I am new to Bitcoin and have been using Coinbase only.

[agustina2]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Is my crypto safe?

What can I do to make it safer?

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

Congrats that you take the KYC requirements of Coinbase easily. In my case, I have gone through a not convenient way when I'm completing the KYC process there. I was asked to undergo verification that time but even submitting clear documents, I always end up being disapproved. I will not forget that experience that leads me not to use their exchange.

About how to make your funds safe there, keep your linked email and phone number secured. Setting up 2FA is a must. Now rely on Coinbase security that they will be a trusted exchange forever. Since you are a newbie, it's not a bad choice to use exchange wallets in the meantime for the experience. While you are moving forward, studied what wallets are recommended that you will be able to hold your own private key. Electrum for example. It's a user-friendly wallet where you can hold your own keys. Try familiarizing that wallet.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.
Is my crypto safe?

is it completely safe? the answer is no. because you do not have a key to access your wallet. you have an account with their wallet for your. so if it's completely safe the answer is no. but is it safe? Yes, because they are already big and popular, let's just say you are safe even though you are not.

What can I do to make it safer?
Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Try creating a wallet address from non-custodial wallets . google it for more details. Simply put, it's a wallet that only you have access to and when you generate an address you will get a backup key. private keys and others. as others have mentioned, maybe you can try electrum for first time.

[michellee]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Is my crypto safe?

What can I do to make it safer?

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

you don't completely put control of your assets on coinbase. my advice is you should have hardware storage for your security. what I know is that coinbase is not always safe, especially if your assets are in the form of BTC where BTC is very risky to be hacked. you have to be careful

From what he says, it is better to send his bitcoin to another wallet that he can fully control his funds and not worry about the hacker or other bad things that can happen. Yes, that is risky to save his bitcoin in an online service like Coinbase, although many of us use Coinbase. But we need to be careful because that is our funds and we do not want anything worst to happen to our funds.

[Jawhead999]

-snip-

you don't completely put control of your assets on coinbase. my advice is you should have hardware storage for your security. what I know is that coinbase is not always safe, especially if your assets are in the form of BTC where BTC is very risky to be hacked. you have to be careful

What do you talking about? Bitcoin has good security, but the exchange itself isn't secure. If Bitcoin is easily to get hacked, using non-custodial or even hardware wallet is pretty useless since they can hack the Bitcoin without touching your wallet.

Those article you saw about Bitcoin got hacked is the fault of the user didn't secure the private keys.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Technically, your funds should be safe as Coinbase is one of the regulated big exchanges and running for a long. Funds stored on their wallet is completely secured, as it should be.

but is it safe? Yes, because they are already big and popular

Big, popular, regulated, established, running for a long time, etc., all mean next to nothing when it comes to the security of your funds. Every big, reputable, longstanding exchange has been hacked for users' coins at some point. Every big, reputable, longstanding exchange has been hacked for users' data at some point. 6000 Coinbase users were hacked just a few months ago and had their coins stolen, and Coinbase have admitted to selling user data to third parties without their users' knowledge or consent.

Are you safer using Coinbase compared to some completely unknown exchange? Sure. But are you objectively safe using Coinbase? No.


Lots of people in this thread are mentioning Electrum, but not a single person has given advice on how to use it safely. You should only download it from electrum.org, and you must verify your download against ThomasV's and SomberNight's public keys prior to installation to ensure you have downloaded a non-modified version.

[AicecreaME]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Is my crypto safe?

What can I do to make it safer?

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

There are different types of wallets. I guess you have the resources to do your own research so might as well do one so that you can choose what suits your preferences well. But to answer your question and to give you a gist about it, personally, I don't think your crypto is safe in Coinbase. Earlier this year, I think it was March or so, Coinbase has been breached by hackers and thousands of Coinbase users' accounts were hacked. It was said that the hackers used some sort of phishing tactics to lure their victims. Unfortunately, there were accounts that has been compromised, and their funds were stolen. Although it was reported that Coinbase made a move to compensate and address the issue to their clients, for me, it wasn't enough to regain the trust back knowing that their system was easily infiltrated by such a method.

There are software wallets and hardware wallets. Comparing the two, the most reliable one would be the hardware wallet. Software wallets such as the exchanger wallet that you have are easier to be hacked. Given that it was connected online, the risk it has is higher. Meanwhile, hardware wallets are safer considering that your private keys are stored offline. It's more difficult to be accessed by hackers unless you'll give away your seedphrase. It still has risks, but not as high. Cold storage is the best way so far to secure your assets.

[witcher_sense]

you don't completely put control of your assets on coinbase. my advice is you should have hardware storage for your security. what I know is that coinbase is not always safe, especially if your assets are in the form of BTC where BTC is very risky to be hacked. you have to be careful

The bitcoin network is probably the most secure network we've ever deal with. Part of the reason it is safe to store your funds in the form of bitcoin is that it is hard for a potential hacker to identify individuals who are self-custody of their bitcoins and it is even harder to find out where exactly the keys to their funds are located. Private keys are distributed geographically, they are recorded on different media, security measures may vary depending upon an individual holding them. So, it is practically infeasible for a hacker to rob many people at once. Exchanges provide a hacker with such an opportunity. They are big honeypots for hackers because they have got all the funds that people put into them for trading purposes, they have got all the keys to those funds either. In this case, the only thing a hacker needs to do to rob millions of people is hacking this big storage of private keys.

[cheezcarls]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Is my crypto safe?

What can I do to make it safer?

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

First and foremost, getting into crypto is a good first step. Welcome to our world! As for Coinbase, it’s a custodial wallet where you don’t have the control of your funds like bank accounts and traditional payment processors. Plus, it’s vulnerable to hacking like the recent one (if you can check the latest news via Google or social media).

To ensure that your cryptos are safe, transfer them to a non-custodial wallet. If you have some budget, better invest in a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S and Trezor. Depend on what crypto you own, there are numerous wallets that you can consider such as Trust Wallet, Tronlink Pro, Exodus, Solareum, etc.

[masterrex]

I can relate to the OP's author very much when I was started in crypto particularly Bitcoin and also Im using the Coinbase wallet back then, no keys and whatsoever and I can say that it the right decision to ask those questions in this forum because there's a lot of knowledgeable persons/users here that will surely help and I agree with them the best way to store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is a Hardware wallet.

[herurist]

From what he says, it is better to send his bitcoin to another wallet that he can fully control his funds and not worry about the hacker or other bad things that can happen. Yes, that is risky to save his bitcoin in an online service like Coinbase, although many of us use Coinbase. But we need to be careful because that is our funds and we do not want anything worst to happen to our funds.

This is a good option to do, because sometimes we are not aware of this, that there are still many people who use luxury standards to buy things.
but things like this have to start now. As long as the product you buy is the same, why not use a cheaper one, because the most important thing is the use, right?
From now on, I think I must pay attention to the needs and desires. because often people including me buy things that are not really important needs just because they want to get the goods, this should be reduced as well.

[JustinFields]

Thanks a million guys. I am researching wallets as we speak to take money out of coinbase.

A few more questions that I have.

Will coinbase charge me for taking my bitcoin out?

What platform do you guys use to purchase BTC? Is coinbase a good opiton?

[o_e_l_e_o]

Will coinbase charge me for taking my bitcoin out?

They will charge you a small fee to cover the network transaction fee. This fee will be disclosed to you prior to making your withdrawal. You can minimize this fee by waiting until such a time that the bitcoin mempool is empty and transactions are cheaper. Use a site such as https://mempool.space/, and when the mempool has less than 1 vMB of transactions, then that's generally a good time to make a transaction.

What platform do you guys use to purchase BTC? Is coinbase a good opiton?

Coinbase is fine, and since you are already registered and verified on it, then you have very little reason to consider moving to a new exchange and repeating the whole verification process.

Personally I use decentralized exchanges, which are less newbie friendly but are more secure and more private than a centralized exchange such as Coinbase.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Interesting, is there a wallet you recommend? Also, would I buy my bitcoin through coinbase and move it to the wallet right away.

You already got some great answers to your questions, and there's nothing really that I can add to them except to second o_e_l_e_o's recommendation that you look into hardware wallets if you really want to keep your bitcoin safe.  Personally I'm a fan of Ledger devices, but those and Trezors are the big two and are the most reputable.

If you just want to store your bitcoin on your computer (or phone), I'd go with an Electrum wallet over any other software wallet.  You always have to keep your private keys safe, whether they're in the form of a 12-24 word seed phrase, QR code, or whatever.  You can stamp the words into a piece of metal or buy a pre-made metal wallet on Amazon or some other site.  Bitcoin Merch is a decent place to shop, and they accept crypto, as does the Ledger website and I believe Trezor does a well.  Coinkite sells Opendimes, which are pretty cool, and the ColdCard wallets, which I've never tried.  And the bottom line is that if you lose those private keys, you lose your coins--so be careful.

Welcome to bitcoin!  You're in for a wild ride.

[NeuroticFish]

look into hardware wallets if you really want to keep your bitcoin safe.
[...]
If you just want to store your bitcoin on your computer (or phone), I'd go with an Electrum wallet over any other software wallet.

From what I know Electrum for smartphone still doesn't work with hardware wallets, so if he wants to use his HW with his phone he will probably need something else there (I use Mycelium)

[Jawadu]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Welcome to the crypto world. Coinbase is a good exchange but it's not that good to put all your capital in one place, try to make research about Gate exchange, Binance, KuCoin, Huobi too.

What can I do to make it safer?

First thing is to do not trust any crypto exchange, instead of having $1000 capital and trade all of it in Coinbase, you can split it into 2/3 of top exchanges similar to Coinbase (top exchanges). Always remember to use wallets (cold wallets) to store your coins for a long time. A cold wallet is good because your Bitcoin will be stored offline, that's why we called it a cold wallet. Make a research about Trezor wallet and Ledger.

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

A key is the main security for your coins in wallets, it's like a Key to your house, a Key to your car, but the difference is if you lose a key to your crypto wallet then you will never recover it! So your money will be lost. Always remember to keep your wallet key somewhere safe (it's a digital key - a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters) so you can store it to your personal email, google drive, and so on.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

Congratulations! 22% it's a very good profit because some staking pools will give you 7-10% yearly! Keep it up, Bitcoin is a good coin and the leading coin, it keeps growing day by day.

[isaac_clarke22]

~

Yes, as what o_e_l_e_o said.
For other platforms, I cannot suggest any other platforms unless you reside in Philippines then you can use Coins PH to cash in your money and turn it into Bitcoin.
Coinbase is okay, but as previously advised, if you are going to hold it, consider a desktop or hardware wallet if you are really going to keep your Bitcoins.

[ChiBitCTy]

Coinbase is one of the last places on the planet that I would leave my bitcoin.  It's a good thing that you came here to ask around if it were a good place to leave your coins or not. The TRUTH is that Coinbase is an utterly corrupt company ran by a complete scumbag in Brian Armstrong.  I have had several friends get their coins locked up or stolen from Coinbase.  Use them fine, but always move the coins off right away.

[worle1bm]

I am new to crypto and everything I have done has been strictly through Coinbase. I don't have a key or anything like that.

Is my crypto safe?

What can I do to make it safer?

Everyone talks about keys, what exactly is a key. Where can I purchase one and how does it work.

Thanks and good luck to everyone. I am already up about 22 percent on my investment and extremely happy. I do feel that BTC will go to the moon.

Exchange is never a secure place to have your funds as private keys are stored with them which gives them access to your funds directly and as others said private keys are type of proof which shows your ownership over that funds so it's currently with coinbase not you.Try to move them out and store your funds in some hardware wallet and keep the seed phrase safe with you about which you need to learn first of all.As it's said not your keys not your coins.

[QuickAccount]

Interesting, is there a wallet you recommend?

For newbies such as yourself, generally the best trade off between security and ease of use is a reputable hardware wallet such as Ledger or Trezor. Unfortunately you will need to purchase one of these devices for around $50, but if you wait for Black Friday in a few weeks they have previously had some very good deals on (up to 50% off).

Also, would I buy my bitcoin through coinbase and move it to the wallet right away.

This is a fairly standard way of buying and then holding bitcoin. You don't have to do it right away, and some people might prefer to build up a little bit of bitcoin on their exchange account over time before withdrawing it all at once to save on the exchange's withdrawal fees. But the less time your bitcoin is held on the exchange, the better.

Will my coinbase account still show my balance if I got a wallet?

No. You will still be able to see your purchase history and withdrawal history, but it will not show your balance. Your wallet will show your balance instead.

I agree with this, a hardware wallet is your best bet, buying them used might be a risk so I would do what this quote says and buy it new during black Friday or something. But there are a few things to do when you have a hardware wallet like that.

I wouldn't tell people that you have a hardware wallet, because then you become a target for a $5 wrench attack:

Along with that, do not tell people your private key, no matter what service you use, if you're new, do not give anyone or anything your key, that is the worst thing you can do.

Good luck!

[takuma sato]

Coinbase (and thus the IRS) already knows you have X amount of bitcoins. Even if you move them away from the exchange you are a target for them if you try to hides these coins from them in the future. So assume no privacy of the money you buy through centralized websites.