Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys,
I'm super excited to finally be a part of this family of great minds in the crypto world.
As a newbie in the crypto community  I've heard people talk about how great they have lost their resources on several crypto platform, so I've resolved to ask:

How best do I secure my investment on bitcoin as a newbie?

indeed so many people jump into the crypto with little or zero knowledge of bitcoin and it's security and intending risk, so pls i will really appreciate a response from professionals in the house

If your bitcoin is worth <$200 then just install BlueWallet[1] on your mobile phone. On the other hand, if it's more than $200, grab a hardware wallet[2].

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[1] https://BlueWallet.io/
[2] https://chainsec.io/wallets

The two wallet’s suggested by mk4 are ok to store your funds. But I will like to add that should you want to consider more security and you feel hardware wallets are expensive for you, then another suggestion could be the use of electrum on desktop. You can use it on air gapped devices.

Also the security of actually lies on you how you secure this the seed phrase or keys generated. The reputation of a wallet doesn’t guarantee its security if you don’t manage it well yourself. There People that got there wallets compromised by hackers through exposing there keys on online platforms or

Do not deposit funds online.
Use a trusted open source wallet like Electrum, Bitcoin Core (desktop). To add to the robustness of the security system, use a hardware wallet. Later you can connect from the software wallet that I mentioned.
Learn how to use a wallet properly and correctly.
Keep the backup in a safe place that is not connected to the internet.
When finished buying on the exchange, immediately transfer assets to the wallet.

To add to all they have said, try as much as you can to avoid leaving your Bitcoin in exchanges.

As they have also recommended wallets for you, make sure you keep your private key safe in a place where no one can have access to it because if someone has access to your private key, your Bitcoin is gone.

Buddy first of all welcome to the platform, your query is one of the sot important ones from the basics. To secure your funds in this market all you need is to follow the slogan of Bitcoin "Not your key, not your coins". So always hold your fund in your personal wallet, and make sure of the security of the personal wallet as (Passphrase, Password & Private key).

That is all as I always use to say safety is as simple as ABC Always Be Ccareful. That's it buddy, with good wishes that you might get success on this path.

You shouldn't keep your bitcoin on custodial services like centralized exchanges. If you keep your bitcoin on a custodial wallet, you give full control over your coins to a a third party. It's possible that they are hacked or they steal your fund. So, you should use a non-custodial wallet.

You should use a trustworthy open-source non-custodial wallet. In this way, you can be sure that there is nothing hidden from the users. If you use a close source wallet, you don't know how your keys have been generated and whether developers have access to your keys or not.

With using a trust worthy non-custodial wallet, you can be sure that no one has access to your keys, but there's still the chance that your wallet is compromised and hackers steal your fund. So, if you want to be completely secure, you should use a good non-custodial wallet on an air-gapped device.

If you can't have an airgapped device, you can go for a hardware wallet.

If it's very technical, maybe it's a little long, the first thing I ask is, are you ready to invest here with Bitcoin? Well, if you are ready and really ready. First, prepare your funds, secondly, choose a reliable and trusted platform (you can ask your close friends or even more experts) and have legality, at least your local government, then use the safest wallet, the choices are various good examples, BlueWallet as presented @mk4 and the first thing you need to take care of is the e-mail (Create a special one and not one that you often share with friends or colleagues in your work profession), Copy that for passwords and private keys, save them in a special place and don't save them automatically on your desktop, for example, crome. At a minimum, the basics for completeness can be added by friends here.

1. Keep your coins in your own custody. The logic / wallets presented in the first reply you've got are pretty good.
2. Store the seed words safely in places only you can access, and if it's a significant amount then there should be at least 2 geographically separate places for copies of that seed.
3. Don't brag about how much bitcoin you own.

I can suggest using the Electrum wallet. Download it only from the official site.  https://electrum.org/#download
Add the site to your favorites so you don't end up on a phishing site in the future.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5351743.0

Always avoid copy-paste functions and read about the consequences of using the CTRL-C and CTRL-V keys.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5190776.0

There can actually be a lot of advice; the best thing you can do is to gradually read the topics that interest you. Keeping the seed phrase in a safe place and using a Linux system is also a good way to start learning.

But all advice can be useless if you don't understand what you're doing. Always think about what you are doing, check several times, and only then act.
Topics on security :
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5434404.msg61717956#msg61717956

Make sure you actually spend your money to invest in Bitcoin, not in any Bitcoin forks, stocks, and not invest into any Ponzi.

Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5421039.0). Be your own bank with private keys of your wallets, because "Not your private keys, not your bitcoins"

Use Non Custodial wallets and hold your bitcoins.

[General] Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.0)
Recommended wallets (https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information/recommended-wallets.html)
[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5240594.0)
[LIST] Open Source Hardware Wallets (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.0)

Your email should not be used to save your passwords or private keys, use a Hierarchical deterministic wallet so you'll have only the seed phrase to save, write it down on paper and keep it very safe, if you use a password for your wallet file that you can't remember, also write it down, but in a different place from where you wrote your seed phrase. Don't save private keys or seed phrase online or in your email, it can be hacked easily and your funds will be stolen by scammers.

I can suggest that you stop here to find a suitable wallet for you.
[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=37.0
[2] http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet
[3] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Hardware_wallet

There are so many choices of wallets that you can use to secure your investment, above other users have also recommended wallets that can be used, you can choose one of the several suggested wallets.

It looks like the link you suggested doesn't work properly in your post, I'm trying to fix it so it can be downloaded if he's interested. https://electrum.org/#download (https://electrum.org/#download)

Have you already invested in Bitcoin? If yes then you are welcome you have done a great work.
It's not only for newbies but also for every users must have the best security for his investment in Bitcoin. To stay safe we must avoid the exchange wallets which are custodial like Binance, Kucoin, OKX or any other exchanges to keep funds in it for long term. Because there is a sentence "Not Your Keys Not Your Coins". So what should I do ? We must use Non custodial wallets like Electrum, Trust Wallet, Exodus etc and also choose open source wallets like Electrum.

And for the best security Hardware Wallets are the best to use like Trezor, Ledger Nano etc. So try to secure your funds and keep your keys safe so that no one can get it.

We all start from zero knowledge then little and then much. But there is a Phrase: Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing and it's true. We should learn about Bitcoin, Funds Security, How it works and what are the benefits of it, the risks of losing and many more to be a proper investor.

As you said, we should use open-source wallets.
Electrum is surely a good option, but both trustwallet and Exodus should be avoided. Trustwallet and Exodus are non-custodial and give you access to your private keys, but they are close-source and there is no guarantee that your keys have been generated in a secure way and you are the only one who has access to them.

Why BlueWallet? Also on a mobile phone, the security of which is similar to a leaky bucket. Why not electrum installed on PC?

You can go a little more complicated, but reliable way: Tails OS on a flash drive (electrum is preinstalled), connect it to any PC and use it. The only trouble is that you will have to enter a seed phrase every time a new one (every new session).

Buying a hardware wallet already with an investment of $200? Come on. This should be done at least at $500-1000.

In what method do you want your Bitcoin security, storage, exchange, investment or trading, what is certain is that everyone who enters the crypto world risks always exist, for that if you talk about Bitcoin storage of course you can see here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5421039.msg61293646#msg61293646

And if you talk about security or loss other than exchange/wallet, understand investment and trade, of course you need a lot of investment and trading knowledge and information, so that you don't run the risk of big losses, the journey of investing and trading is long it takes time to be safe and successful in that, because the risks you face are very high, miscalculations, analysis, the market will all end in regret, so learn more here about crypto, one day you will understand and understand all that, high level of security about your crypto.

Don't be shy and reluctant to ask early, if you don't understand especially about crypto, the members here will be happy to help you, without reward.

You used the term "investment", which means you are planning to hold for some time and to hold BTC, best practise is to use Hardware Wallets, a thread is already been made by dkbit98 Open Source Hardware Wallets (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.0). You can select any hardware wallet from the list, i suggest you to not select any DIY wallet as you are newbie so it would be confusing + difficult.

Second, if you have no enough money then the probability of huge investment in BTC is low for you, so if you have less investment then you could go for Open-Source Mobile or desktop wallets such as Electrum etc. If you do not know how to setup electrum then this guide will be of great help to you.

• Crypto Wallet Enquiry (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5457046.0)

And my big advice for you is:

• Never store you Holding BTC on Any Exchange
• Never trust any of your friend and relatives or any person you meet, with your BTC, because the worst scenario is you will lost everything.

You also can get physical problems like

• Phone screen broke, how to get to mycelium wallet? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1646726.0)
• Broke touchscreen, How do I get my coins off Bitcoin Wallet? (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=522800.0)

Tails OS are very useful if you have to use public computers that not belong to you only.

• [Guide] How to Install Tails OS on USB flash drive for Wallet Purpose (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5228801.0)

Don't buy used (second-hand) hardware wallets.

Prioritize open-source hardware wallets.

• [LIST] Open Source Hardware Wallets (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5288971.0)

BlueWallet is vital for people who use IOS devices, people who use only IOS devices cannot use electrum because it is not available, thus they have to use an alternative, and BlueWallet is a good alternative; it is a non-custodial wallet and is open source too. Having said that, i don't think security issues are peculiar to mobile phones, you can use a mobile phone securely without being hacked, it basically depends on how you pay attention to personal security.

Protect your private key at all cost! This includes choosing a trusted wallet, avoid browsing unsecured to avoid potential malware that will still private key and lastly don’t place your private on unsecured location such as your computer storage or email

Your private key is the most important thing to protect if you really want to protect your investment because that’s hold your investment.

OP, always avoid any social media DMs or investment plots where you are told to send any amount of Bitcoin and receive a double of the amount you have sent in just two days or a week. Many times, there have been cases of scams where some new Bitcoiners receive emails or DMs from some social platform asking them to send their BTC to a strange wallet and receive a 100% profit within a short period of time. In fact, do not respond to emails or DMs that you are not expecting, and be careful of some links or websites you browse on your phone, as some of those sites could lead to your security being compromised.


Cheers 🥂, Dr.Bitcoin_Strange 👺👺

Mate this is the answer. It's not complicated, one thing that scares newbies in Crypto-currencies is the fact that think that it just have to be complicated.

The best way to secure your investment in crypto-currency generally is buying and hodling Bitcoin. There are other ways definitely like some people have held some altcoins and they have made good returns on investment through it so actually do trading and are profitable through it but there are risks in all this. Holding Bitcoin poses the lesser risk generally.

Welcome to the family, am sure you are going to learn from the forum here. Their are different ways which you can lose your resources, firstly don’t trust anybody you meet on the social media, don’t trust anybody that send you private message on the forum here, which are claiming they want to help you, or they are trying to guide you on how you will protect your wallet, ask them to make their contributions on the thread which you created, they shouldn’t Dm you.

Also don’t leave your coin on exchange, that’s one of the greatest mistake newbies are always making, they believe exchange is the easiest and safest place which they are going to leave their coin but they are wrong, when you leave a coin on exchange, you are not in control of the coin because you don’t have private key to the wallet, the exchange is the one holding your coin for you which is very wrong, anything can happen to the exchange at any moment and your money is gone.

That’s really wrong, why will you jump into what you don’t know about, then you are going to lose your investment at the end, don’t think because people are making money you also want to make money, you have to understand what you are investing in before you are going to make money. One of the things you shouldn’t joke with when it comes to bitcoin investment is your wallet security, make sure your wallet is properly secured, don’t leave your coin on exchange, store your bitcoin on a non custodial wallet and also make sure you properly secure your wallet private key.

When securing your wallet private key make sure it’s not stored anywhere there is internet connection, make sure it’s completely stored offline.

For more security if you have your Bitcoin saved on your desktop wallet or mobile device, have an internet security apps or anti malware apps.  Avoid browsing suspicious website and avoid clicking unknown link from emails and direct messages from social media apps especially on telegram or discord. 

This article from Bitpay gives an important list on how to secure your wallet: https://bitpay.com/blog/how-to-secure-your-crypto-wallet/

To list them here:

• Use a reputable wallet provider
• Limit use of centralized exchanges and custodial services
• Be careful where and how you buy crypto
• Back up your wallet (seriously!)
• Leverage 2 Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Use biometric/facial recognition or an entry passcode to lock your wallet
• Use an encrypted password for added security
• Create a multisig wallet
• Be careful of scams and phishing attempts

Many people have given feedback or suggestions to keep your bitcoins more secure and maybe you just need to learn how to use them properly, although the recommended wallets have a much better level of security, but if they are not used properly then the level of security is also not guaranteed because You are the one in control in the guard. The process of securing the generated seed or key is the best way to secure your bitcoins and it is the most important in my opinion.

You should study a secure wallet to store bitcoins like Electrum or Blue Wallet, both of these wallets have a much better level of security compared to some other wallets and also many people who have stored bitcoins in these two wallets are still quite safe today. But when you intend to save a slightly larger amount of bitcoin, then Electrum is an alternative that you can use.

One thing that newbie investors of bitcoin does is to believe that exchanges are the safest place to keep their bitcoins. And that's a wrong belief because it leads you to not have your own key and it is the exchange that holds your funds and not you. Because it should be us holding our bitcoins and not them. So, that's it, don't store your bitcoin on any exchange if you're not going to trade it. Next, if you've learned to keep your bitcoins on hardware or desktop wallets that are recommended, you don't store the private keys on any cloud storage e.g email, social media account, spreadsheets, etc.

How best your investment could be secured first of all begins with you the owner on how security conscious you are about your privacy first. Followed by not keeping your coins on any exchange as it is not secure and wise to do so except you're trading at the moment.

To have your bitcoin investment secured and save you would have to create a wallet like electrum wallet where you would store them safely there. I usually recommend electrum wallets to newbies cause it's features are flexible to use and understand in addition to it strong security.  After creating your wallet make sure to keep your private keys safe through a metal key storage technique which is durable and fire resistant in the case of any fire accident.

Safely download Electrum (by DireWolfM14) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5240594.0

How to create a watch-only Electrum wallet (by butka) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4573616.0

I recommend using a hardware wallet for maximum safety and protection for your BTC investments. If you are holding a relatively small amount of BTCs, then you can put them inside exchanges but make sure to send it to your hardware wallet as soon as the latter becomes available.

If you are living in a country where it supports a local wallet, then you may also put your BTCs inside such local wallet for maximum convenience and support. In my country, we have a local wallet called coins.ph where it is regulated for transparency. The reason on why I keep them inside is because I can conveniently convert my BTCs to our desired local currency and even purchase or pay bills with it.

Though this may be the case, I am slowly migrating my BTCs to a hardware wallet as soon as I purchase one.

Welcome to this forum guys.

When talking about the security of bitcoin assets, it is certain that what will be discussed is a wallet that can be used to store bitcoins safely. You should know, if you want to store your assets safely, the answer is definitely to store them in a personal wallet. Because if for example you put it in a market, the worst possibility is that the market is cheating or going bankrupt. Automatically the assets that you have in the market will most likely be lost.

So what you have to do to be able to properly secure your bitcoin assets is, look for a crypto wallet that you can control yourself, namely a non-custodial wallet. This non-custodial wallet is the most recommended wallet, especially for bitcoin/crypto investors who want to hold onto their assets, be it for the long term or short term. But you also have to look for the best non-custodial wallets, one of which is metamask, trustwallet, or electrum.

Plunging into a field but having no insight into that field, in my opinion, is a very inappropriate decision, and that also includes the world of investment or crypto trading. That's why many beginners in bitcoin / crypto experience losses. All of that because there is no foundation or knowledge that they have mastered about crypto, but they have the courage to dive into it. So basically, first learn about this crypto field, if you feel you already have enough knowledge, then start investing in bitcoin or other crypto.

Now that you are saying that if the Bitcoins are more than $200 then user should acquired hardware wallet. What of keeping it in a software wallet like Electrum? I was thinking that Electrum is capable of storing any amount of Bitcoins but this one you are recommending another wallets is giving me more confusion. Please explain more on this topic.

Both bluewallet and electrum are good. mk4 suggesting bluewallet doesn't mean you can't use electrum.
You can use electrum or bluewallet for any amount of bitcoin, but note that any online device is always prone to hacking.
If you have a significant amount of bitcoin and you want your fund to be completely secure, you should create your wallet offline on an airgapped device or go for a good hardware wallet.

Welcome to the forum. Write down your seed phrase and keep it somewhere safe. Do not use hot wallets or custodial wallets like trust wallets, atomic wallet and exchange wallets in storing your funds. I don't know how big your pocket is but the most secured wallets are hardware wallets like Trezor, Ellipal etc. and they are going to cost you a couple of bucks. But if you cannot go for a hardware wallet you can settle for an open source non custodial wallet like electrum wallet or blue wallet. It's is very important to note this, only download from the official website to avoid installing a clone app. Also avoid clicking phishing links and visiting websites you do not trust.

OP already pointed that his investment is on Bitcoin and he asked about the ways how he can secure it because he is a newbie and maybe don't know about the effective ways. But you are advising to invest in other ways like altcoins investment and trading. In my opinion it's meaningless to share about what he wasn't interested at all.

It's better for op to use Hardware Wallets if he want the best security for his investment. If it's not possible or funds are not too much then using non custodial open source Wallets like Electrum can be a perfect choice. Always write down your seed phrase and keep it safe because if you have not access on it you will not be able to use your investment. Use centralized exchanges for small investments and don't store there either it's very necessary to you and better avoiding centralized exchanges fully.

I think you should let him know that holding bitcoin isn't only the issue but not chickening out and selling during the bear is actually the key to successfully holding your btc, I would have given advice on other possible altcoins that you can earn some profits from but I think as a newbie there is no need for you to involved yourself with those shitcoins as they are very bad as the same way there are profitable because you can lose your whole investment in these shitcoins if the market turns bad for you. But holding your btc for a long tern investment can actually yeild you some tangible profits with lesser risk involved in your investment.

Investment isn't something you would just come ask and get the best knowledge reason being that after venturing into it and you start facing some difficulties either with your wallet or price sinking.
As a beginner you must have it in your mind to always accept the risk associated with investment, people focusing on the profits aspect without being willing to accept the risk when it comes to hard time.

This forum is the best place for you to gradually study things around community to increase your knowledge and experience on how to make a successful investment which including about securing your wallet. I don't have to share any link because I believe some of them already shared here, so you have to devote your time to read them all.