Recent events should make everyone withdraw all their coins to their own wallets

[Bitstar_coin]

This is an eye opener, all the innocent people in Ukraine and Russia would not have anticipated for something like this to happen to them, stranded and not able to do anything about it, I guess it is important to have a contingency plan for situations like this.
Not your key, not your money is something everyone should be serious with, if you must,  then 30% should in exchange or wherever you want to have them then 70% should be in your personal wallet,  this way you have control and access to the larger part of your asset.

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[stadus]

Sure there is a high risk of leaving your funds in an exchange-controlled wallet because of unforeseen circumstances like the one happening right now with Russia and Ukraine, and other risks like exchange hack et al. However, there are several reasons that compel some people to have their funds in the exchange, same applies to having your funds in the bank, can you imagine someone having a stack of physical cash at home? That will be like inviting trouble especially when you are in a not-so-secured country.
There is a good and bad side of both, perhaps the former has a much higher risk than the latter.

Of  course no one would take the risk of leaving your physical cash at home with such a huge amount. This is why bitcoin wallet has been invented so that we can carry it anywhere we want and its always secured because its has its lock code. And having this undeclared war that will leave a lasting effect on the people, its a good thing that we should choose bitcoin over fiat because bitcoin has its own bank and there's no need to leave it in a third party since our own wallet can be our best bank ever.

[Stalker22]

Sure there is a high risk of leaving your funds in an exchange-controlled wallet because of unforeseen circumstances like the one happening right now with Russia and Ukraine, and other risks like exchange hack et al. However, there are several reasons that compel some people to have their funds in the exchange, same applies to having your funds in the bank, can you imagine someone having a stack of physical cash at home? That will be like inviting trouble especially when you are in a not-so-secured country.
There is a good and bad side of both, perhaps the former has a much higher risk than the latter.

One of the main advantages of bitcoin over cash is that you can have a nice balance in your bitcoin wallet but you don't really have to have it on you at all. You can use it to send and receive money from anywhere with internet access. The only thing you need is the private key or the seed phrase of your wallet, which can be written down even on a piece of paper.

Thanks to this, we don't have to carry cash when we have to travel to another country for whatever reason. Also, with bitcoins you don't need to have any centralized control in the payment process or any trusted third party. This is a major feature that no fiat currency has, which makes bitcoins a better option for traditional currencies.

[pealr12]

Am partially guilty of this honestly,  even though part of me knows the risk involved but it seems to be the only option I have for staking because as it is in centralized exchange you can't stake from your personal wallet, so this is why part of my funds are in the exchange.  
Actually, I have thought of having everything in my wallet I hold the keys but the thought of having them idle in the wallet not generating additional funds doesn't sound good, but I will definitely find a better option in which I can from a wallet I hold the keys and not from an exchange.

[taufik123]

Am partially guilty of this honestly,  even though part of me knows the risk involved but it seems to be the only option I have for staking because as it is in centralized exchange you can't stake from your personal wallet, so this is why part of my funds are in the exchange.  
Actually, I have thought of having everything in my wallet I hold the keys but the thought of having them idle in the wallet not generating additional funds doesn't sound good, but I will definitely find a better option in which I can from a wallet I hold the keys and not from an exchange.

Having assets in your personal wallet can also earn you money, not only on the exchange. Some hardware wallets currently provide staking and other features that make your assets more profitable and not only in your personal wallet. For example, I use the Safepal hardware wallet which includes many features that allow for staking, swapping between tokens and between networks and there are several airdrop options that safepal users can participate in and many more. Exchange is only used as a temporary trading place and not to store primary funds.

[Oluwa-btc]

Privacy is underrated, a whole lot of people thinking it's all about money and holding bitcoin, that's bad people lossing Bitcoin like this pains me badly.
Banks take your money, government borrow your money, regulate your money, they'll still do more, but Bitcoin gives you the liberty to get all of this.

I think this war is the best way to advocate and spread the impact of Bitcoin the effects of Bitcoin, the merits of Bitcoin, I see Putin as being wise accepting bitcoin before making advances for the war, I'm not in support of it but looking at the Bitcoin angle, both Ukrainians and Russians are using bitcoin majorly.
I try to learn from evry situation. Good or bad.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Russia are now being cut off from SWIFT, as well as some sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia.

Looks like bank runs are going to be come widespread across Russia. This tweet - https://twitter.com/taxfreelt/status/1497811412265099265 - roughly translates as "In Moscow and other Russian cities huge queues gather in front of ATMs. This was taken at 5 am." I imagine when the banks open tomorrow it's going to be mayhem.

Yet another reason to hold your own coins. There is nothing stopping a bank run on centralized exchanges either.

[DaveF]

...Everyone knows you should hold your own keys and coins. Leaving your coins in the control of a third party such as a centralized exchange, web wallet, interest account, etc., means they are not your coins at all and access can be removed at any time. Despite such services frequently locking people out of their accounts and demanding KYC, millions of people continue to hold all their coins with these third parties, wrongly thinking "Well, it will never happen to me."...

Also, since you did use the truckers as an example, keep in mind that although spending your coins can never lead to loss directly, spending your coins at places with poor security can or not hiding your whereabouts can easily reveal who / where you are. The company that took over the donations for the trucker convoy has had *5* data leaks / breaches in the last couple of months. Just about every piece of data it there. Entered name and address, phone number, email (although you could put anything) also IP of the connection and some other collected data. It's all out there to be downloaded.

If you don't hide where your BTC comes in it is now trivial to see if there is where it went out.
Then all of a sudden, your exchange locks your account. Even if you went Exchange -> your wallet -> donation. Because it's easier to block you then deal with the grief.
Note: Banks have been doing this for years. They have closed accounts because they *thought* you might have been doing something shady and did not want the grief.

-Dave

[Stalker22]

Russia are now being cut off from SWIFT, as well as some sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia.

Looks like bank runs are going to be come widespread across Russia. This tweet - https://twitter.com/taxfreelt/status/1497811412265099265 - roughly translates as "In Moscow and other Russian cities huge queues gather in front of ATMs. This was taken at 5 am." I imagine when the banks open tomorrow it's going to be mayhem.

Yet another reason to hold your own coins. There is nothing stopping a bank run on centralized exchanges either.

Yes. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, it is always advised to keep them in an offline, cold wallet for the majority of time. As a matter of fact, even the CEO of Kraken, one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, has advised users on Twitter not to hold their coins on the exchange. Unfortunately, the majority of Bitcoin holders, used to using Coinbase and similar sites, are not technically savvy enough to self-custody solutions at the moment. And they probably won't be for a long time. So it will require a concerted effort to teach new users about the ideas behind self-custody wallets and the benefits they offer.

[DeathAngel]

The only time I ever have significant amounts of bitcoin on exchanges is when the price is somewhere close to a price I am happy to have limit sell orders. When we went sub 50k I took all coins off. There is always a level of risk but obviously the less time you have funds on exchanges the safer you are.

I do have fiat on exchanges now though with limit buy orders close to 30k. If there is ever a scam wick down I want to buy it. In this scenario ensure you use an exchange which requires 2FA for withdrawals.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Also, since you did use the truckers as an example, keep in mind that although spending your coins can never lead to loss directly, spending your coins at places with poor security can or not hiding your whereabouts can easily reveal who / where you are.

Absolutely. KYC goes both ways. If you are going to go to the effort of avoiding KYC when you buy bitcoin, or by thoroughly mixing the bitcoin you do buy to break the link, then why would you compromise all that by completing KYC when you spend/transfer/donate your bitcoin?

Unfortunately, the majority of Bitcoin holders, used to using Coinbase and similar sites, are not technically savvy enough to self-custody solutions at the moment. And they probably won't be for a long time.

I just don't agree with that. If you are technically savvy enough to open an account on a centralized exchange, upload photos of your documents, link your bank account, deposit fiat and place an order for bitcoin, then I think you are technically savvy enough to plug in a hardware wallet and follow the instructions which come with it. The problem is that that's the boring bit. Actually buying bitcoin is the cool sexy bit that everyone wants to do. Once you've bought the bitcoin, setting up your own wallet is boring so many people don't bother. If there was no way to own bitcoin without having it in your own wallet, then we would suddenly find that everyone was managing to set up their own wallets without too much bother.

[Lucius]

~snip~
These last few weeks should be an eye opener for anyone leaving their coins in the custody of any third party. You may find yourself with no access to them at any time, and there will be nothing you can do about it.

Unfortunately, people often only realize some things when it's too late, but no matter what Bitcoin offers them, they still feel more comfortable when someone else takes care of their financial assets. The system that created the opinion that money is the safest in a bank is still dominant even when it comes to Bitcoin allowing everyone to be their own bank.

Sometimes each of us may feel privileged to have the opportunity to be somewhat independent of banks, but of course it all depends on how adapted Bitcoin is in our environment. A man who has 1 BTC in his cryptowallet and does not have the ability to pay for goods and services, or make a conversion to fiat - is still in trouble despite having some value under his control.

[DaveF]

Also, since you did use the truckers as an example, keep in mind that although spending your coins can never lead to loss directly, spending your coins at places with poor security can or not hiding your whereabouts can easily reveal who / where you are.

Absolutely. KYC goes both ways. If you are going to go to the effort of avoiding KYC when you buy bitcoin, or by thoroughly mixing the bitcoin you do buy to break the link, then why would you compromise all that by completing KYC when you spend/transfer/donate your bitcoin?

Because people, for the most part do not think about or understand the implications.

I posted a few years ago about how we as a group here because we are BTC enthusiasts tend to know and understand more, I then continued that post and pointed out because of that many things that we think are obvious are probably not to the rest of the world. And, that because we do know more we tend to not want to help people who for whatever reason cannot do things the best or even a good way. But we should be informing them.

Same here, telling everyone to withdraw their coins to their own wallets is great. Telling them to shuffle / hide them after to wipe any possibility is better. Letting them know that if someone really does not need their real information then don't give it to them is even better.

-Dave

[Marykeller]

Nigeria is a case study for that. Since the introduction of peer to peer trading system in Nigeria. The majority of Nigeria mostly use Binance to trade on crypto. It's very mandatory to pass the KYC before you're able to trade. Nowadays accounts are easily locked without warnings if you are reported by someone or a government official for any inappropriate dealings. Imagine if your account is locked for no just cause or the impossible happened(hacking Binance)

[o_e_l_e_o]

they still feel more comfortable when someone else takes care of their financial assets.

If that's what makes someone feel more comfortable, then it is their prerogative to do that and let someone else manage all their finances. But people need to be aware that accounts are frozen and assets seized through external events which they have absolutely no control over, as we have seen multiple times in multiple different countries in the last few weeks, and crypto is not immune to this either. If you want to take the risk of losing all your coins because you were too lazy to figure out how to safely set up your own wallet, then go right ahead, but you'll have no one to blame but yourself when your coins are seized.

A man who has 1 BTC in his cryptowallet and does not have the ability to pay for goods and services, or make a conversion to fiat - is still in trouble despite having some value under his control.

Interesting story I read - a couple of Danish reporters in Ukraine used bitcoin to buy a car a couple of days ago because all the ATMs had run out of money.

Since the introduction of peer to peer trading system in Nigeria. The majority of Nigeria mostly use Binance to trade on crypto.

I still don't understand why you would perform peer to peer trading through a centralized exchange. You are combining all the worst parts of peer to peer trading (lower speed, lower liquidity) with all the worst parts of a centralized exchange (full KYC, zero privacy, risking your coins in centralized wallets).

Imagine if your account is locked for no just cause or the impossible happened(hacking Binance)

Exchanges have been arbitrarily locking accounts for as long as exchanges have existed. Also, Binance have been hacked on more than one occasion on the past, so it is far from impossible.

[buwaytress]

It's really sad to be reminded of that -- the pride and nationalism and patriotism one tends to feel like just being born in a random place in the world, does not ever grant you the privilege of saying: "my government will never do that". It's still so surreal to think Canada and then Russia taking the stage, both doing what most of their countrypeople would bet a million times their respective countries would never do.

I've already seen and read -- without evidence of course -- of people already running and leaving everything behind. If anyone has been lucky enough to store some of their wealth in Bitcoin in an effort to preserve it, well done. But indeed, take custody of your Bitcoin. Sole custody. And it's simpler (and easier) than you think.

Ask anyone active with merits if you're lost.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I've already seen and read -- without evidence of course -- of people already running and leaving everything behind.

For the innocent people in Ukraine bitcoin can certainly be a safe haven right now. Much easier to take it all with you and much easier to cross a border with when compared to fiat. And no possibility of a bank run leaving you with nothing provided you are holding your own coins. And for the innocent people in Russia who don't want any part of Putin's insane war but are being affected by all the sanctions regardless, it also allows them to avoid a bank run as well as offering some stability against the ruble, which is devaluing rapidly and will likely continue to do so. However, again, this is dependent on them holding their own coins, as I fully expect crypto exchanges to start having to comply with international sanctions as well and therefore freeze accounts of Russian citizens.

[Lucius]

If that's what makes someone feel more comfortable, then it is their prerogative to do that and let someone else manage all their finances. But people need to be aware that accounts are frozen and assets seized through external events which they have absolutely no control over, as we have seen multiple times in multiple different countries in the last few weeks, and crypto is not immune to this either. If you want to take the risk of losing all your coins because you were too lazy to figure out how to safely set up your own wallet, then go right ahead, but you'll have no one to blame but yourself when your coins are seized.

If it is somewhat true that about 5% of the world's people own Bitcoin or have been involved in some way with other cryptocurrencies, then it is clear that most still trust banks more, and that a good portion of those who own a cryptocurrency still trust custodial services. Maybe that will change now that people in Russia are being forced to look for an alternative because of all the sanctions that are in place and those that are yet to come.

If we take El Salvador as an example of a country that first declared Bitcoin a legal tender, Russia may be the second big experiment where Bitcoin will become the best alternative if its financial system collapses. Although I have no doubt that the regime will react very sharply if people start using Bitcoin en masse, which poses a far greater danger to the government than people living in misery and poverty.

[swogerino]

Russia are now being cut off from SWIFT, as well as some sanctions against the Central Bank of Russia.

Looks like bank runs are going to be come widespread across Russia. This tweet - https://twitter.com/taxfreelt/status/1497811412265099265 - roughly translates as "In Moscow and other Russian cities huge queues gather in front of ATMs. This was taken at 5 am." I imagine when the banks open tomorrow it's going to be mayhem.

Yet another reason to hold your own coins. There is nothing stopping a bank run on centralized exchanges either.

I never see a reason why your coins should be held to any other place than in a wallet you own under your total control.However I also know that there are people who like to invest and trade so these people are forced to keep some of their money in 3rd parties wallets and nothing is sure there even at normal times let alone now in war time.You gave the best advice,it is time for all funds to come home to their respective owners in their wallets in which they have full power.Same for cash money hold into banks.

Russia asked for these tough sanctions and now they have to face them,it is only their fault and only them are to blame (mainly politicians as not all Russians want war).

[dbc23]

Binance freezing the funds of Nigerian customers may also worth mentioning.

This has been a big issue in this part of the world leaving so many crypto investors stranded. And it came so sudden. The Nigerian government aren't friendly at all. All the do is either use the bank against it's citizens or implement laws that are unfavorable. Now most youths choosed to gain liberty through crypto they channelled their frustrations to using exchanges to wage war on the masses and binance is a key player in this.

You left out the point of "So long as you know what you are doing and practice good security"

First many still don't know the difference between custodial and non custodial wallet and the benefits of owning a non custodial wallet. Many crypto investors just feel all wallets provides equal benefits