People are giving too much importance to exchanges

[Alpha Marine]

I like the word you used; "down", not "gone". As far as you didn't sell your Bitcoin when the price went down, your savings is not gone, the value just dropped and it will get back up again, it might just take time.

Saving coins with exchanges is technically the same thing as saving money in the bank. A centralized system stores your money in the bank, while a centralized system stores your coin in a CEX. I wonder why people don't get this. I am not entirely against centralized exchanges but it is very wrong to save your coins in them. It ends badly most of the time. I don't know how much this needs to be stressed before people get it.
Used the exchanges to trade, if you want, but you shouldn't save in them.

[pawel7777]

I like the word you used; "down", not "gone". As far as you didn't sell your Bitcoin when the price went down, your savings is not gone, the value just dropped and it will get back up again, it might just take time.

I don't think anyone would consider their investment "gone" whenever its market value drops. It looks like you took and twisted an old saying that "you don't lose until you sell" (which is blatantly false).

Saving coins with exchanges is technically the same thing as saving money in the bank. A centralized system stores your money in the bank, while a centralized system stores your coin in a CEX. I wonder why people don't get this.

Who doesn't get this actually? Are you saying that people don't realise that centralised exchanges are centralised? I think they do and I think many don't mind that, just as they don't mind keeping their fiat money in a bank account rather than stashing cash under the mattress.

I am not entirely against centralized exchanges but it is very wrong to save your coins in them. It ends badly most of the time. I don't know how much this needs to be stressed before people get it.
Used the exchanges to trade, if you want, but you shouldn't save in them.

Throwing blanket statement like that makes no sense. It's all about assessing risk and reward.
Also, if keeping funds on CEX for saving is too risky, then why would you say it's OK to keep them there for the purpose of trading (which itself bears additional risk of a loss).

There's

[Natalim]

~snip~
You don't need an exchange to buy Bitcoin. At least centralized ones like Binance. There are a lot of P2P exchanges.

You literally need an exchange to buy Bitcoin with another form of money. That's what an exchange is.

It can be centralized or decentralized, that doesn't matter. We will need exchanges in one way or another as long as most people get paid in fiat for their goods and services.

Besides, their participation and existence make help gain more attention and traders. In fact, this is also the reason why cryptocurrency becomes known globally due to ads that flooded the internet. Yes, without them, I couldn't think it will survive and even if we think about P2P transactions, I know they are also reliant on exchanges. These exchanges play an important role in the crypto space whether it was DEX or CEX, they are really making the crypto space alive.

[BenCodie]

At this point in time, what I have found with the SECs pursuit of Binance is that it's dividing the crypto exchange with the US/western exchange, EDX Markets. When the division is complete, EDX will take the markers that Binance are unable to operate in (US, Canada, Australia, UK and probably Europe) while Binance will take the east.

The reason I say this in response to the OP is because the situation isn't entirely the same as FTX.

On a similar note, I've recently learnt that Binance's reserves are not on par with their exchange balances. This is concerning...

[nullama]

~snip~
Besides, their participation and existence make help gain more attention and traders. In fact, this is also the reason why cryptocurrency becomes known globally due to ads that flooded the internet. Yes, without them, I couldn't think it will survive and even if we think about P2P transactions, I know they are also reliant on exchanges. These exchanges play an important role in the crypto space whether it was DEX or CEX, they are really making the crypto space alive.

That is a good point, the companies that produce these exchanges have a lot of money, and they pour it to ads all around, making people more Bitcoin aware than ever.

It might be that the first encounter of people with Bitcoin is through buying some at an exchange. But it goes way deeper than that. At least it's a good start for them to not be a no-coiner anymore.

[crypticj]

I don't really trust exchanges so I don't hold my crypto these, but you can't deny that exchanges is a great thing for newbies that want to invest in crypto.

I think exchanges play a huge role in the adoption and promotion of crypto. Who is working with the government to legalize crypto trading? Exchanges. Who is working with Lugano and El Salvador to adopt crypto? Exchanges.

So I think they play an important role in the crypto game and every person should decide for himself if he should take the risk and hold money on an exchange.

[Crypt0Gore]

The p2p in exchange is very good to use.

The "P2P" in usual exchanges is a gimmick. There very much exists an intermediary in CEX like Binance, and as usual, it lies about being P2P exchange. If it was actually peer-to-peer, it wouldn't require you to create an account, give KYC etc. For truly peer-to-peer exchange, look on Bisq.

Sam Bankmanfried or whatever his name is failed many but he is not CZ, or Brain Armstrong, this is the type of excuse you will be hearing from people

Lol. You can't believe how accurate this feels. I heard like, quite the exact same words from a friend of mine. 

Yes this is the exact same feeling I have with Binance exchange, it's not real peer-to-peer exchange, it's a centralized exchange that offers a centralized peer-to-peer service because they get hold of all user's KYC, but I have never lost money to scammers using Binance p2p service, they come in between and always solve the problem, I have meet like three scammers trying to rob me on the exchange but none was successful for the scammers, I have past stories with some peer to peer services before and I lost money to scammers.

[bitterguy28]

Binance will disappear? I don't give a damn.

I love it when we read something this strong message and with that? i believe that this will add toughness to other investors that sometimes afraid of leaving their funds in long term .
but with your strong positioning in yoiur bitcoin holding and caring nothing about exchanger ?
now I can see what comes to you In the next couple of years

[Abiky]

Banking as we've known it for millennia has taught us to put our money in the hands of others. Many people find it unsettling to consider the idea of "being your own bank," which is central to the cryptocurrency movement.

Time and learning are necessities for this transformation, and we must accept that. As leaders in the crypto community, it is our duty to help neophytes learn the ropes. Thats the only way to bring about the necessary adjustment toward greater individual ownership and less reliance on market forces.

Proponents of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies need to keep stressing the advantages of decentralization and being there for people as they make this massive financial change.

Most people are greedy, so they don't mind about CEXs taking control over the industry as long as they get convenience in return. If people are used to trusting a bank with their money, then why wouldn't they do the same with a CEX? Fortunately, not all hope is lost thanks to the inception of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and trading protocols. CEXs may come and go, but DEXs will always be there no matter what. They will be the ones that will keep the market flowing in the midst of time.

One thing for sure is that CEXs are the gateways between the Fiat and crypto worlds. That's because they're regulatory-compliant, whereas DEXs are not. This explains why crypto goes down the drain when a CEX collapses or faces trouble with the regulators. I wouldn't mind about this, as long as crypto (mainly Bitcoin) stays decentralized. Who knows what the future holds for the industry? Just my thoughts

[Xampeuu]

Binance will disappear? I don't give a damn.

I love it when we read something this strong message and with that? i believe that this will add toughness to other investors that sometimes afraid of leaving their funds in long term .
but with your strong positioning in yoiur bitcoin holding and caring nothing about exchanger ?
now I can see what comes to you In the next couple of years

the exchange is only used as a place to convert our assets, the rest is a safer personal wallet to store it. in this world of uncertainty we must be able to anticipate the worst possibility so that if it does happen we are not harmed. if you look at it now, binance will never disappear until later, but no one can guarantee that, even though previously binance returned losses in consumer assets that were hacked, we won't know in the future whether it will be the same.