their own bank, but that is one of the key things when it comes to financial sovereignty.

The fact still remains thesame that centralized exchange remains centralized and nothing can change about all its demerits against decentralized ones, be it Binance or any other exchange they have the same risk to lack of privacy controls and ever increasing rate of attempts to been hacked, the advice here is not to use them at all, but your major investment shouldn't be left in them because of the risk, and if you're privacy concious then don't even go close to CEX.

So, why not being your own exchange too? Sure, you don't use them for the long-term, that'd be dumb, But, why continue using them, when you can get rid of them completely? The decentralized spirit of this community has taken care of you (https://bisq.network/). You don't have to mess with KYC, their fee policy, their privacy policy etc., if all you need is to trade bitcoin.

Unless you want to trade every second, like a trader. There aren't enough benefits on using a DEX, if that's the case. You need a centralized platform to "make bets".

As much as I respect Binance for enabling us to add extra layers for protecting our assets from scammers and hackers, I wouldn't really trust them 100% in terms of storing my assets. Why?

As the old saying goes, "Not your keys, not your coins".

We don't have the custody of our assets there. They can put the withdrawals on hold, maintenance activities, freezing our accounts, etc. And worst if the exchange gets hacked, our funds will be lost for good.

It's good for crypto trading activities, but not great for storing them. I would prefer to invest on a hardware wallet like Ledger Nano S, SafePal, etc.

I kind of get what you mean but I also kind of do not.  I get why someone would trust Binance more than their own actions over Bisq.  Mostly because Binance is very user friendly and newbie friendly while Bisq is not.  You have to have a little bit of knowledge to use Bisq, it was hard even for me at first even if I already knew about Bitcoin, how it works and all.

But on the other hand, I do not get why some people truly believe holding their own life savings in someone else's account is a good AND safe idea.  This can go wrong so easily and so quickly.  How can you trust someone else more than yourself?  Even if Binance is the Exchange of choice, at least use a Cold Wallet for the larger part of your coins and keep just the coins you need to trade more often on Binance.  Otherwise it may be a huge, unnecessary mess at the end of the day.  For what?  A false sense of safety?  A lot of laziness and not willing to understand what safe and secure storage of Bitcoin is?

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

Perhaps not. If you are storing your funds in Binance there are two points of failure, you and Binance. You could fail in keeping your information safe. But aside from that, Binance could also fail in keeping your funds as well as your personal details safe. So whether you made your Binance details safe, Binance could end up getting hacked, could suddenly exit, could be ordered for closure, and so on and your funds will perish. That's a lot of difference when your funds are kept in a cold wallet.

Bisq is user friendly. Sure, it's a lot more simple to register on Binance, understand there's a CEO that runs this thing, just like any other account you've made on the internet, deposit money and have your assets exchanged than installing a software, reading how it works and comprehending the advantages.

But, if you're not here willing and disciplined to learn more in the first place, you've already started going in the wrong path of this revolutionary space.

I also trade a lot but its sure not a good thing to store all your coins in an exchange even this trusted binance. We all know the risk of hackers but that is not even what I worry.

SEC already started looking into them and BNB was seen as Security which they may face critical examination.
Remember that they are still under the jurisdiction of governments and if they are investigated, the government can possibly do things like halt their operation in a particular country. Don't put all your coins in binance.

There are a lot of reason this is not a wise choice. In this industry we repeat the mantra "don't trust verify".
You are giving trust to their people, software,  etc etc  even the law that regulate this sector.
if something get wrong (as happened a lot of the time in the past with exchange) what is your next step?

Plus They are a business. Business = profit.
It means also they have to follow several regulations.You can't never known what changes can happens in this field...

LOL, that sounds unsafe for anyone eager to keep their investment assets safe. Remember, it doesn't matter how reputable the exchange you are currently using is, but you have to consider that in the past people have lost in major accidents. You should have learned a lesson from it, or did you never know?

You may be able to keep your assets on the exchange if you are a really active trader but if you are a long term investor then please have a safe wallet for your assets. This is the best recommendation for anyone who wants to invest in the long term (holders).

Well i read most of the message of the thread. The whole community say the same, an  they have several reason to say that.

In my opinion, you can have an ammount of "money" in exchanges for making what you say in a very fast way like P2P or trading. This ammount can be a percentage what you need to do in that moment.

Lets do an example, you make an offert for sell x quantity of BTC and when you have a buyer, you can send your funds from yours external wallet to your wallet in Binance and make the sell. I know is one step more an a transaction more to do , but you are plenty safe.

If you have all your founds available in Binance , i dont want to say this but.... you are a fool man. Not only because the exchange can close any day also because you can experience this kind of troubles.

1- Your example of make an analogy between banks and exchanges, are completly wrong. Because when a bank have problems the goverment can make a save or we have a ton of law who prevents or help the citizen to recover their values. In exchanges we dont have this kind of "security" like another users say to you, they are radicated in "tax havens" and the cost to do a movement its a lot more and only if you have a big ammount of money its viable to recover if you win.

2- HACKERS, and yes with all kind of storages you can be hacked but in an exchange more.

3- Changes in terms and service.

I completly understand your point and i think its okey to have some founds to make P2P or trading or whatever, but putting all yours founds in Binance its clearly demential.

The day I registered my binance account I had to properly give adequate credentials before I was verified this goes a long way to show that binance is very safe... Also measures they put in place to checkmate hacking or failed fund transfer is top notch

Yap..!
Wherever it currently stores the best crypto assets is in our own wallet. Use a Hard wallet like Ledger or something else. At least this will be safer from internet access even if not completely. The best advice is not to keep all your assets on the exchange. Currently, Binance is indeed the best exchange. But we don't know what will happen so storing on an exchange is more risky than storing in a hard wallet.

Can never trust my money to the hands of a centralized exchange like Binance where I don't have full control of my funds.
As large exchange it is that runs huge transaction, such website is prone to be attacked and hacked by hackers I can only keep a little portion of my of funds in the exchange in use for the purpose of trading.

I use Binance for trades and yes store my crypto there until I transfer the funds to exchange into my local fiats. Been using the wallet since 2017 and I did not have any security issues as I had all security features enabled. This helped to keep the wallet secured till now. I love the features they provide and yes cust service as well is so quick in giving resolutions.

Binance might be relatively safe and that you have all security functions on the site enabled doesn't mean your completely safe from infiltration and your funds be chattered alway. You might be winning for now but you must remember the phrase, "Not your keys, Not your coins". It actually sticks and for all we know, your activated security might be able to prevent your account from being hacked but the case is different if binance is the one that is being hacked. It might be difficult given that, binance has got some tight security upon its system but supposing a staff goes ruge and the exchange is hacked, it overrides all your security details and the rest is history.

Exchanges aren't the best in saving huge funds, you might get to move and trade or save value and more but,don't always be that confident in going for a long term savings on a huge fund.

I laugh in ignorance because you are making a mistake that you may wish to revert one day and by that time, it may be too late. I hope you have seen the allegation label on Binance, they have been fighting for the past 3 days with SEC, I can't say about BNB been sold as a security but for SEC to say they have processed illicit transactions and are not fit enough for standard KYC demonstrates that SEC is really interested in every document users provide on Binance, I don't see reasons why they would say that Binance has a weak KYC system, they want you all to submit every detail you have, I hope you will be ready to provide more information when they request for more document MR/MRS Binance Ambassador.

Where money is concerned, the only one you can trust is yourself. Therefore, no matter how much you trust the exchange with Binance, you should not use it as a wallet to store your assets, especially since you understand the advantages of a cold wallet. Keep on the exchange wallet exactly as much as you need to trade.

The good reputation of an exchange is never a good reason to make it a safe wallet for investment assets. You should not completely trust a centralized exchange for all your investment assets, but trust me you will be much safer by having a private wallet. Sure I have some on exchange accounts, but I never make them long term investments because I believe that centralized exchanges can still change at any time.

You may be safe to trade your assets on a centralized exchange like Binance today, but don't make it a safe haven for your investment assets.

There is 100% secured for online security, especially in the exchanges. Binance was also hacked although they could solve the problem. But it proves that nothing is perfect. Here, we can consider again how long we are going toninvest. If this is for short term, it may not be a big problem to save in exchange wallets. But if this is for long term, I will prefer to choose offline wallet.

You have found a reason but I have also the reason why I can't trust any exchanges to hold my funds instead of doing it.
 * you can't be sure of what they are doing - likely you can't urge them to give you money back whatever happens to them eg. hacking incidents
 * exchanges wallets are not safe - you will have to think about that

It is way better to use your own and full-controlled wallet upon holding. That be sure that you are the only one who have an access of your assets, nothing else.

So Binance has halted some BTC retirement. Are you still trusted them?.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3847961-binance-the-worlds-largest-crypto-exchange-briefly-halts-bitcoin-withdrawals-ceo-says

You can look, you dont have power in your own coins.

We have a massive childhood in the crypto world always thinking in SUPER HiPER BULLISH market and thats its not how life works.