Bitcoin Forum

Friendly reminder from [cryptosec.info (https://cryptosec.info/)]: While waiting for the market bull run, first make sure that your bitcoin/cryptocurrency investments are actually secure. Always remember:




If you're still using services like Coinbase to store majority of your coins, you could possibly lose your investments(not an exaggeration). Sure, we respect Coinbase for their service, but Coinbase is NOT hack-proof. NOTHING in general is 100% secure, especially for a centralized system. People in the past probably thought that MtGox was also actually "secure" enough, well guess what happened?

You're significantly decreasing the chances of your crypto getting stolen when using a well-made paper wallet or a hardware wallet.

Some reputable hardware wallets:

• Ledger Nano S: https://www.ledgerwallet.com/
• Trezor: https://trezor.io/

This is true. Recent hackings are from exchanges. Storing coins in a hardware wallet or paper wallet would be the best bet. My advice is when using exchanges deposit in exhanges, do your transaction then withdraw as soon as you have finished.

Thank you, People really should start using Hardware Wallet.

Pretty much. The only excuse for leaving funds on exchanges are if you are trading, or are setting up stop losses.

Which would you recommend better? The Ledger Nano S or the Trezor?

Already discussed before. You may check, for example, this post:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2552485.0

In my opinion, even better is a properly configured air gapped computer:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2828437.0

Both are great. It just comes down to personal preference. With the new Ledger Live software, I'd probably go with Ledger, personally.

This is really a good advise to avoid regrets because when price starts to appreciate, hackers would start being nose sniffing. The earlier the better.

Yes, I admit that the hardware wallet is the most powerful wallet. 1 year I use Ledger Nano no complaints at all.

That's true. Nothing is secured. We have be very careful to take further steps. Hardware wallets are doin great great to secure coins. Trexor and Ledger Wallets are considered to be the best wallets of all.

In recent time exchange performance is not good that’s why so many hackings are occurring from here. So you can use hardware or software wallet for keep safe your coins. After finished the transaction you need to withdraw it.

Who uses coin base anyway I'm sure people have become aware of how exchanges take their money and then don't return it, I was lucky enough to move out long back and didn't fall to these exchanges trap, they only make a fool out of you and charge exthorbition prices. I hope op post will once remind people to stay away from exchange.

What about software wallets? If you have an old notebook collecting dust you could repurpose it and use it as a hack-proof offline wallet. You don't need to splash the cash on these hardware wallets when there are free alternatives like BitKey which is a secure live Linux distro that can run from a USB stick or a CD and provides security similar to hardware wallets. Hardware wallets are more convenient though, because they offer a complete package that needs minimal configuration by the end user and are portable, but they are not the be-all and end-all of crypto wallets.

Yes. Wallet's security is the most important factor for any cryptocurrency user. We have seen lot of hackers and scammers using various techniques to steal your cryptocurrency.

Apart from OP's suggestion I would like to tell that we should not give wallet's Private key to any person and we should triple check the websites we are visiting to prevent from phishing and scamming attempts. 

Well, then you're hugely underestimating the carelessness of people. Especially on social media sites, lots of people are still storing their investments on apps like coinbase and the binance app, just because it's very convenient; not taking in to consideration the risks.

I completely agree. Though you also need to take in to consideration the people who are barely experienced with computers. I'm pretty sure a good percentage of people invested in the cryptocurrency space doesn't know how to install OS's on flashdrives.

Yes this is really alarming and specially after few hack that took place within very short time. For these I always prefer hardware wallet and this gives you the maximum security. And yes, Ledger Nano and Trezer both are reputed hardware wallet.

This is quite TRUE. From a year of diving into bitcoin and cryptocurrency. This is what i can say the golden rule that i learned. The only thing you can trust is yourself. And also don't just let anyone know how much cryptocurrencies you held this might cause a threat to your life.

It’s impossible to hack crypto system but you wallet can be hack that is why when choosing a wallet that time we need to choose good and secure wallet for avoid hacking also you should not share your private keys or any types of password with anyone.

I see the quote from the FBI director and think about all the people that are sending their Passports and government ID's over the internet to win a few free tokens that are most likely to be worthless.  KYC is going to get a lot of people in big trouble in the future.  I'm waiting for the post telling us the terrible details.

Yes.We can't say,any wallet is 100% secured.Because many wallets had faced the hacking issue.The only solution to save your bitcoin is secure it with some security setup.I had using coinbase from long,still now I don't have any hacking issue.Coinbase is linked with mail id, it's hard to access your wallet without your mail id access.

The hacking incidents are at large nowadays. And this has indeed got the people worried. The best advise would be to get the get the exchanges done and withdraw the money as soon as possible. And to use a secure wallet.

Thanks for your reminder, you correct if we don't have the private keys we are not the one who is on control of our bitcoin or any other altcoins on our wallet, i would like to add up, not just on what your referring online wallets, also the other trading platform don't put all you have their if their is hacks that will happen your money will say good bye to you

This is a good help, and heads up to how you should always be cautious, in securing your investments.

Hardwallet is the best wallet for security i think. You don't need to expose your key or something that can harm your wallet.
If you want a secure and free wallet, i think you can use desktop wallet and install it on your pc.

I agree because, after the recent recovery of BTC, scammers will become active again and try to scam people. So it's safe to apply as much as security on your hard earned money and stop believing in false rumors.

Hello please can somebody advise, bought some btcx2 last month, however, cannot yet see any exchange or wallet address, how do i trade or withdraw my money? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards

This is very good. A lot of people may have been carried away by transferring their coins to the exchanges to sell once a predetermined price is reached.

This is a powerful reminder,thanks!
Its true,we need to just be cautious and alarmed for this kind of bad scenarios in the world of cryptocurrencies.
Always in the safe side.Always create a strong password and better to write in a book that only you can know .
Also be careful to scammers and hackers for they are so many now adays

I think that we already stress this message across this forum for too long that it already sounded like a broken record. So I don't know if people have invested big enough money and doesn't know how to secure it. Exchanges has been hacked, online wallets and even scammers have been with us so by now if people still need reminders how to protect their assets and then bitch around later that they have lost tons of money then crypto is not for you.

Just you said what i was to comment, This is the message appearing from long long time and till now it is like dead boring topic but still like what you said who ever is in crypto world should have been knowing all the problems if you are still using online web wallets and exchange wallets. But still their are so many new users who are still using web wallets and exchange wallets and are happy till they are not scammed or hacked.

Yes its really important to secure our cryptocurrency because recent time hacking is happen and in exchanges our coin is not safe. so we need to store coins in ledger, hardware wallet and paper wallet and we can access our coin from private keys. so important security is the biggest priority for us.

Pretty much standard stuff and well known. You only need coins on the exchange if you trade. If you're holding then put it away man, that's common sense. But anyways it's good to have this kind of topics so people can read and do something about it. Nobody's gonna hack your phone because you're irrelevant but many hackers were trying for years to for example hack PS4 and they did it in the end.  Everything is hackable it just depends how big of a target it is.

This is true, hence software wallets cannot be completely reliable, especially if you are holding huge amounts of BTC or any other assets that you may have in your Coinbase or any other software wallet, It is also not hack-proof, hence you should buy a hardware wallet that can be reliable in safekeeping your coins, it may cost you but it is also worth it, for a price of $65 you can get yourself a Ledger Nano S, it's more reliable and it is indeed safer.

The recent hack of Binance has made very clear that storing your cryptos on exchanges can cause you to lose your money. It is very important to protect and secure your hard earned Cryptos from hackers.

Thank you for reminding us, indeed we should be aware of our coins. Finding the safest place to store digital assets is very important, it's better to spend a little money to save our assets than to regret later.

Heck, even without the occurence of Binance hacking, I wont be storing my coins on any exchanges. I dont trust them at all. I dont care if how many 2FA's you have to go through before you completely logged in. It would be the dumbest thing for an investor to store their coins in an exchange for a long time. If you notice, there are a lot of issues in every exchange are facing every single day. One of them was the log in attemps.
Instead if I do trading I'll transfer some coins only enough value to trade. Sounds so hassle, but its better be safe.

High prices draw scammers too, so be extra vigilant when the price increase. I store more than 80% of my coins in cold

storage, because I do not trust any exchanges or centralized wallet providers. I also have several different hardware wallets,

because some of them cannot store all the Alt coins I invested in. I prefer to use storage methods where I am in control of the

private keys. <It is also beneficial when there is a hard fork and you can have control over the forked coins>  ;D

I also truely believe that the hackings can be stopped just by simply using the hardware wallet and keep ourselves away from the threat and loses.

A very good and timely reminder, I'll be doing this today. Better safe than sorry!!

Exactly. Before going into different lucrative investment in the future, one must always be aware of possible hack that might affect their account and steal away valuble possessions of theirs.

Very sensible opinion. Keeping the coins safe is the most important thing. And yeah recent hackings are really terrifying. So I think everyone should start to keep their coins safe right now.

This is very important friendly reminder. I was so tensed after learning about the hacking in exchanges. It will be the wisest decision if we keep our coins in a secured place. Otherwise the losses will be unbearable.

Thank you but we know it already even I just starting to know about BTC and cryptocurrency. Part of being wise in this industry is to take care about our assets. But even I know it already, I cannot prevent for me to loss money since internet is dangerous. I don't know where and when it could happen but I hope I can resist hacking on my account. Ensuring our keys is good but ensuring our assets is better

Securing your own asset is not easy, you need to find a way to protect your wallet from scammers and hackers.
For securing your coins, you need a good wallet to do transactions, otherwise you still have a possibility to getting phished or hacked.

Keeping the coins in an exchange wallet will be the dumbest thing to do now. No one knows when these guys will vanish after taking all of your money. Keeping your coins in a hardware wallet is not safe either. If you have some issues with the authorities, then there is always the risk of them seizing the coins through these hardware wallets.

It is really significant thing for older guys newbies and skilled ones because not to secure your passwords and wallet equals giving your money to a stranger, but you are not willing to do that in this example.

This is a must thing to remember and you should always keep to yourself. Losing something that you own is really a hard feeling and for sure you don't want that to happen. As much as possible always keep your assets secured because you don't know when and where the enemy is going to attack you. You should always prioritize your safety.

This is totally true and should be prioritize. Always remember that prevention is better than cure so as much as possible keep yourself away from inconvenience. We all know how devastating it is to lose something so let's be careful of our asset. We should always keep it safe and away from the presence of hackers or stealers.

None will want to loose their precious investment to a hacker. Better take precaution from now. I'd personally recommend hardware wallet.

I think that now a hardware wallet is a must, especially if the experimentation phase has been overcome. Who I know uses ledger nano s but I can't explain why.

Very true! We should always secure our assets to save us from waste of time, heartache and headache. Imagine the sleepless nights you’ve spent in tasking and trading, then all of a sudden it’ll go like a bubble, especially in this business where every transaction is irreversible and discrete. Once you’re hacked, you can never recover it, or if possible, you’ll surely have a hard time.


I’m also a fan of Ledger wallet. Since it’s an offline storage, you’re highly (though not totally) protected from computer vulnerabilities and online thieves.

The safety of my coins sometimes really worry me, especially i'm the type of stubborn person and it's not weird if sometimes i lost my coins by mistake.
Hackers are quite a serious problem but still it's hard to prevent that from happening. Even the safest wallet can't really dependable.
Moreover i've just read about cryptocurrency robbery. I think even having hardware wallet can't make us really safe. But it's still better and safer than online wallet, i think i should get one to save my coins just in case.

It's interesting that people think about this things only AFTER they get scammed or hacked. The prevention is crucial when you're dealing with money scams.

That's very true mate. I remember a guy sent me an address not knowing he copy it from the internet and expected to get the money withdrawn when i send some tokens on it. Some newbies do not take their time to read about the safest thing to do. Always asking of unnecessary questions is what they know.

That is why we are reminded always that we need to at least save some of our money so that when time comes that cryptocurrency dumps then there is no way we can get our investment since we still do have fund to use at, and let us always considered securing our asset and buying more properties as an investment.

Thanks for the friendly reminder, I know these things very well, but then I always end up having some funds sitting in som Exchange with the Keys out of my control. Have to correct that.

Thanks for reminding us, though we do it constantly still there will be times that we tend to forget securing our assets like updating them or making it more secure and also let's keep in mind to share our knowledge but keep tonourselves our own own pritection.

Thank you for this helpful tips. Yes you are correct hardware wallet are indeed far more better than any online wallets. It is also suggested to use hardware wallet when storing coins rather than using any online ones. I am saving and planning to buy one for storing most of my bitcoin.

Good timely reminder.  I do store most my coins offline.  But I also have some in Coinbase as well for fast trading.  Coinbase also gives me a bit warm and fuzzy feeling cuz they have never been hacked, plus they are fdic insured so hopefully you should be good up to $250k. 

This is a must and it should be the first concern of the newbies and the other type of investors that are just getting started because they should consider having a safe place for their investment and they should not worry about spending money to an investment of security because that is where they will rely for the safety of their assets.

Yes your right,  even sites has a very good security system, you cannot say that it is invulnerable from hacking. Hacking are happens every where at anytime,  so you better to secure your coins first into the very safest wallet in crypto. Because we all dont know when or where do hackers do that dirty job to steal our assets in an instant. Safety is better than sorry.

Thank you for the reminder. Now i will start looking for a secure wallet.

Yes, hardware wallets are more secure to cover your assets. They have many advantages than software wallets such as it never needs to be touched, open source soft, immune to computer viruses which steals from softs, cannot be transferred in plain text etc. Researching for best wallets I found Ledger nano s, keep keys, Trezor etc in the list.

Don't look for it, just make paper wallets.

In this business where every transaction is irreversible and discrete. The safety of my coins sometimes really worried me, especially since I'm the kind of stubborn and it's not strange if sometimes I lose my coin by mistake. Even the safest wallet can not really be trusted. I think even having a hardware wallet can not make us really safe.

If you said trezor or ledger is the best wallet, then i strongly agree with you.
Because trezor and ledger is a hard wallet, you need to use it if you want the best security for your wallet.
Many phishing hacking occurred because they require to input their key before send coins.

I think now a hardware wallet is a must, especially if the test phase has been overcome. The safety of my coins sometimes really worries me, especially since I'm the kind of hard guy. And it's not strange if sometimes I lose my coin by mistake. Even the safest wallet can not really be trusted. I think even having a hardware wallet can not make us really safe.

$60m stolen from Japanese exchange on Sept 19. Definitely don't keep a lot of crypto on exchanges!

But an interesting point was made about hardware wallets: they can be stolen, seized by police, lost, hw failure, etc. If you are storing coins for a longer term and don't need to do transactions, just make a paper wallet or write down your passphrase and store someplace safe in a non-obvious way. Get an old book and circle letters or something :D

Security is always a serious concern in the world of crypto. I believe we need more of such education to increase the public education and create the necessary awareness for people to protect their hard earned digital currency. The hardware wallets have always been very expensive to purchase one.

I agree with you, everything in cyberspace is very vulnerable to hacking. And using a hardware wallet to store our cryptocurrency is a very good action to prevent things you don't want.

Hi. Head over to https://cryptosec.info/ and read our general guides. Here are some of the important ones:

• https://cryptosec.info/cryptocurrency-wallets/
• https://cryptosec.info/secure-your-exchange-accounts/

This is very important now, because some hackers need money now for Xmas gifts and also to pay for their expensive holidays.  ;) Yes, they are human just like us and they have families too, so they need more money now, over the festive season.  :P

If you do not have the money to buy a hardware wallet, then just dump 80%+ of your coins into paper wallets. They are free and very easy to create. <Just make sure that you are not connected to the internet, when you create them>

I created my paper wallets on a old cheap computer & printer that will never be linked to the internet again.  ;D

We been experience some hacking in internet and most of the people who store their coins in exchange or online wallet are the people who really experience hacking. Your suggestion about storing coins in a hardware wallet is very effective and most of the people who holding huge amount of coins they use it because it is very secure.

A very good advise assets are of more importance so we have to ensure its safe from hackers else once its gone its gone so the hard wallet is a very god idea to make use of

Way ahead of you, just purchased 3 additional Nano Ledgers while they were 50% off during the black Friday sale.
My old one broke, so I definitely needed to buy some more.

Might give one to a friend, it's still in its original packaging.

there are those who are careful by nature and those who are carefree. You might tell the later to be careful a million times but all in vain until they get into trouble.

Unfortunately, some people seriously think about the safety of their funds when they have already been stolen. But it is necessary to think about it first of all. Do not assume that you will not be affected. This can happen to anyone and so you should immediately determine how to protect your investment.

Most of the people who hold or have huge amount of cryptocurrencies or simply called whales are always use hardware wallet like trezor or ledger which is most secure and safe kind of wallet. Its hard to stock any cryptocurrencies in a exchange and it is very dangerous because if someone hack your account you can lose your entire money and cryptocurrencies.

I am pretty much agreed that suing hardware wallet is the most safest wallet that we can use to make our coins be safe very well.
Only you need to buy em in online, or you can also use cold wallet if you don't have budget to buy nano ledger one of the hardware wallet in accordance to my idea about it.

Your post is based on the claim that companies can be hacked, and arguably, will all eventually be hacked. This is a perfectly reasonable claim.

However, it doesn't include the important consideration that individuals can also be hacked, and arguably, will all eventually be hacked (or more simply, lose their own assets).

The important question to ask is not whether it's possible that a company will ever be hacked.

The important question to ask is: Is it more likely that assets are safer with this company, or with myself.

Security is the first thing we need to take care of when using cryptocurrency. That's the most important thing. So I agree with everything you said. It is necessary to disseminate information about it much as possible, especially for beginners.

so far, the perception of most people how they think that a market that has never been hacked is a good market I think that is the wrong thing. I also want to ask, is there a place where we can store our assets in the form of FIAT which of course only we have the key

For someone like me who've learnt his lesson in the past with bitebtc exchange I'm boldly enough to say 'its unwise to leave your coins and tokens on any exchanges for a long time' no matter how good the exchange is or how popular ,anything can happen in a blink of an eye ,if you can't afford hardware wallets go for wallets with private keys and beware of phishing

We need to secured first our hard earned income from those hackers we need secured it in hardware wallets to safe and secured our assets. This is good reminder for us cause it's hard to earned now, that's why we need to protect it and hackers are always there, this reminder are very helpful to us.

An individual is significantly less likely to get hacked than a company holding millions and billions of dollars worth of assets. As long as an individual does everything right in terms of security, he/she won't get hacked.

Any system as powerful as coinbase cannot guarantee its security, the right step is to store our own coins and assets in cold storage without connection, use them as needed if needed, because we will regret when our assets are lost

A properly chosen hardware wallet can significantly reduce the risk that your investment will be stolen. Therefore, I advise all investors, especially beginners in any case not to neglect the issue of safe storage, it is very important for a successful investment.

This is very true and the recent even that can prove this is Cryptopia hacking the good thing is some funds can be recover, the bad parts is it is harming the whole market and holders are having a second thought to trade because hacking is very rampant.

So I bought myself a cold-type hardware wallet. Many say that it is the most safe for your storage. And while a few years of storage of coins in such a purse, they are all safe and sound. I hope that it will always be so.

You're right. Even checked the exchange as Binance, Kucoin etc can't be 100% safe. Always keep your coins in your wallet. And it is best to get a hardware wallet. In that case, you will definitely be safe.

I agree about hardware wallet is better ways to safe our funds, but for me, I think that's is expensive. Now I still using free website wallet like MEW. If my funds already much, I will consider using a hardware wallet. And until now my funds safe in MEW. Always update all security and never open your wallet on a public computer.

Safety issues are fateful for every investor and seeing such sharing people who are willing to help each other is very promising. If we stay together and inform each other recent incidents, security of all will be achieved at the highest level.

Yes, of all the existing ways to store cryptocurrency hardware wallet is the best and safest way. I also use it and my funds are always safe.

I wonder how long it will take to get this Cryptopia hack sorted out? I hope we can access our accounts soon and it isn't dragged out to be a 6-month long ordeal. I wonder how many exchanges will be hit by hackers in 2019?

You are right.Always secure your wallet because there is no 100% security in any exchange. Just your own wallet.

Though I like coinbase most, And I haven't faced any problem with it! But you are right, Coinbase is not hacker proof. I have Ledger Nano S, I ordered Trezor too. Actually, I very much care about my wallets, but truly speaking, I like coinbase most! But by seeing the Cryptopia exchange hack incident, Now I totally depending on hardware wallets and I think everyone should use hardware wallet before too late.

Maybe exchange market will be safety for holding and keep our bitcoin or altcoin is safe, I don't care how many time exchange market have hacked but so far I will trust with all of market holding my asset bitcoin and altcoin.