Two important lesson I learn from this forum this year 2022

[Ojima-ojo]

As 2022 is almost coming to an end and haven't been around this forum for a couple of months now, I have learn two vital lessons this year that will guide my journey in the cryptocurrency space.
THE TWO LESSONS
1: I will never trust an exchange, most especially centralized exchanges e.g FTX Binance, etc.
2: never n trust any other coin aside from Bitcoin for long-term goals, most especially the highly centralized altcoin as there are open to external influence just like centralized exchanges are also exposed to external influence.
So I am led to the conclusion that, cryptocurrency is not the problem, but centralization and the human factors are the major set back in the young fast-growing cryptocurrency industry

[1714781042]

1714781042

[1714781042]

1714781042

[1714781042]

1714781042

[1714781042]

1714781042

[1714781042]

1714781042

[PrivacyG]

The biggest problem is that we have introduced third parties and Centralization over an ecosystem that requires no trust and no third parties to function.  We can live very well without Binance, Trust Wallet and the likes.  This is so unnecessary yet we all hype it up and use it as if that is what Bitcoin really is.  Without them, we would have zero problems besides those who lose their coins by accidentally sending them to the wrong address or sending them to an 'Elon giveaway' address over Twitter.

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

[The Cryptovator]

I'm not sure if this will be an costly lesson for you, but I hope you didn't lose during this controversy. But you are correct; as we have always explained, never trust any centralized exchange with your funds. We have no choice but to use for trading. However, for holding purposes, assets should be moved to a secure wallet. Because an incident with the exchange could occur at any time, or they would go bankrupt as well.

On the other hand, after the crashes of Luna and FTX native coin, it's become challenging to believe any altcoin. It doesn't matter if it was planned, but we're losing at the end of the day. As a result, even if we choose an altcoin or stick with Bitcoin, we must be very selective.

[Upgrade00]

Welcome to the other side of the divide.
You do not need to trust an exchange with your funds at any time and even if you insisi on using them, do not keep your funds on there for prolonged periods of time. The war on privacy has been on for a while now and would only get worse as time goes on, with governments trying to get more information on crypto networks and transactions going over it.

"Not your Keys; not your coins."

[Welsh]

The biggest problem is that we have introduced third parties and Centralization over an ecosystem that requires no trust and no third parties to function.  We can live very well without Binance, Trust Wallet and the likes.  This is so unnecessary yet we all hype it up and use it as if that is what Bitcoin really is.  Without them, we would have zero problems besides those who lose their coins by accidentally sending them to the wrong address or sending them to an 'Elon giveaway' address over Twitter.

Users won't like to hear it, but we rely on centralisation, and third parties to a certain degree, and that's actually an okay thing. Especially, when you're trying to get more people to adopt Bitcoin. Since, without having the ease of use that these centralised figures provide, people wouldn't adopt. Almost every single new investor that doesn't know much about Bitcoin will be going through a centralised exchange, since the process is streamlined. A peer to peer exchange wouldn't be of benefit to them as there's too many additional steps.

Centralisation, and third parties will always be a benefit, however over reliance on them isn't. People just need to know the risks of these third parties, and the best practices when dealing with them. For example, purchasing your Bitcoin in small increments via an exchange isn't a problem, it's the storing of those coins on a centralised wallet that's the problem.

[dkbit98]

So I am led to the conclusion that, cryptocurrency is not the problem, but centralization and the human factors are the major set back in the young fast-growing cryptocurrency industry

You can't have everything decentralized, so some centralization is actually good to have in world, but not for money, and cryptocurrencies.
I understand people want convenience but look what happened with banks and fiat currencies, exact same thing would happen with Bitcoin if we go the route of centralization like other shitcoins.
Centralized exchanges should exist, but I think people should work much more on decentralized exchanges even for bigger investors.

[passwordnow]

It is so very true about trusting the exchange, you just use them but you don't wholly use them. When you trade, deposit only the amount that you'll be using for trading, none other than that.
You can add to it that you don't have to be hyped with any popular person that gives his insights about the market. Like the typical thing when there's someone popular that gives advice about what he must do and the media hypes it. There were many people that have done the wrong thing of believing those.

[CaVO32]

It is so very true about trusting the exchange, you just use them but you don't wholly use them. When you trade, deposit only the amount that you'll be using for trading, none other than that.
You can add to it that you don't have to be hyped with any popular person that gives his insights about the market. Like the typical thing when there's someone popular that gives advice about what he must do and the media hypes it. There were many people that have done the wrong thing of believing those.

I am glad the OP got those realizations. Because up until now, a lot have different outlook towards crypto market. For most who are not yet here, they thought crypto is a scam. But they only need right information to understand what the OP stated. Those simple lessons will give them good approach towards crypto and find ways how to secure their assets away from fraudulent sites and projects.

[GeorgeJohn]

An exchange is can not be trusted with full assurance, and secondly even human creatures can be given hundred percent assurance per say, in terms of coins even Bitcoin can't be trusted hundred percent because of it's fluctuations in the market, so investment sometimes i will say it's luck, because some shitcoins that we invest on, sometimes perform absolutely well during during bullish market, but during a bearish it happens to experience alot of disadvantages.

[RockBell]

There have been numerous warnings that trusting an exchange with your assets is a risky decision. Before what happened with FTX, people had a strong belief in centralized exchanges. However, people are now wary of exchanges because of their numerous annoying features, such as the ability to suspend withdrawals and the proverbial "not your keys, not your coins." There is nothing more intriguing than having complete control over your coin rather than having your assets in the hands of another person. Investing in bitcoin is preferable, but given the current state of affairs, some people will still choose alternative coins that will increase 100 times their value. Not all alternative coins will survive this period.

[Sanitough]

As 2022 is almost coming to an end and haven't been around this forum for a couple of months now, I have learn two vital lessons this year that will guide my journey in the cryptocurrency space.
THE TWO LESSONS
1: I will never trust an exchange, most especially centralized exchanges e.g FTX Binance, etc.
2: never n trust any other coin aside from Bitcoin for long-term goals, most especially the highly centralized altcoin as there are open to external influence just like centralized exchanges are also exposed to external influence.
So I am led to the conclusion that, cryptocurrency is not the problem, but centralization and the human factors are the major set back in the young fast-growing cryptocurrency industry

It’s always safer to go offline and a hardware wallet which offers the highest level of security when it comes to privacy. Your money will be safe since hacking is highly not possible. And if you go for potential coins to invest, it’s always bitcoin that gives high dominance compared to random altcoins. Cryptocurrency is good and safe, unless you start trusting centralized exchanges that will put yourself and your money at risk.

[kawetsriyanto]

1: I will never trust an exchange, most especially centralized exchanges e.g FTX Binance, etc.

How about DEX? Do you also never trust this type of exchange?
By the way, since you never trust an exchange, does it mean you never use the exchanges to trade your coins? Or do you only never trust to keep your coins there? I think you need to explain this matter in more detail. Newbies/beginners probably don't get your point.

2: never n trust any other coin aside from Bitcoin for long-term goals, most especially the highly centralized altcoin as there are open to external influence just like centralized exchanges are also exposed to external influence.

If the reason is the possibility of price huge declines such as Luna and FTX, it can happen at any time. 
Even if you hold the coins for a short-term goal, it doesn't mean you can avoid the risk of freefall price possibility.
IMO, once you distrust other coins, simply don't hold them both for the long-term and the short-term goals.

[GiftedMAN]

Good to see that you have learned from the mistake of others I believe experience remains the best teacher.
As humans are not 100%decent likewise the centralized exchanges in which so many people entrust their funds probably because they have been in existence for a long time but at the end they bring up issues regarding the missing funds or scams.

Lesson 2)  is well understood because Bitcoin is not on the same level as the other shit coins because most of the shit coins have no lifespan they can appear within a space of few days they won't be fund again but the case of bitcoin is different because bitcoin has been the oldest and the most recognized cryptocurrency in the world so investing in cryptocurrency whether short or long team the only option is Bitcoin and nothing else.

[sheenshane]

THE TWO LESSONS
1: I will never trust an exchange, most especially centralized exchanges e.g FTX Binance, etc.

Never fool with the sweet offer, there is no real SAFU on a centralized exchange, it is just a marketing ad.
But remember CEX are DEX are totally different from others, we can't move out of our Bitcoin without this exchange to convert fiat or purchasing from fiat to Bitcoin, we still need this exchange but on DEX not on CEX.

2: never n trust any other coin aside from Bitcoin for long-term goals, most especially the highly centralized altcoin as there are open to external influence just like centralized exchanges are also exposed to external influence.

Stop investing in new projects like meme coin or shitcoin for a long-term investment, safe to invest in Bitcoin nothing else.  I don't understand why there are people who love to invest in a very crucial coin like these.  We have Bitcoin which has been proven from day one until now.

Good to see there are newbie thinking like this and we hope everyone has learned about FTX and Binance adoption.

[Darker45]

I think I'd even generalize further and follow theymos' advice not to keep money in online accounts. The emphasis there is online accounts. So this is not just about centralized exchanges. This is about any platform that keeps your money. So this covers the likes of FTX, 3AC, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and others. They all went awry. Again, what we need to avoid are not just exchanges but also hedge fund sites, investment platforms offering unsustainably high yields, fake DeFi apps, crypto lending companies, and the rest.

However, your conclusion is not precisely correct.

So I am led to the conclusion that, cryptocurrency is not the problem...

To a certain extent, they are also the problem. Terra (LUNA) is a cryptocurrency. Solana (SOL) is a cryptocurrency. They are a problem. So while there is always a human factor that causes problems-- the tendency to buy their coins, for example, hoping that they will grow in price-- there is also the fact that cryptocurrencies nowadays are mostly faulty or outright scams.

This is probably the reason why Bitcoin, not crypto somewhat became a battle cry for some Bitcoin supporters.

[Apocollapse]

Let be honest here, you're not learn from this forum since you're already know we must avoid shitcoins and centralized exchanges before FTX case happen Are you trying to create merit fishing thread to get merit? I see 3 users already give you few merits, congratulations your purpose already achieved.

I think you're an alt from someone account that already know how to get merit easy in this board.

Re: Exchange will go out of business if every Bitcoin is hold in private wallet

Bitcoin is already winning the war against the centralization of Bitcoin services, and a lot of Bitcoin holders are beginning to realize the safety of their Bitcoin when it is off the exchange and kept in a private wallet. You only send real Bitcoin when you do it on a p2p level and you don't own Bitcoin when your coins are stored on an exchange all you have is just promises and not Bitcoin if your Bitcoin is on the third party exchange.

[cryptoaddictchie]

We have a decentralized space but we cant really have a fully decentralized system without interacting on such centralized authority. Yes these are boundaries if we want to walk on a convenient ways. Unless we confine to such strict control to achieve that.

These exchanges have agenda and they make sure that you wanna use their services. Really enticing but business is business so just read careful those rights that you are giving them to be able to those privileges.

[pooya87]

The biggest problem is that we have introduced third parties and Centralization over an ecosystem that requires no trust and no third parties to function.

That's true but the actual problem is when people don't understand the disadvantages of using these services not their existence. In fact I believe it is not a bad thing to build centralized services on top of a decentralized system and they actually provide some benefits too. For example the payment processors give merchants the option to receive bitcoin and convert it to fiat very easily and vice versa. Or centralized/custodial wallets (even government controlled wallets like Chivo) allow absolute newbies with no technical understanding to still use bitcoin.

P.S. I myself started my journey from a web wallet...

[Ojima-ojo]

The biggest problem is that we have introduced third parties and Centralization over an ecosystem that requires no trust and no third parties to function.

That's true but the actual problem is when people don't understand the disadvantages of using these services not their existence. In fact I believe it is not a bad thing to build centralized services on top of a decentralized system and they actually provide some benefits too. For example the payment processors give merchants the option to receive bitcoin and convert it to fiat very easily and vice versa. Or centralized/custodial wallets (even government controlled wallets like Chivo) allow absolute newbies with no technical understanding to still use bitcoin.

P.S. I myself started my journey from a web wallet...

The centralized services play a vital role in cryptocurrency adoption globally and as you have rightly said, cryptocurrency services are the organs through which digital assets are converted to fiat currency for the exchange of goods and services.

What is bad is leaving a large amount of balance on centralized exchanges and platforms, and also knowing when and what to put on them.

I started my Bitcoin journey using a web wallet also and to a great extent, the service has been awesome I have no regret using the wallet, but for sake of privacy once my Bitcoin stash become large I will look for a more secured cold wallet to save my bitcoin in for the long term.

[Zaguru12]

That's true but the actual problem is when people don't understand the disadvantages of using these services not their existence. In fact I believe it is not a bad thing to build centralized services on top of a decentralized system and they actually provide some benefits too. For example the payment processors give merchants the option to receive bitcoin and convert it to fiat very easily and vice versa. Or centralized/custodial wallets (even government controlled wallets like Chivo) allow absolute newbies with no technical understanding to still use bitcoin.

P.S. I myself started my journey from a web wallet...

I agree on this, that's why I think it will be a hard work stopping people from using Centralized exchanges. People rarely want to acquire knowledge of what there are getting into and with some of these exchanges it is just easy to transact to there local currencies, not withstanding the numerous enticing offers those kinda of exchanges offers.
Some actually think that funds lost in exchanges are recoverable or rather will be refunded unlike wallets where one take consequences of its loss.