No, I hadn't seen it before you mentioned it. I do agree with Theymos, and it's perfectly understandable that on Binance or whichever centralized exchange you don't actually have any control over your money. The concept is similar to a bank deposit. The bank doesn't have your X amount of money stored somewhere; it's displaying the money they theoretically owe you.

What happened with FTX is extremely frustrating and gives cryptocurrencies a bad name. I do, however, believe that an exchange like Binance won't fail that way. Although I do believe that it's best to store your coins away from exchanges.

Certainly, opportunities back then were pretty much endless; with a small amount of money, you could acquire a decent sum of BTC. However, that only applies if you've actually held that amount, and the truth is that most of us would have sold it the minute it doubled in value. Regretting what you did or could have done otherwise puts us in a vicious cycle; it leads nowhere.

To be honest, supposing I had bought BTC at $200 each, I'd be extremely tempted to sell at $1000, a price difference that may sound insignificant now, but it was a huge deal back then. The exact same thing will also occur when BTC recovers from ~$20,000 to $30.000.

It's not over yet, we're far from it, there are still an abundance of opportunities out there.

As much as I'd like to disagree with you, you're right. The thing with staking is that you practically have a semi-steady source of income every month, no matter what. It feels similar to having money in a bank account but with much higher interest. However, back when I was actively trading Bitcoin, most of my trades yielded an average of 7–10% return, which was approximately 30–40 dollars per successful trade. Even with two successful trades per month, my profit was way higher than what stablecoin staking is generating.

Exchanges are a necessary evil, especially if you're trading on a daily basis, even though there are a few decentralized alternatives. The main point is to avoid storing coins somewhere you practically have no access to. Would you trust a stranger with your money? Nope. Well, exchanges are something similar. While I don't believe that Binance would suffer something similar to FTX, it's best to be on the safe side, which is also the main reason I keep my Bitcoin out of reach.

Not only do you pose a risk from exchanges themselves, but also from malware or phishing attempts. Not long ago, I was scammed through a Chrome extension.

Bitcoin is the only thing that has remained intact since its founding. It remains decentralized, it hasn't been hacked, the total number of coins is strictly limited to 21 million, it's open source, it continues to be adopted by new people, and it probably features a ton of other characteristics.

It's extremely frustrating that such a large exchange can fail so abruptly. My condolences go out to the people who lost their money. While Bitcoin's (and other coins') value has severely decreased and may look like a great opportunity for purchases, the extremely unstable market situation is rendering it a risky time for investments, and the OP is suggesting that investors be extra cautious in their choices.

I've been hearing rumors regarding Crypto.com as well. These rumors, starting right after the FTX incident, are quite concerning and suspicious. From what I've read (and I'm also quoting the article below), Crypto.com is holding 20% of their assets in Shiba Inu, which is more than their Ethereum reserves, in a meme coin. My other guess is that someone or another major exchange is spreading rumors on purpose in an attempt to hurt Crypto.com and the market in general.

One thing is certain, though: trust in cryptocurrencies will be dented if another exchange goes down.

https://www.euro2day.gr/investments/crypto/article/2161051/ypoptes-kinhseis-apo-to-antallakthrio-cryptocom.html Article in Greek but could be translated into English.

I didn't acknowledge the existence of the FTX exchange before its bankruptcy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting the usage of OKx for staking; I'm mostly concerned that they're offering a significantly higher APY (10% instead of 2%), just by verifying your ID. Why does it make such a huge difference?

My main question is where you'd stake your stablecoins now. The only decentralized platform I have used and am comfortable using is Beefy, but I'm pretty sure there are others out there. I'd prefer if a user here could recommend one, not because I can't do my own research but because sometimes blogs and websites might be promoting a specific one on purpose.

As others have already mentioned, it's no use dwelling on the past. We don't know what the future holds for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. However, I honestly believe that the early days of Bitcoin are over. Before you jump to conclusions, my point is that you can no longer obtain a large amount of Bitcoin with, say, $200–300. Even back in 2013–2016, you could acquire a decent amount of Bitcoin for $200. Nowadays, with such an amount of money, you'd get a tiny portion of BTC. Even if the price multiplies by x10, you'd still have $2000.

My point is that, compared to the earliest stages of Bitcoin, we don't have the same opportunities. $1000 back then could potentially make you a millionaire, providing that you held till the last few years. Now however, the same amount of money hardly makes you millionaire, no matter what.

After a fourth reduction since I deposited my stablecoins on Binance's savings and staking options, I decided to withdraw all my funds, provided that I find a decent alternative, preferably decentralized. Binance is now offering only 6% APY on BUSD and 5% on USDT, for up to $1.000 on each option. It's honestly too little to stay; it used to be 10% of $2.000. I found a few vaults on Beefy ranging from 8–12%, which isn't too bad. However, the one that struck me the most was OKx's saving plans.

The OKx exchange is offering 10% for up to $2,000 per stablecoin (USDC, USDT), but on one condition. That you submit for Level 2 KYC, which includes your personal details plus a photo of your ID. Surprisingly, the KYC process requires far less information compared to Binance. What are your thoughts about this? 10% isn't bad; it doesn't state for how long it's valid, but it's quite competitive with Beefy's vaults.

https://www.okx.com/earn/stablecoin

I highly doubt it; Binance holds the majority of cryptocurrency assets while they also claim to have a SAFU of $1B (Secure Asset Funds for Users) in place, something that I didn't know until another user here pointed it out. In my opinion, if Binance goes down for whatever reason, so will the majority of cryptocurrencies, leading to a tremendous impact on the market. While I trust Binance, and I don't think there's any reason to worry about our funds, we've already seen that there are no guarantees when it comes to the safety of assets. I'll be withdrawing half of my money from Binance soon, but for a different, not relevant to the topic, reason. Generally, I'm satisfied with Binance's services because they're extremely convenient.

So in summary, it's unlikely Binance will go bankrupt or shut down, and it's wrong to compare it with Luna. Luna wasn't an exchange.

Oh no, what a shame; you're going to miss that wonderful reward. Binance today went ahead and reduced savings rewards from 8% to 6% for BUSD and to 5% for USDT. This is the fourth reduction from Binance within the last month or two. I had found a way to override the recent yield reductions by allocating my funds in smaller parts through staking and saving options. Thus, I didn't mind too much because I found the platform quite convenient. However, the recent reductions are rendering my earnings completely unimportant and minimal. I'm going to be withdrawing in the following days and moving back to a decentralized platform, such as Beefy.

That's approximately how we organize our shopping; we want to make pasta on Tuesday and chicken on Friday, so we proceed to purchase any necessary materials to eat on these two days. However, some ingredients, such as the spaghetti sauce, are designed for four servings, but because there are only two of us, we only use half of it. The issue now arises that we fail to organize to cook pasta in the following 2-3 days before the leftover sauce is spoiled, and thus, we're practically wasting half of perfectly good food. Not only is it a waste of money, but it's also a shame because there are others out there struggling.

One thought I had was to use post-it notes on the fridge as reminders and/or organize a cooking schedule through Google Calendar.

I'm sorry, did they only provide you with 24 hours to verify your account before limiting it? I was given 10 days before the first restrictions would take place, and till then, I had another 20 days before more restrictions took place. I can't remember what would get restricted when, but I do remember mentioning 10 and 30 days, respectively.

As for the so-called reward, it was a $10 cashback voucher, which is pretty much useless. It simply returns a small amount of fees when trading, or something along those lines; I never actually bothered, since its value is equivalent to zero for me.

Binance has been convenient for me due to being able to store and stake funds there without too much trouble. However, the staking rewards have repeatedly decreased over the course of a few months, so much, that it's not worth it anymore. Although Beefy, for instance, offers so many alternative vaults and networks that it seems too complicated to move funds from one network to another in order to find the most profitable option.

That's something I actually didn't know. I guess having funds on Binance is safe-ish? However, quite a few members will disagree with that statement. Honestly, exchanges are much more versatile and user-friendly; Binance offers a mobile app and even a debit card. It's generally a great option, not only for beginners but also for experienced users.

I'm using Binance's savings and staking services, and while I'm planning to move to a decentralized platform, I find the whole concept of being able to trade crypto and invest it at the same time quite convenient.

Well, we tend to believe or hope that it won't happen to us. In my opinion, we use exchanges out of comfort. They are relatively simple to set up and provide you with a wide range of capabilities.Exchanges such as Binance or CEX.io go as far as having investment plans, staking functions, and saving functions. On the one hand, I feel relatively safe on Binance; however, everyone is guilty until proven innocent. You never know what might happen to the exchange, but even if Binance went bankrupt, which is unlikely, it would have a huge impact on cryptocurrencies.

From what I've understood, can someone be absolutely safe? I'm storing bitcoin on my computer through Electrum; how safe am I? How can you store cryptocurrencies when using DeFi projects and being involved in staking? Metamask doesn't look too safe to me.

Well, that's my point; as the OP stated in his next reply, he's not planning to stop at $10,000 either, and that's perfectly understandable. The way I see it is different, I guess. Supposing BTC surpasses $100k, then what happens? We wait until it reaches $120k, then $150k, and so on. My point is that by doing it this way, we're simply setting an unlimited goal by constantly setting new records. Our portfolio value would be increasing, but if it's not cashed out, not necessarily into a fiat currency, it won't matter too much.

Certainly, we don't know when and if that happens (I believe that it will in the next few years), and our actions may vary under different circumstances. Little by little, I'm accumulating a small amount of BTC per month, and one thing is certain: the future will be interesting.

Okay, right. I get your point now. However, from my point of view, for how long will someone be able to hold on? Don't we have to cash out and convert to fiat at some point? I'm confident that Bitcoin will be worth more than $70.000 again in the coming years, and I'm willing to hold until then. However, I find it sensible to sell after overcoming the bear market. There are no guarantees that Bitcoin will keep rising to infinity, and honestly, what's the point of holding it and never selling it?

I'm curious: how is someone a chicken if he sold for $60,000 a year ago? Whether we like it or not, holding isn't necessarily the best practice out there. You could have sold during last year's ATH and bought back now, during the dip. I didn't know about FTX.com either, but this single incident was enough to send Bitcoin down to $15.000 within one day, which is worrying to say the least. I can't blame people for being emotional over their own money. It's hard to process that our funds are now worth more than 15% less in value, in a matter of a few hours.

Yeah, honestly, if you think about it, it's quite sensible to ask for a more valid-looking proof of address in my case. If I remember correctly, Revolut never asked me to confirm my address when I verified my account. Correct me if I'm mistaken. I wouldn't have thought of it myself if you hadn't mentioned it.
Binance or any other centralized exchange provides you with the ability to have quick control over your money. I want to use these funds actively for staking; keeping them locked in an offline or hardware wallet isn't a valid option for me. If I were to stake on a platform like Beefy, I'd have to use a Metamask or similar wallet. I'm definitely not fond of all the KYC or the centralized platforms, but it's currently the easiest option for me. In the near future, I will move my funds from Binance to something more decentralized.

We shouldn't compare reputable signature campaigns with some random bounty campaign for the numerous tokens that pop up every day. Unfortunately, the large majority of users participating in such bounty campaigns do not actually care if they're promoting a legit service or token. They are only in it for some quick bucks in case the token explodes in price. Although, we've also seen the exact same pattern with 1xBit's users. As Lucius already pointed out, thanks to the introduction of the merit system, these users will never rank up, prohibiting them from even applying for a decent signature campaign and spamming other sections of the forum as well.