Trading and security

[IamHigh]

You are correct that it's not possible to securely hold your coin and trade with it as keeping it on an exchange means you do not have the private key.

My advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket. Open accounts at multiple exchanges and spread the risk. Only keep what you need for trading at the exchange and withdraw any profit whenever you can. Also always use a strong password and enable 2FA. If there are any signs of the exchange not being trustworthy, like holding withdrawals and not answering support queries then get out of there as soon as possible.

For this I limited my exchange trades dramatically. Because I don't want to take risk of losing my bitcoin. Even you're trading on the most trusted platform, you will have worries for your funds. Then you should take them outside the platform after you're done with your trade.

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[zarados]

Enabling 2FA will only protect you from people who are trying to hack you and don't have access to your phone. The real security measures should be taken against the exchange itself, we have seen multiple inside jobs and exchanges being hacked in the past. I believe you are following some kind of strategy while trading? like you trade, get profit and then trade with that profit only? If you are doing something similar then try to keep the least possible of funds inside the exchanges, everything else should go to hardware wallet (since the amount is big).

Well, that was one of my safe trading strategy. I always cash out my investment on crypto currency, until its reach my target, But not all of it, I just cash out my first capital to buy it, and use the profit for doing trade. and Never keep your big mount of crypto currency in the exchange, because all  of your asset, are handled by exchange, and no guarantee it will always safety from hacker.

[bitbunnny]

Trading demands that you have certain amount at your disposal whenever it needed so that you can react fast and on time not to miss the opportunity for profit. But that is often not in compliance with security so to my opinion it's good option that you use multiple trading platformes with different amounts, so diversify your funds and don't keep all eggs in one basket. This can improve the security and diminish the possibilities to lose funds because of hackers attack or fraud.

[okala]

You should understand that everything in life is a risk and you should calculate your risk before venturing into something in liquid. Traditionally offline wallets is the most save wallets and I will advise you to take the security of you investment very serious as most of these exchangers trading platform are scammer. You should keep at least 90℅ of your risk capital on offline wallet.

[trecore4]

I think it's good to spend some time reviewing your security steps because you have lots of money. Five figures is not a joke and it's big money obviously and very stupid thing to keep on the exchanger. I also do a trade but there is nothing which moves as fast as light in this universe so you don't have to worry about accessing your bitcoin so quickly. You must be getting what I'm saying here, you can give sometimes to follow up the security steps and then send your money from a secure location mostly hardware wallet and or wallets for which you are holding the private keys. Trading is critical job and I know how I look likes when we keep lots of money in different altcoins. But security is priority now.

[RealPhotoshoper]

You are correct that it's not possible to securely hold your coin and trade with it as keeping it on an exchange means you do not have the private key.

My advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket. Open accounts at multiple exchanges and spread the risk. Only keep what you need for trading at the exchange and withdraw any profit whenever you can. Also always use a strong password and enable 2FA. If there are any signs of the exchange not being trustworthy, like holding withdrawals and not answering support queries then get out of there as soon as possible.

For this I limited my exchange trades dramatically. Because I don't want to take risk of losing my bitcoin. Even you're trading on the most trusted platform, you will have worries for your funds. Then you should take them outside the platform after you're done with your trade.

If you are a high roller , better to split it to several exchanges.
An exchange who run scam usually lured by that huge amount deposited , and we will always feel insecure.
It is indeed any online service won't give you a safe haven like when you store it by yourself.

[Hui8]

I have read dozens of threads saying you need to keep your BTC on a hardware wallet or paper. Anything online isn't safe they say. When trading that is not really feasible is it? I like to move in and out of positions several times a day and often at a moments notice. My trading account has a sizable balance (to me - 5 figures)  in it.

How risky is this and any additional things I could do?

You can keep it like that unless and until you are doing the exchange over trusted exchanger site. Storing your coins in the multi wallet like storj and waves is also another good option and is preferred one off course. With Multi wallet you will have options to hold private keys and with that kinda money I believe I will prefer the wallet only. Trades can be done easily as it takes half an hour sometimes more if you have paid low fees for transferring funds from wallet to exchanger. We can tolerate that one without compromising our money.

[ModGirl]

Activate your 2FA and use a strong password. Try different kind of exchange and put the rest of your bitcoin in a hard wallet if you will not use it to trade. Though its kinda hard doing things back and forth but if this is the safest way then do it because as what they say "prevention is better than cure".

Keeping bitcoins in hard wallet is always choice of success. Whatever you want to secure, either you must remove it from internet or limit the access to it by keeping it offline. And better said here, activation of 2FA and using strong passwords are few preventions you must keep for better safety.

[viking02]

So i watched one of those videos on youtube where someone mentioned to not keep your coins on bittrex and keep it in your own wallet.  Do most bittrex users do it this way or not?  He says when you are ready to buy or sell a coin, then send the coin to bittrex.


However if thats the case, wouldnt you need to download 10s of wallets if you plan on trading at least 10+ coins?  The other thing is if you do this, wouldnt you need to pay those sending fees like bitcoin to do this?  So in other words, keeping a lot of btc or altcoins in your bittrex wallet is not secure?  I had thought with a bittrex account, you dont even need wallets anymore etc...

[TheQuin]

So i watched one of those videos on youtube where someone mentioned to not keep your coins on bittrex and keep it in your own wallet.  Do most bittrex users do it this way or not?  He says when you are ready to buy or sell a coin, then send the coin to bittrex.


However if thats the case, wouldnt you need to download 10s of wallets if you plan on trading at least 10+ coins?  The other thing is if you do this, wouldnt you need to pay those sending fees like bitcoin to do this?  So in other words, keeping a lot of btc or altcoins in your bittrex wallet is not secure?  I had thought with a bittrex account, you dont even need wallets anymore etc...

You just need to look at the history of crypto exchanges (Mt. Gox, Cryptsy, Bitfinex, BTC-e) to realise that there is a significant risk holding your coins on an exchange. In general, the rule is if you don't own the private key you don't own the coin. If you trade then the exchange getting hacked, shut down or going bankrupt is an additional risk you have to take on top of the risk in trading.

Depending on what coins you own there are several multi-coin wallets available.

[risk91]

So i watched one of those videos on youtube where someone mentioned to not keep your coins on bittrex and keep it in your own wallet.  Do most bittrex users do it this way or not?  He says when you are ready to buy or sell a coin, then send the coin to bittrex.


However if thats the case, wouldnt you need to download 10s of wallets if you plan on trading at least 10+ coins?  The other thing is if you do this, wouldnt you need to pay those sending fees like bitcoin to do this?  So in other words, keeping a lot of btc or altcoins in your bittrex wallet is not secure?  I had thought with a bittrex account, you dont even need wallets anymore etc...

You just need to look at the history of crypto exchanges (Mt. Gox, Cryptsy, Bitfinex, BTC-e) to realise that there is a significant risk holding your coins on an exchange. In general, the rule is if you don't own the private key you don't own the coin. If you trade then the exchange getting hacked, shut down or going bankrupt is an additional risk you have to take on top of the risk in trading.

Depending on what coins you own there are several multi-coin wallets available.

If you look at the balance sheet in a company’s annual report, you may notice some interesting entries listed among its assets. “Trading securities” or “trading account assets” are a special class of investments -- including stocks and bonds -- and are treated quite differently than most other assets a company holds. In fact, U.S. accounting rules require companies to classify the intent at acquisition of any stocks or bonds to accurately value them for accounting and tax purposes.

[TheQuin]

So i watched one of those videos on youtube where someone mentioned to not keep your coins on bittrex and keep it in your own wallet.  Do most bittrex users do it this way or not?  He says when you are ready to buy or sell a coin, then send the coin to bittrex.


However if thats the case, wouldnt you need to download 10s of wallets if you plan on trading at least 10+ coins?  The other thing is if you do this, wouldnt you need to pay those sending fees like bitcoin to do this?  So in other words, keeping a lot of btc or altcoins in your bittrex wallet is not secure?  I had thought with a bittrex account, you dont even need wallets anymore etc...

You just need to look at the history of crypto exchanges (Mt. Gox, Cryptsy, Bitfinex, BTC-e) to realise that there is a significant risk holding your coins on an exchange. In general, the rule is if you don't own the private key you don't own the coin. If you trade then the exchange getting hacked, shut down or going bankrupt is an additional risk you have to take on top of the risk in trading.

Depending on what coins you own there are several multi-coin wallets available.

If you look at the balance sheet in a company’s annual report, you may notice some interesting entries listed among its assets. “Trading securities” or “trading account assets” are a special class of investments -- including stocks and bonds -- and are treated quite differently than most other assets a company holds. In fact, U.S. accounting rules require companies to classify the intent at acquisition of any stocks or bonds to accurately value them for accounting and tax purposes.

I think you may be confusing security - the state of being free from danger or threat - with securities as in financial instruments. Or in other words, this has nothing to do with the topic of this thread.

[Insanerman]

Activate your 2FA and use a strong password. Try different kind of exchange and put the rest of your bitcoin in a hard wallet if you will not use it to trade. Though its kinda hard doing things back and forth but if this is the safest way then do it because as what they say "prevention is better than cure".

Keeping bitcoins in hard wallet is always choice of success. Whatever you want to secure, either you must remove it from internet or limit the access to it by keeping it offline. And better said here, activation of 2FA and using strong passwords are few preventions you must keep for better safety.

That's right.  Cryptocurrency on exchanges has risk also. They are prone to attacks and your account is at risk, in this way you can lose your crypto's. Activating 2fa or another layer of security is the right thing to do making it more secured.

[CyberKuro]

I have read dozens of threads saying you need to keep your BTC on a hardware wallet or paper. Anything online isn't safe they say. When trading that is not really feasible is it? I like to move in and out of positions several times a day and often at a moments notice. My trading account has a sizable balance (to me - 5 figures)  in it.

How risky is this and any additional things I could do?

Read all about Mt. Gox and Bitfinex hack and look how many people lost a lot of funds in those trading platform. I'll just advise you to just enough funds in a exchange for your trading purposes and pull out most of your funds to a secure wallet. Its better to be safe that sorry. If you are willing to let all your funds then take the risk, enable 2FA and make a strong password if they planned to hack your account only. But if its a widely planned exchange hack, then nothing you can do. Its up to you dude. I hope you make the right decision.

Yes, an exchange and trading platforms are the most targeted by hackers just like you said, MT. Gox and Bitfinex are the good examples.
If you are an active traders, put your money or bitcoin in trading platform is inevitable, if it being hacked, then you are unlucky.
5 digits of money or bitcoin is big amount and must be secured, in that case just treat trading platforms or exchanges as temporarily place to do your business, in and out as fast as possible. Buy and sell and then withdraw your money, just put small amount in their wallet just in case.

[BrewMaster]

this is the issue that all the traders face and all are aware of it and it is the issue that other non-traders think is easy to fix and they tell you to "not hold anything on exchanges" of course as you already know it is impossible to do!

the only thing we can do is to stay aware.
first choose an exchange that has less risk of running away, getting hacked, or generally scamming you. you can do some research about them to find out which one is better among the worst.

second you take the security steps that you can take. like having a strong password and 2FA and a dedicated Email with strong password and 2FA, ...

third you start trading but only keep as much as you have to and as much as you can afford to lose. for example if you don't want to go all in then cash out the rest. also when you make profit you cash out the profit and keep the funds at a lower level that you won't lose all in case something went tits up

finally you keep an eye out for signs of shady behavior. sometimes these exchanges that run away show some signs of becoming a scam a while back.

[crairezx20]

I have read dozens of threads saying you need to keep your BTC on a hardware wallet or paper. Anything online isn't safe they say. When trading that is not really feasible is it? I like to move in and out of positions several times a day and often at a moments notice. My trading account has a sizable balance (to me - 5 figures)  in it.

How risky is this and any additional things I could do?

Read all about Mt. Gox and Bitfinex hack and look how many people lost a lot of funds in those trading platform. I'll just advise you to just enough funds in a exchange for your trading purposes and pull out most of your funds to a secure wallet. Its better to be safe that sorry. If you are willing to let all your funds then take the risk, enable 2FA and make a strong password if they planned to hack your account only. But if its a widely planned exchange hack, then nothing you can do. Its up to you dude. I hope you make the right decision.

Yes, an exchange and trading platforms are the most targeted by hackers just like you said, MT. Gox and Bitfinex are the good examples.
If you are an active traders, put your money or bitcoin in trading platform is inevitable, if it being hacked, then you are unlucky.
5 digits of money or bitcoin is big amount and must be secured, in that case just treat trading platforms or exchanges as temporarily place to do your business, in and out as fast as possible. Buy and sell and then withdraw your money, just put small amount in their wallet just in case.

I think there is no good way to go far in any risky in exchange site every thing can be happen even the site is really secured there are still possibility that online exchange site can be hack.. like the other said spreading your coins can lessen the risk.. but honestly for me its not it can be more possible to lose them all if all trading site are hack if you really want to keep your coins safe just save them only in desktop wallets or paper wallet..
Its normal that we are seeing hack exchange site just this year we are not still no heard any exchange site are down and hope it will not be happen again just like last year happen when there is a exchange site was hack and burst decreasing value of bitcoin because of exchange site hack..
So if you heard a new some issue better to get ready to withdraw them and transfer your coins for safety places. . before the site can be taking down or hack.

[iamTom123]

You are correct that it's not possible to securely hold your coin and trade with it as keeping it on an exchange means you do not have the private key.

My advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket. Open accounts at multiple exchanges and spread the risk. Only keep what you need for trading at the exchange and withdraw any profit whenever you can. Also always use a strong password and enable 2FA. If there are any signs of the exchange not being trustworthy, like holding withdrawals and not answering support queries then get out of there as soon as possible.

I would advise the same thing. Since OP is doing the trade, then there is no choice but to put funds where they are traded but it is really good if you don't just use one trading site so as to minimize the risks but please choose your trading sites wisely. I have been using Bittrex ever since I started doing some small trades and I find it very good especially for newbies. Aside from Bittrex, there are those who choose Poloniex and these two are actually based in USA which I don't know if their location can be adding to risks or lessening them.

The risks does not just come from the sites we are using (well you can say it must be inside job just in case) but mostly coming from people whose main business is victimizing others' vulnerabilities or weaknesses. I have been a victim of phishing myself (am still a little bit shocked even up to now) and I know that feeling upon realizing what really happened.

[deddod]

I have never experienced a problem with my wallet security (not wallet paper).
as long as you use 2fa in my opinion, your account / your wallet will be fine.

[TheQuin]

I have never experienced a problem with my wallet security (not wallet paper).
as long as you use 2fa in my opinion, your account / your wallet will be fine.

Tell that to all the people that lost coin at the exchanges and wallet sites that got hacked. I lost quite a lot (to me) at Cryptsy, a little dust at Inputs.io and got lucky that there was nothing in my Mt. Gox or BTC-e accounts.

[phreeksta]

I have never experienced a problem with my wallet security (not wallet paper).
as long as you use 2fa in my opinion, your account / your wallet will be fine.

Tell that to all the people that lost coin at the exchanges and wallet sites that got hacked. I lost quite a lot (to me) at Cryptsy, a little dust at Inputs.io and got lucky that there was nothing in my Mt. Gox or BTC-e accounts.

A way bigger threat are actually the exchanges itself. You can use a strong password, 2FA etc etc. but all this doesn't matter when the operators of the exchanges itself are robbing you ... and you can't do anything about that, when you are a regular trader.