REMINDER: Protect Your Investment!

[ummart66]

Hey everyone,

Figured it never hurts to help remind people who may be new to cryptocurrency that they control their investments. This may be a good thing, or a bad thing. The negative aspects of this is that of course, they need to make sure that their investments are safe.

Some general advice is:
-Never leave funds on an exchange unless you plan on trading with it. If you're planning on buying it and forgetting it, definitely make sure to move it to a wallet.
-You need to regularly monitor what is happening to your cryptocurrency. With so many main nets and airdrops happening, you need to be sure to move your funds into the correct places so that you qualify to receive thee airdrops, and so that you receive new coins following your crypto's main net release. For airdrops, generally, you need to just have your crypto inside a wallet. If your crypto is held on an exchange, it may or may not be paid out to you. This is a loss of free money.
Mainnet releases often require action of the user. I suggest subscribing to the twitter pages of your investments at minimum, if you want to go the extra mile, spend a few mine weekly checking up on forums/subforums/channels that focus on your crypto's discussion. It is easy to forget about your investment, then realize they did a coin swap that you no longer can sign up for, and now the coins you do hold are worthless.

-If you can't afford to lose your investment, buy a hardware wallet. For me, when I owned crypto worth 2x the price of an average hardware wallet I made sure to buy one. They're definitely worth the investment. The two main hardware wallets are Trezor and Nano Ledger. These work by keeping your private keys safe, so for you to access your accounts/move money, you have to have the actual wallet in your possession. This makes it difficult/impossible? for you to lose your funds.
-If your cryptocurrency is not supported on a hardware wallet (not every one is, you'll need to make sure that your wallet can handle the crypto you own), you should look into downloading a wallet onto a computer that you don't use often. Ideally, this computer will NOT be used to browse the internet, it will be devoted ONLY to be used for wallets. Ideally, you'd download the wallets onto a USB, transfer it to the PC (without internet connection), install everything, then connect it to the internet so that the wallets synch and update. Then, you'd make sure to write the PUBLIC addresses down, save them, then keep the computer disconnected from the internet until you need to move fund out of the wallet.
You can send funds from a different computer, and even though your wallet computer isn't connected to the internet, it can still receive transfers into it. You'd need to synch with the network before you can send, so only connect the computer to the internet when you need to move fund out. Ideally, you'd want a Linux operating system on this computer, as they are 'safer' than windows computers.

Ultimately, you need to always keep in mind that you and only you are in control of your investments. If you do not own the private keys, you do not own your cryptocurrency. If the exchange that your funds are on gets shut down, you may not get your crypto back for a very long time (people affected by mt.Gox took 5 years before they got paid back- and even then they ended up losing on a ton of money because they were paid back in the USD value that the bitcoins were worth at the time of the hack, something like $10 while every bitcoin was worth thousands).

If anyone has additional advice to add, feel free to share.

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[robresno]

If you do not own the private keys, you do not own your cryptocurrency.

Excellent point!!! Many newbies don't understand this important point! I learned this by my own mistake. I bought bunch of bitcoins in 2010 on a exchange and left it there. in 2017 was trying to get it back with huge problems. Only when I involved several lawyers and wasted ton of money and sleep over it, I was able to get my bitcoins back. Cold storage is the key!

[ummart66]

If you do not own the private keys, you do not own your cryptocurrency.

Excellent point!!! Many newbies don't understand this important point! I learned this by my own mistake. I bought bunch of bitcoins in 2010 on a exchange and left it there. in 2017 was trying to get it back with huge problems. Only when I involved several lawyers and wasted ton of money and sleep over it, I was able to get my bitcoins back. Cold storage is the key!

Hey, at least you were able to get your funds back! Many people can't say the same. Hopefully in the end it was at least worth it.

Personally I've lost a pretty decent size stack of Nano from the recent bitgrail fiasco. It's looking like I may never get those funds back, or it may be several years of waiting. I'm sure we're going to have many more horror stories of exchanges going rogue - there's several of them that already do seem very shady. It's really only a matter of time until something like this happens again.

[verita1]

Hey everyone,

Figured it never hurts to help remind people who may be new to cryptocurrency that they control their investments. This may be a good thing, or a bad thing. The negative aspects of this is that of course, they need to make sure that their investments are safe.

Some general advice is:
-Never leave funds on an exchange unless you plan on trading with it. If you're planning on buying it and forgetting it, definitely make sure to move it to a wallet.
-You need to regularly monitor what is happening to your cryptocurrency. With so many main nets and airdrops happening, you need to be sure to move your funds into the correct places so that you qualify to receive thee airdrops, and so that you receive new coins following your crypto's main net release. For airdrops, generally, you need to just have your crypto inside a wallet. If your crypto is held on an exchange, it may or may not be paid out to you. This is a loss of free money.
Mainnet releases often require action of the user. I suggest subscribing to the twitter pages of your investments at minimum, if you want to go the extra mile, spend a few mine weekly checking up on forums/subforums/channels that focus on your crypto's discussion. It is easy to forget about your investment, then realize they did a coin swap that you no longer can sign up for, and now the coins you do hold are worthless.

-If you can't afford to lose your investment, buy a hardware wallet. For me, when I owned crypto worth 2x the price of an average hardware wallet I made sure to buy one. They're definitely worth the investment. The two main hardware wallets are Trezor and Nano Ledger. These work by keeping your private keys safe, so for you to access your accounts/move money, you have to have the actual wallet in your possession. This makes it difficult/impossible? for you to lose your funds.
-If your cryptocurrency is not supported on a hardware wallet (not every one is, you'll need to make sure that your wallet can handle the crypto you own), you should look into downloading a wallet onto a computer that you don't use often. Ideally, this computer will NOT be used to browse the internet, it will be devoted ONLY to be used for wallets. Ideally, you'd download the wallets onto a USB, transfer it to the PC (without internet connection), install everything, then connect it to the internet so that the wallets synch and update. Then, you'd make sure to write the PUBLIC addresses down, save them, then keep the computer disconnected from the internet until you need to move fund out of the wallet.
You can send funds from a different computer, and even though your wallet computer isn't connected to the internet, it can still receive transfers into it. You'd need to synch with the network before you can send, so only connect the computer to the internet when you need to move fund out. Ideally, you'd want a Linux operating system on this computer, as they are 'safer' than windows computers.

Ultimately, you need to always keep in mind that you and only you are in control of your investments. If you do not own the private keys, you do not own your cryptocurrency. If the exchange that your funds are on gets shut down, you may not get your crypto back for a very long time (people affected by mt.Gox took 5 years before they got paid back- and even then they ended up losing on a ton of money because they were paid back in the USD value that the bitcoins were worth at the time of the hack, something like $10 while every bitcoin was worth thousands).

If anyone has additional advice to add, feel free to share.

I agree with your post. Very good! Thank you for creating it! There is so much that we must learn and keep up to date every day if we want to make the world of cryptocurrencies our space.
The crypto world is at an early age in addition to its complexity, volatility, security problems and a lot of additional features.
"Protect Your Investment!" I also believe that it is the first thought that interests us all, you have recommended in an intelligent way how to do it.
Additionally I do not know of another method that you have not indicated due to my basic experience so only I can support your post and I want it to be read by other participants due to its good content.

[Dubska]

What kind of cryptocurrency can be stored on a hardware wallet? Can we also store those airdrop tokens there?

[jseverson]

What kind of cryptocurrency can be stored on a hardware wallet? Can we also store those airdrop tokens there?

Each of them has a very specific list of which coins they support. The most popular alts are typically supported. If you're interested in one, you should try visiting their website. Make sure you don't buy from third parties.

To answer your question though, it would depend on the token. I know Ledger and Trezor supports ERC20 tokens (ones that run on the Ethereum blockchain), but I'm unsure about the other kinds. Airdrop tokens of the ERC20 variety could definitely be stored in them.

[HeRetiK]

@OP: Solid advice.

One thing to add: Be aware of malware that changes copy / pasted crypto addresses on the fly. When copy / pasting addresses from or to your (hardware) wallet, always double check. If a higher amount is at stake, check via a secondary channel as well (eg. confirmation email on another device). While hardware wallets protect your private keys, they can't prevent you from phishing-like attacks such as that.

What kind of cryptocurrency can be stored on a hardware wallet? Can we also store those airdrop tokens there?

Each of them has a very specific list of which coins they support. The most popular alts are typically supported. If you're interested in one, you should try visiting their website.

Coins supported by Trezor:
https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/overview.html

Coins supported by Ledger:
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/cryptocurrencies

Make sure you don't buy from third parties.

This can't be stressed enough. Do not buy hardware wallets from the likes of Amazon or eBay resellers.

To answer your question though, it would depend on the token. I know Ledger and Trezor supports ERC20 tokens (ones that run on the Ethereum blockchain), but I'm unsure about the other kinds. Airdrop tokens of the ERC20 variety could definitely be stored in them.

Trezor wallets only supports ERC20 tokens so far as they only support ETH and ETC in terms of tokenizable cryptocurrencies.

Ledger seems to support NEP-5 / NEO tokens as well. With most of the other alts that Ledger supports I'm not all that familiar.

[Dubska]

@OP: Solid advice.

One thing to add: Be aware of malware that changes copy / pasted crypto addresses on the fly. When copy / pasting addresses from or to your (hardware) wallet, always double check. If a higher amount is at stake, check via a secondary channel as well (eg. confirmation email on another device). While hardware wallets protect your private keys, they can't prevent you from phishing-like attacks such as that.

What kind of cryptocurrency can be stored on a hardware wallet? Can we also store those airdrop tokens there?

Each of them has a very specific list of which coins they support. The most popular alts are typically supported. If you're interested in one, you should try visiting their website.

Coins supported by Trezor:
https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/overview.html

Coins supported by Ledger:
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/cryptocurrencies

Make sure you don't buy from third parties.

This can't be stressed enough. Do not buy hardware wallets from the likes of Amazon or eBay resellers.

To answer your question though, it would depend on the token. I know Ledger and Trezor supports ERC20 tokens (ones that run on the Ethereum blockchain), but I'm unsure about the other kinds. Airdrop tokens of the ERC20 variety could definitely be stored in them.

Trezor wallets only supports ERC20 tokens so far as they only support ETH and ETC in terms of tokenizable cryptocurrencies.

Ledger seems to support NEP-5 / NEO tokens as well. With most of the other alts that Ledger supports I'm not all that familiar.

Thats helpful thanks bud.

[ummart66]

@OP: Solid advice.

One thing to add: Be aware of malware that changes copy / pasted crypto addresses on the fly. When copy / pasting addresses from or to your (hardware) wallet, always double check. If a higher amount is at stake, check via a secondary channel as well (eg. confirmation email on another device). While hardware wallets protect your private keys, they can't prevent you from phishing-like attacks such as that.

What kind of cryptocurrency can be stored on a hardware wallet? Can we also store those airdrop tokens there?

Each of them has a very specific list of which coins they support. The most popular alts are typically supported. If you're interested in one, you should try visiting their website.

Coins supported by Trezor:
https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-faq/overview.html

Coins supported by Ledger:
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/cryptocurrencies

Make sure you don't buy from third parties.

This can't be stressed enough. Do not buy hardware wallets from the likes of Amazon or eBay resellers.

To answer your question though, it would depend on the token. I know Ledger and Trezor supports ERC20 tokens (ones that run on the Ethereum blockchain), but I'm unsure about the other kinds. Airdrop tokens of the ERC20 variety could definitely be stored in them.

Trezor wallets only supports ERC20 tokens so far as they only support ETH and ETC in terms of tokenizable cryptocurrencies.

Ledger seems to support NEP-5 / NEO tokens as well. With most of the other alts that Ledger supports I'm not all that familiar.

Thats helpful thanks bud.

Hey, thanks for adding that bit of help. I find moving crypto around to be insanely stressful. One wrong letter in the address and your money is matches.

A lot of the malware that changes your address is able to change just parts of the address so it's very important to check every single letter instead of just the beginning and end of the address.

[HeRetiK]

Hey, thanks for adding that bit of help. I find moving crypto around to be insanely stressful. One wrong letter in the address and your money is matches.

A lot of the malware that changes your address is able to change just parts of the address so it's very important to check every single letter instead of just the beginning and end of the address.

About that: Bitcoin addresses contain a checksum; which means that changing a single letter will usually lead to an invalid address -- unless you're really unlucky, that is. Or have a sucky wallet that for some reason doesn't check for validity. This may look different with alts however (eg. Ethereum addresses don't contain a checksum by default if I recall correctly).

It is also worth noting that while malware could just change parts of the address, the chance that they happen to have the private key to a sufficiently similar address is rather small (see the computational power required for generating vanity addresses). So unless an adversary knows which address you are going to use next and spends significant effort into trying to generate a similar address, it is usually sufficient to just check parts of the address.

That being said, the more paranoid the better, especially if larger sums are involved.

[mk4]

Even though we warn them every single day, some people are simply hard-headed, still saving private keys on text files and word files like wtf. They want to learn the hard way I guess. Mods should sticky a topic about this certain topic. Not sure how much help it would do though.

[bananaunana]

Good advice! Losses resulting of mistakes from yourself are really bad, because you can avoid them.