Exchange or hardware wallet ?

[andriarto]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods to store your coins?

Simply put you must never hold your coins at an exchange, now if you are a trader I understand why you have your coins in an exchange, as you are sacrificing some of the security of your coins in order to try to increase the size of your holdings.

But if you are not a trader then your coins must never be in an exchange or any wallet you do not have the private keys, having your coins in a hardware wallet gives you complete ownership of your coins while at the same time it gives you protection from hackers that most people cannot get on their own, so if you have to decide between those two options then get a hardware wallet, I know they cost money but they are worth it.

By understanding the explanation you mentioned above, I think it is a knowledge for all of us, that storing assets on an exchange is more risky, because even the largest exchanges have experienced hacking, therefore hardware is a wise choice where the responsibility for security lies with yourself. and finally we should understand the signs that a hack is about to occur, so that we can prevent it

[gabbie2010]

Exchange and hardware wallet are really important for a trader. If we trade, we should go to exchange and trade our tokens. Otherwise, If we have huge coins, we should put in our hardware wallet, because it is safe rather than the exchange site. Sometimes, few coins are omission from exchange, it happens to me.

Hodling and keeping tradeable assets in an exchange isn't a bad idea but It is advisable to use or keep coins we can afford to lose in case of any eventuality eg hacking of exchange, blocking of account holders as a result of going against some rules and restrictions etc, however it had been retriated that hardware wallet is the safest of all wallets available, keeping huge coins in a hardware wallet would ensure maximum security of our digital assets.

[rmhuntley]

Lets see your opinion with your coin holding long term or short term, if you save assets on hardware wallet I think you are long term investor because most safety with this saving assets but little disadvantage when try to sell you need waiting few minutes more for selling. In hardware wallet need to waiting with sync but if hold on exchange just opening an account than you can sell without one minutes before price dump.

[Chato1977]

i trade of course ..

aside from my income in joining signature campaigns and some bounties that i earned altcoins and converting to bitcoin.

Exchange and hardware wallet are really important for a trader. If we trade, we should go to exchange and trade our tokens. Otherwise, If we have huge coins, we should put in our hardware wallet, because it is safe rather than the exchange site. Sometimes, few coins are omission from exchange, it happens to me.

Hodling and keeping tradeable assets in an exchange isn't a bad idea but It is advisable to use or keep coins we can afford to lose in case of any eventuality eg hacking of exchange, blocking of account holders as a result of going against some rules and restrictions etc, however it had been retriated that hardware wallet is the safest of all wallets available, keeping huge coins in a hardware wallet would ensure maximum security of our digital assets.

but OP is asking about accumulating bitcoin and not by holding .

[2double0]

Exchanges -
I particularly see no advantage in keeping your crypto there because if by any means, the exchange gets hacked, you are at the risk of losing everything you had there. Though, there is one advantage and that is, you can trade any time you want and grow your coins.

Hardware wallet -
It is highly advantageous because it keeps your money very safe as it is in your custody and you don't depend on anybody here. Though, you also should not lose it as if somebody knows your common password signs and gets into your wallet (except those which feature fingerprint scanner), your money may get in trouble.

[Sled]

Lets see your opinion with your coin holding long term or short term, if you save assets on hardware wallet I think you are long term investor because most safety with this saving assets but little disadvantage when try to sell you need waiting few minutes more for selling. In hardware wallet need to waiting with sync but if hold on exchange just opening an account than you can sell without one minutes before price dump.

That probably the intention of having a hardware wallet is for long-term holding, not for trading purposes. If you hold 1BTC at least, that seems worth having it but if you only have a chuck of Bitcoin, I don't think so. A lot of online wallets are available and in fact, I use a custodial wallet for a very long time but I was lucky I'd never get hacked. Maybe it was because I'd care about my wallet and gadget which is very important and even a hardware wallet won't give you 100% safe if you are also careless.

[Ryker1]

Lets see your opinion with your coin holding long term or short term, if you save assets on hardware wallet I think you are long term investor because most safety with this saving assets but little disadvantage when try to sell you need waiting few minutes more for selling. In hardware wallet need to waiting with sync but if hold on exchange just opening an account than you can sell without one minutes before price dump.

Well that is one of a good example, the easy to trade when you are in exchange but if when you are in a hardware wallet, you need to wait and spend a little fee when you want to trade into fiat. The good question here is which you prefer to hold, in a long term or a short term holding of coins.
Both of them have advantages and disadvantages on us and which we are prefer and I think many members here have a different answer which they like to save their coins, either in a long term or short term.

[ultrloa]

Lets see your opinion with your coin holding long term or short term, if you save assets on hardware wallet I think you are long term investor because most safety with this saving assets but little disadvantage when try to sell you need waiting few minutes more for selling. In hardware wallet need to waiting with sync but if hold on exchange just opening an account than you can sell without one minutes before price dump.

Well that is one of a good example, the easy to trade when you are in exchange but if when you are in a hardware wallet, you need to wait and spend a little fee when you want to trade into fiat. The good question here is which you prefer to hold, in a long term or a short term holding of coins.
Both of them have advantages and disadvantages on us and which we are prefer and I think many members here have a different answer which they like to save their coins, either in a long term or short term.

The only thing we need to think there is never put a huge amount of money on exchange and never choose this as a wallet to hold for long time since anything might happen unto it although the advantage is we can easily trade out assets easily but we don't know on what will happen to them or how long they can protect our assets away from hackers.

Although there's disadvantage for using hardware wallet in terms of transaction delays and fees but this is the best option if we talk about safety since we can assure that our asset is safe if we want to save it for long time.

[Oilacris]

Lets see your opinion with your coin holding long term or short term, if you save assets on hardware wallet I think you are long term investor because most safety with this saving assets but little disadvantage when try to sell you need waiting few minutes more for selling. In hardware wallet need to waiting with sync but if hold on exchange just opening an account than you can sell without one minutes before price dump.

Well that is one of a good example, the easy to trade when you are in exchange but if when you are in a hardware wallet, you need to wait and spend a little fee when you want to trade into fiat. The good question here is which you prefer to hold, in a long term or a short term holding of coins.
Both of them have advantages and disadvantages on us and which we are prefer and I think many members here have a different answer which they like to save their coins, either in a long term or short term.

The only thing we need to think there is never put a huge amount of money on exchange and never choose this as a wallet to hold for long time since anything might happen unto it although the advantage is we can easily trade out assets easily but we don't know on what will happen to them or how long they can protect our assets away from hackers.

Although there's disadvantage for using hardware wallet in terms of transaction delays and fees but this is the best option if we talk about safety since we can assure that our asset is safe if we want to save it for long time.

Put up only the amount you could afford to lose i should say because aside on exchange hacking they could also make out some sudden change which means they could lock up funds of users if there would be some changes  specially if its asking for some verification.
You should know the risk on putting up your funds on these platforms and you should know the specific usage and
functions between a wallet which is for long term and exchange for active trades.

[Boov]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods to store your coins?

There's a lot of advantages when we use hardware wallet as to compared it with storing them on your exchange account. When it's stored at exchange site, you're vulnerable of phishing attacks and hackers because you don't own the full security of it. Hardware wallet capabilities is with full security and the only advantages is on unexpected accident like power interruption and hardware malfunction, you couldn't afford to back it up instantly.

[Jawhead999]

According to my perspective the best way to hold btc is to put it off over the Exchange like Biannce... Bcz we have seen A lot of cases of hardwallet get stolen... So I prefer Binance more there are very rare cases of loosing our funds.... And in case of get hacked... These kind of exchanges would pay their users back through Insurance soo they are much secure as compared to hardware wallet

It's true Binance will pay their customers when they got hacked, IF the amount losses are lower than the SAFU allocations. We don't know how much the total funds of Binance SAFU, that's the insurance they can pay back. If they got hacked all, it's very unlikely they will pay their customers.

The first difference is that hardware wallets are almost always left offline, completely isolated. Only when it is necessary to make a money transfer/receipt transaction, the cold wallet is connected to the internet. All the information in the hardware wallet is very well secured, very difficult for hackers to steal. However, its price is quite expensive, if you are a frequent trader, you will find it quite convenient.

I don't think $50-$100 is expensive for make your coins almost safe, I believe you have good amount money on your wallet. Well, a frequent trader mostly don't use hardware wallet since the fees will took up your profit. They usually split 10% to exchanges and 90% to hardware wallet.

[virasog]

I hope that OP gets something and enlightens his mind now. Having the two different wallets has also a different purpose and that it needs to be clear before using one of them. And I believe that you grasp some ideas and know what you gonna do to safeguard your funds out from this risky environment.
I guess, all the replies above are good enough to guide you on which one to choose. If ever you've got a mistake, that was not because we are wrong, it is definitely it's yours.

When new people enter in the crypto, they usually first make account on the exchanges and they consider that these exchanges are serving the purpose of the wallet which is totally wrong. Only a few like OP curious to know the difference between the two while majority of the newbies are still keeping their funds on the exchanges.

[Amejoaquim]

I think if you have a small amount of crypto (less than 1000$k) and you’re just hodling then it’s probably not worth getting a hardware wallet as transfer fees May end up eating into your stack. So IMO, it depends how much you hold your coin..

[worle1bm]

Putting your funds on exchange is simply trusting them like you give your funds to someone you trust and take them out when you need but do you believe they will not cheat you or what if they got attacked and attacker take your fund? Same is the case with these exchanges like they have your keys which means access to the funds directly and they could be scam or hacked and your funds are gone but the hardware wallet is always with you and each time you make a transaction you have to confirm the same and keys always remain safe but you only need to backup seed phrase safely.

[noah tall]

The hardware wallet is so secured than any exchange. Where you're no need to kyc . Where no one can control your asset portfolio.  So i suggest hardware wallet  to every crypto holder .

[raidarksword]

The big advantage of having your funds in your hardware wallet is that you have the full control of your funds and it's 100% safe from intrusion. Your keys, your funds in short. On exchange on the other hands, the inevitable scenario will be the big fear of being hacked and we all know already exchange had been hacked over the years even top tier exchange is not safe.

[Zilon]

The harder the wallet the safer your coin. Except for decentralized exchange, exchanges tend to suffocate their customers with KYC verification and also freeze ones funds if their deposits exceed certain amount without a valid KYC verification. Hard wallet has more advantage and its just the safest and most secured

[Chato1977]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods to store your coins?

Never let your funds stays in exchange for long time , even a week is not a good idea , that is why there is a Hardware wallets in which we are all use now storing our precious cryptocurrencies .
If you really wanted a safer holding then use hardware wallet for storing and use exchange for trading ,
that easy to understand and done.

[kayiboyu]

When you keep money in an exchange wallet, you should already be okay to sharing your money with the exchange also. Because there is always a possibility for any exchange to be hacked. But using a hardware wallet is always much safer. Because you keep your wallet in a USB and there is no way that someone can reach it unless you make a really big mistake by using it somewhere not credible.

[K4C]

I think hardware Wallet is the best choice ever. There are so many reasons behind this. You don't need KYC . You are free to send or receive. No one can control your asset portfolio. So this is the best to use hardware wallet.