How to keep myself & my coins safe (BTC & others)

[walking_jumbo]

Hi guys, I have been doing a lot of reading and think I should invest in some cryptocurrencies to protect my fiat becoming completely devalued in future. I am a newbie and an average bloke with not a lot of spare dosh to waste/play around.

When I read a lot of thread about safe keeping they are pretty old threads dating back to 2013 etc and very difficult to filter whats relevant for today.

My question is in December, 2017 what do you need to do to keep your bitcoin & altcoin wallets safe and also to protect yourself from being scammed/identity misused.

I hope we can make this a guide to any other newbies like me and keep it up to date.

Thanks
WJ

[Broesel]

Hi,

first of all you should use your common sense for not getting scammed (If things sound to good to be true, they probably are scams)
Read about the coins you would like to buy and check their background (technical side of the coin, usability, ideas for the future) and think about if you want to support this by buying the coin. DON'T put money you cant spare into altcoins!!!! I read about people geting a loan on their house and putting the money into bitcoin etc... this is just crazy with todays chart swings!

IMHO a reasonable safe way to keep your coins is a hardware wallet like Trezor https://trezor.io/ or the Ledger Nano S https://www.ledgerwallet.com/products/ledger-nano-s. Thus you can easily access your coins and still be safer than with a normal software wallet on your PC. Others prefer a paper wallet as cold storage for your coins. But you can read A LOT about the pros and cons in this forum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.msg16405643#msg16405643. I wouldn't suggest to keep your coins on an exchange unless you plan on lending them out or trading them in the short term.

Hope that helped a bit.

[OmegaStarScream]

1. Use exchanges for trading and not for storing your coins.
2. Invest in a hardware wallet (Trezor, Ledger nano S). It's worth it, you will sleep better at night.
3. There is no such a thing as a BTC generator or a bitcoin doubler, don't invest in these scams.
4. Don't use services (exchanges, mixers etc.) that you can't find anything about them online.
5. Always use an escrow If you're dealing with individuals.

[jomarthegreat89]

Just don't get scammed I guess, or all your hardwork will go nothing. One way of securing your coins safe is investing a hardware wallet.

[walking_jumbo]

1. Use exchanges for trading and not for storing your coins.
2. Invest in a hardware wallet (Trezor, Ledger nano S). It's worth it, you will sleep better at night.
3. There is no such a thing as a BTC generator or a bitcoin doubler, don't invest in these scams.
4. Don't use services (exchanges, mixers etc.) that you can't find anything about them online.
5. Always use an escrow If you're dealing with individuals.

In the absence of a hardware wallet as it may take me few days to buy one, what is a good digital wallet to use. Also any that I store in my Mac/PC rather than online?

Also Can I easily transfer funds from digital to hardware wallet and are there any fees (I feel latter is a dumb question, but just checking!)

[kawasaki5050]

It doesn't matter if you store Bitcoin on hardware wallet or web wallet as long as it's not from exchange and you are sure that don't share private key anywhere even that store on cloud storing service.

[teddy5145]

In the absence of a hardware wallet as it may take me few days to buy one, what is a good digital wallet to use. Also any that I store in my Mac/PC rather than online?

Also Can I easily transfer funds from digital to hardware wallet and are there any fees (I feel latter is a dumb question, but just checking!)

Digital Wallet = you store your coins in a cloud
Desktop wallet = you store your coins inside your PC

If you want to store your coins inside your PC, then it is called desktop wallet
Here's list of available bitcoin wallets, both digital and desktop:
https://bitcoin.org/en/wallets/desktop/

I suggest to get Electrum as it is one of the friendliest wallet out there .

You can send your coins from your non-hardware wallet into your hardware wallet's address, the fees should be the same as another bitcoin transaction out there

[walking_jumbo]

Does that mean no one can steal from my web or whatever wallet until they dont have the private key? Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question.

Also do I have to enter my private key everytime I transfer out from my wallet - almost like a password?

[AdolfinWolf]

Does that mean no one can steal from my web or whatever wallet until they dont have the private key? Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question.

Also do I have to enter my private key everytime I transfer out from my wallet - almost like a password?

Not really, if they have the login of your blockchain.info account, they can still transfer your funds.

If you are talking about a wallet such electrum, same applies, you can unlock the wallet by either the passphrase, or the seed. There's no need for a private key in that case.

[mayo2u]

Hi guys, I have been doing a lot of reading and think I should invest in some cryptocurrencies to protect my fiat becoming completely devalued in future. I am a newbie and an average bloke with not a lot of spare dosh to waste/play around.

When I read a lot of thread about safe keeping they are pretty old threads dating back to 2013 etc and very difficult to filter whats relevant for today.

My question is in December, 2017 what do you need to do to keep your bitcoin & altcoin wallets safe and also to protect yourself from being scammed/identity misused.

I hope we can make this a guide to any other newbies like me and keep it up to date.

Thanks
WJ

Scams are up to you to avoid. If you use reputable exchanges and only buy coins with a large marketshare and good reputation - BTC, ETH, LTC you'll do fine as far as scams are concerned. The more time you spend in this space the better you'll be able to judge other coins.

Re wallets. This will take time and a little reading. You can avoid spending money on a hardware wallet but it will take a LOT of reading and a LOT of work from you to be get up to speed.

Start reading about wallets and then come back and ask specific questions regarding the use of that wallet.

[neverluckymofo]

Definitely invest in a hardware wallet if you intend to invest into crypto. Popular hardware wallets are TREZOR, Ledger Nano S etc.

[genie2]

The best bet is to get a hard wallet. Never fails

[component9]

Here's a good thread about wallets: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.0

[walking_jumbo]

You can send your coins from your non-hardware wallet into your hardware wallet's address, the fees should be the same as another bitcoin transaction out there

I never realised there is always a transaction fee. I thought it only apply when there is a exchange or a market place involved. But make sense - someone has to pay for coin miners.

[coinsensus21]

cold storage & buy a gun\knife\peper spray

[Broesel]

Or rent yourself some space in a bunker. Should also be safe from an atomic blast and EMP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7Oj8uId9U