risk of online wallet vs risk of crash

[600watt]

let´s say i have 1000 bitcoins and from investors that don´t want to bother with exchanges for 12 months. to keep them safe from theft, they should be stored offline. but if i want to keep a "sell" order about 20% below the current price to minimize the loss in case of crash, those coins need to be at the exchange.
 
which is the more rational choice ?  

[ardana123]

keep half at exchange half offline

[fitty]

let´s say i have 1000 bitcoins and from investors that don´t want to bother with exchanges for 12 months. to keep them safe from theft, they should be stored offline. but if i want to keep a "sell" order about 20% below the current price to minimize the loss in case of crash, those coins need to be at the exchange.
 
which is the more rational choice ?  

This is a decent place to start.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

[Birdy]

I'm not sure, if it's a good idea to have a sell order at 20% below the current price.
Bitcoin can be too volatile and you will end up having the loss, but the price is back to normal a day later again.
Also you still have the risk of losing all, because they are on the exchange, so effectively you are adding risks.

So I think the rational action is to store them offline.

[BitcoinAshley]

Good question but does not belong in speculation 

OPs have the capability to move threads themselves.

[600watt]

Good question but does not belong in speculation 

OPs have the capability to move threads themselves.

asking whether it would riskier ok to leave coins on an exchange for a stop loss order or not while speculating with them for a 12 month time frame trying to avoid loss from a crash does not belong here?

[smoothie]

The smart thing to do is say "what will the likely price be in 12 months?"

Just look at how bitcoin has moved.

That should tell you that in 12 months we will likely have hit or exceeded $1000/BTC.

Keep all of your coins offline until the sentiment gets really really bullish and price reflects that.

[jl2012]

let´s say i have 1000 bitcoins and from investors that don´t want to bother with exchanges for 12 months. to keep them safe from theft, they should be stored offline. but if i want to keep a "sell" order about 20% below the current price to minimize the loss in case of crash, those coins need to be at the exchange.
 
which is the more rational choice ?  

You can't "keep" a sell order about 20% below the current price, because it will become a market order selling at current price

[Zaih]

I think Smoothie summed it up quite nicely.

However, if you secure yourself and take the necessary precautions, I don't believe you should have any problems with storing online. Security isn't an issue to people who are smart about it.

[600watt]

thank you all for your advice.

I think Smoothie summed it up quite nicely.

However, if you secure yourself and take the necessary precautions, I don't believe you should have any problems with storing online. Security isn't an issue to people who are smart about it.

so what is recommendable?

[Zaih]

thank you all for your advice.

I think Smoothie summed it up quite nicely.

However, if you secure yourself and take the necessary precautions, I don't believe you should have any problems with storing online. Security isn't an issue to people who are smart about it.

so what is recommendable?

Do what you want. If you wanna have a sell order - Do it.

- Set up all possible precautions (2 step auth etc.)
- Don't click on random links
- Don't fall for phishing links ^ Goes with above
- Use a different alias/separate email for wherever your storing the coins online
- Use a password you have never used anywhere else
- Use uppercase/lowercase/punctuation in your password

And you my friend, will be more or less impossible to hack.

[smoothie]

thank you all for your advice.

I think Smoothie summed it up quite nicely.

However, if you secure yourself and take the necessary precautions, I don't believe you should have any problems with storing online. Security isn't an issue to people who are smart about it.

so what is recommendable?

Do what you want. If you wanna have a sell order - Do it.

- Set up all possible precautions (2 step auth etc.)
- Don't click on random links
- Don't fall for phishing links ^ Goes with above
- Use a different alias/separate email for wherever your storing the coins online
- Use a password you have never used anywhere else
- Use uppercase/lowercase/punctuation in your password

And you my friend, will be more or less impossible to hack.

+1 security is #1. Get that part down first!!! Until then screw trading.

[Birdy]

The exchange itself could be hacked/seized though.
Nearly half of the exchanges we had went off, I wouldn't store any big sum on an exchange.

[amencon]

The smart thing to do is say "what will the likely price be in 12 months?"

Just look at how bitcoin has moved.

That should tell you that in 12 months we will likely have hit or exceeded $1000/BTC.

Keep all of your coins offline until the sentiment gets really really bullish and price reflects that.

I think Smoothie nailed it.  Put the coins in cold storage and keep an eye on what's going on.  If an imminent significant drop seems likely then bring out the coins and be ready to sell.

I've gone from paper wallet to exchange back and forth many times and the process takes very little time and is especially simple if you pre-print a few sheets worth of paper wallet addresses.

Just remember to pull the full amount in storage on a paper address onto exchange (http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1c9xr7/psa_using_paper_wallets_understanding_change/) and when done pass back to a new paper address.

[inbox]

.

[FreeMoney]

Keep them offline, have the privatekey handy.
In case of crash, import private key into exchange.

Instant coins.

I've never done that, but it doesn't seem right. There is no reason to accept 0 conf when sweeping from an imported key if a site insists on 6 when a normal transfer is made.

[inbox]

.

[BitcoinAshley]

Good question but does not belong in speculation 

OPs have the capability to move threads themselves.

asking whether it would riskier ok to leave coins on an exchange for a stop loss order or not while speculating with them for a 12 month time frame trying to avoid loss from a crash does not belong here?

I saw this as more of a wallet security question. I see what you're saying now.


Store it on 4 different exchanges, if it's a large amount and you really want to keep it safe. That way if 2 of them go down in the next year (the current float rate!) you'll still have half your BTC.

And yeah, you'd have to script that sell order. Otherwise it would just become a market order the second you place it. But I'm sure you realize that.

[smoothie]

Keep them offline, have the privatekey handy.
In case of crash, import private key into exchange.

Instant coins.

I've never done that, but it doesn't seem right. There is no reason to accept 0 conf when sweeping from an imported key if a site insists on 6 when a normal transfer is made.

There is no transfer made, coins in your address are already confirmed when you import pk.

Right it is essentially you giving the exchange your private key which instantly gives them coins because they can verify it by importing the privkey into their wallet.

VOILA.

[BitcoinAshley]

Keep them offline, have the privatekey handy.
In case of crash, import private key into exchange.

Instant coins.

I've never done that, but it doesn't seem right. There is no reason to accept 0 conf when sweeping from an imported key if a site insists on 6 when a normal transfer is made.

You're not transferring any coins between wallets. You're basically just handing the wallet to the exchange. No confirmations necessary. Of course, you no longer have sole control over that privkey from that point on, but it is the fastest way to get coins onto an exchange from a wallet.

(Unless the exchange imposes some sort of arbitrary time limit for absolutely no reason. Or unless the exchange requires that the coins be transferred to an exchange wallet that you don't have the privkey for.)
Who knows, maybe all exchanges require a transfer after the privkey is imported. I've never actually tried it.