Understanding Wallets vs Exchanges, how to choose a good exchange

[Hatchy]

On going though the the forum recently i noticed that most newbies are not well informed on how to choose a good  wallet and exchange.

#What is a good wallet I can use to store Bitcoin?
# Kyc for accounts or wallets
#Which will be best non-KYC exchanger after Ku-coin?
For this reasons, i have decided to compile a list of useful information they should acquire before using or selecting a reliable crypto exchanges or wallet. also  I have listed some working exchanges
***note, I will do well to explain in  simplified terms)***
First,what is a wallet?
     A wallet as the name implies refers to a safe house for all your assets. Now on the aspect of crypto currency, a wallet is a digital container which helps to manage your digital wealth with ease and more securly.cryptocurrencies are not physically stored inside your wallet but are recorded on the blockchain and so the wallet acts as an interface that displays the total amount of cryptocurrencies associated with yourpublic key.  
   Bitcoin wallets comes in various categories, ranging from quality and the services they offer their users. I won't go further into the types of wallet, because there is already a general thread made onBitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?
so please do well to check it out.
not to waste a lot of time, let's go into exchanges.

CRYPTOEXCHANGES
Most people often mistakes exchanges for wallet because it offers its users a wallet where they can store their crypto, but exchanges are not wallets. Exchanges are third party organizations, which manages the funds of its users [more or less like a custodial wallet] providing a place where they can trade different crypto currencies for another or even to a desired fiat currency [vice-versa]. since most crypto exchanges are prone to scam or malicious activities, it is adviced not to leave your funds in their wallets and remember this, [not your key,not your coin]. crypto exchanges comes invarious types but the most commonly used ones are centralized.
CENTRALIZED EXCHANGES[CEX]
centralized exchanges, refers to exchanges that acts as a middle man to help conduct transaction. they offer advantages such as liquidity, user friendly interfaces and a variety of trade pairs. many centralized exchanges have tiered account verification system that impose transaction limits on users until they complete additional security measures.These exchanges,follows the compliance of government bodies, therefore implementing measures to ensure that its users follows or comply to some necessary requirements such as  the KYC[know your customer] or the AML[anti money laundry policies to help control fraudulent activities.
here are some most trusted or commonly used centralized exchanges.

Binance
kraken
Bitstamp
OKX
KU coin
Bybit
Huobi

click to see more centralized exchanges
DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGES[DEXs]
  Decentralized exchanges operates on a blockchain network that facilitate peer to peer[p2p] cryptocurrency trading, therefore utilizing smart contracts to carry out trade.in the decentralized exchanges,there is no middle-man so every user has control over their assets and is responsible for any activity that may lead to loss of their funds. it also provide privacy benefits as they don't require users to disclose personal information during trading. some popular decentralized exchanges include

UNISWAP
PANCAKESWAP
SUCHISWAP
APEXPRO

click to see more decentralized exchanges
PEER TO PEER EXCHANGES [p2p]
   Although, the peer to peer exchange falls under the categories of decentralized exchanges, it is still treated separately. it is simply a crypto market, where buyers and sellers are connected directly without any involvement of a third party.The buyers and sellers,gets to negotiate and agree to a particular price before the transaction takes place.These exchanges uses the decentralized enscrow system to ensure a secure and successful transaction.This means that they hold the traded cryptocurrency temporarily until both participants confirms the completion of the transaction. for now, a lot of well known p2p exchanges like paxful, local bitcoin were said to have shut down after so many years of service but there are still few working p2p exchanges

BISQ
Hodl Hodl
Agora desk
Robosats
localcoinswapt
#Tips on how to select a wallet or exchange#
As someone new into the the world of cryptocurrency, you might be wandering what kind of wallet will best suite you. choosing a wallet depends on your specific need or purpose, which may include;
1.Business
2.Hodl
3.Trading/Investment
there might be some other reasons you may want to choose a good wallet and it's essential to choose one that aligns with your priorities and requirements. Take your time to explore different options, compare features, and prioritize security to ensure the safety of your digital assets

#while choosing a good exchange,
make research on exchanges based on security, reputation, and supported cryptocurrencies. Choose user-friendly exchanges with high liquidity and trading volume.

# Always remember centralized exchanges that don't require (kyc) may change their terms and conditions(T&C) at anytime, so stay up to date with the latest crypto new

# funds should not be left in exchange wallets, as they might be at risk ("Not your keys, Not your coins" )

note (all information here is based on research and my own knowledge, so please do well to carry out your own research before choosing a wallet or exchange. you can correct any false information, on this thread if you feel I'm wrong. I'm open to all contributions)

To know more on kyc,
click me

  
 
  

[Nwada001]

# Always remember, decentralized exchanges that don't require (kyc) may change their terms and conditions(T&C) at anytime, so try staying up to date with the latest crypto new update.

Wrong!! Decentralized exchanges don't create room for KYC, present or future, because they are not an account creation kind of thing, nor do they hold control over your account. I think you might have mistaken Centralized exchanges for decentralized ones.

[Hatchy]

# Always remember, decentralized exchanges that don't require (kyc) may change their terms and conditions(T&C) at anytime, so try staying up to date with the latest crypto new update.

Wrong!! Decentralized exchanges don't create room for KYC, present or future, because they are not an account creation kind of thing, nor do they hold control over your account. I think you might have mistaken Centralized exchanges for decentralized ones.

Okay thanks corrected

[Agbe]

# Always remember, decentralized exchanges that don't require (kyc) may change their terms and conditions(T&C) at anytime, so try staying up to date with the latest crypto new update.

Wrong!! Decentralized exchanges don't create room for KYC, present or future, because they are not an account creation kind of thing, nor do they hold control over your account. I think you might have mistaken Centralized exchanges for decentralized ones.

Exactly, decentralized exchange does not require any KYC at anytime. It is only centralized exchange ask KYC and changes T/C as they want. As for the decentralized exchange as you sign up with username, email and password that is all. There is no terms and conditions again. But the issue I have with decentralized exchange platforms is that, I have not seen sell link or button to click but there always sell link. And also I have not seen mobile version on them, they are mostly use in desktop.
Centralized exchange platforms are more easier to use than decentralized exchange platforms from my experience of trying them.

[sokani]

Exactly, decentralized exchange does not require any KYC at anytime. It is only centralized exchange ask KYC and changes T/C as they want. As for the decentralized exchange as you sign up with username, email and password that is all. There is no terms and conditions again. But the issue I have with decentralized exchange platforms is that, I have not seen sell link or button to click but there always sell link. And also I have not seen mobile version on them, they are mostly use in desktop.
Centralized exchange platforms are more easier to use than decentralized exchange platforms from my experience of trying them.

I don't know about bisq exchange because I've not used it but Uniswap, Pancakeswap, Apeswap are examples of decentralized exchanges and you don't signed up with a username and password. You connect and grant access to your wallet address in order to initiate a trade. There are no buy or sell orders, they make use of Automated Market Makers (AMMs) from liquidity pools. Trades are executed based on the current market price of the token.

[mk4]

Although, the peer to peer exchange falls under the categories of decentralized exchanges, it is still treated separately.

They really don't? Maybe Bisq to a certain extent — but the others? Not really. Every other P2P exchange like HodlHodl is controlled by a centralized entity.

Gotta make sure your info is as accurate as possible before trying to teach, mate. Best of luck.

[Plaguedeath]

As always, a low rank user who's creating a common topic that has been discussed many times and the @OP make it worse since he don't know what he's talking about.

Uniswap, Sushiswap, etc shitswap aren't decentralized exchanges, those are less decentralized exchanges where they use centralized smart contract. If shit happen, the centralized smart contract get hacked and you will lose your tokens.

A business don't have to use a wallet, they need a payment processor.

[Dunamisx]

It's very important that we should know that centralized exchanges aren't wallet at all but account we open using our KYC ad the help us generate a wallet address and keep the keys with them, so for someone is is still using a centralized exchange makes nothing difference from using a bank because they have in custody what should have been in your care, there are decentralized exchanges, wallets that are very easy to set up under cold storage, here are for more informations on this.

Decentralized wallet
https://bisq.network/
https://hodlhodl.com/

No KYC exchanges
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5414539.0

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Binance

Binance was hacked a few times, not trusted in their security.
$40M hack in 2019
$570M in 2022

OKX

They suspended user funds after enforce their new KYC terms, not trusted.
OKX frozen my account and required me to KYC with a less than $1,000 deposit

Huobi

Huobi is not trusted too.

They have Monero for trading and they know it is a privacy coin. Seized user fund and ask proof of coin origin. Not trusted too.
Huobi.com Suspending Withdrawal: Funds Held Hostage due to Monero Transaction

[She shining]

funds should not be left in exchange wallets, as they might be at risk

is not might they are at risk.

Binance was hacked a few times, not trusted in their security

They are trusted but not trustworthy. People despite all the warnings still trust in Binance to  safekeep their funds. Even while other exchanges are making users loss their funds they believe "Binance is different"

The thread purpose is good since searching for a good exchange in the net are usually filled with exchanges showing what the people want to hear and not what they really are, take Trustwallet for example they still consider themselves open source when they are not. But the thread is too common who really need information on a wallet or exchange can just search for it via the forum search bar.

[Faisal2202]

As someone new into the the world of cryptocurrency, you might be wandering what kind of wallet will best suite you. choosing a wallet depends on your specific need or purpose, which may include;
1.Business
2.Hodl
3.Trading/Investment

You have made a great compilation and it will be of great help to newbies. You could add some more details and information but as per your rank and knowledge you are also right but there is more room for correction and knowledge. Such as you could add some more names in the Decentralized exchanges list:

• Not your keys, Not your coins" is not enough

This topic contains some decentralized exchanges which you could use and if you want to use centralized exchanges but do not want to perform KYC then following thread contains such exchanges.

• Current list of exchanges without KYC

Other than that, i quoted your some lines above in which you mentioned to keep in mind before selecting which wallet and exchange suits you best. But you did not suggested which suits best for businesses, traders and holders.

I think it would be nice if you would shed aome more light like in my pov.

Hardware wallets --> are best for holding purposes.
Cexs or DEXs --> are used for trading purposes
Business --> both wallets and exchanges can be used but i prefer to use exchanges as some exchanges has the feature of sending money without anybfee such as Binance pay id etc.

[tranthidung]

Hardware wallets --> are best for holding purposes.

Only if they are good open source hardware wallets. Close source hardware wallets can change from good to bad and do things without notification to their users. With open source wallets, if they change, community will detect it with open source code.

Business --> both wallets and exchanges can be used but i prefer to use exchanges as some exchanges has the feature of sending money without anybfee such as Binance pay id etc.

Sending without fee only possible if exchanges waive out transaction fees for users. It is more common with gambling platforms and less common with centralized exchanges.

With centralized exchanges, you can send coins to other users on a same exchange without fees. You must know it is not on chain transaction but only an internal credit to that account balance. Centralized exchange does not spend any fee generously to support you.

[nathan_tek]

To hold your coins for a longer period of time is better a wallet than an exchange.

[mk4]

Binance was hacked a few times, not trusted in their security.
$40M hack in 2019
$570M in 2022

The first hack was a mass user-side attack, not an exchange cold/hot wallet hack.

The second hack was concerning the BNB/BSC chain, not the Binance exchange.

Not saying that you should leave your funds on Binance(because you shouldn't unless you're trading), but better keep the info accurate.

[BIT-BENDER]

Well it's really a good topic but mate I am sorry to say many post has been made about same topic and going through the body of you post j actually don't see much different from yours with others I have seen.

Selecting wallet and exchange is very important, exchange is where people can get cryptos of their choice while a wallet is where people can actually store this coins they have gotten so going by that it's very important to understand so as to avoid having to make mistakes.

Here is a very interesting link that would be beneficial for you and others
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2906237.msg29885570#msg29885570

[Zaguru12]

Hodl Hodl

Although it is also a P2P exchange but I think you need to place it on the same side as centralized exchanges like KuCoin because it is also centralized. The two best decentralized exchanges are the BISQ and AGORA DESK. you can check kycnot.me for more of them. Once a rating there is below 8 then you trade with caution.

Business --> both wallets and exchanges can be used but i prefer to use exchanges as some exchanges has the feature of sending money without anybfee such as Binance pay id etc.

Most of these decentralized exchanges actually use internal transfers which are free it would be good to have them initiated in your business but it still risky because you need to accumulate them before sending it to your wallet to avoid having paying for too much for fees. And again you still need the customer to have the same exchange, which is another obstacle.

The best thing would be introducing lightning network just in case the mempool becomes congested you can have another alternative

[Truthlovecoins]

Besides taking the pain to read through and research on the best of the best of wallet and exchanges to use, to ask from real users to get a better initiative is wise.
With some news of  recent clamps down on major crypto exchange like Binance, it may be hard as a new user to even stay informed on new development while still struggling with how to use an exchange or familiarizing oneself with a wallet for their coins.

[Darker45]

Sometimes the only difference between a centralized exchange and a decentralized exchange is only the name. It may not really be the presence or absence of a central entity or a third party or a single point of failure. With how the word decentralized is prostituted by developers and companies to join the hype, mislead people, and make money, it could only be a hollow motto. Less centralized is not decentralized.

Just because an exchange is built on smart contract doesn't mean a user has full control over his/her assets and is fully responsible for any activity. A smart contract that passed layers of audits could still carry with it a bug.

[Fiatless]

To hold your coins for a longer period of time is better a wallet than an exchange.

Exchanges or centralized wallets are suitable for cryptocurrency traders because of their high liquidity. It is also very important to read and understand the terms of services of these exchanges because each of them has unique terms and conditions. This will enable you to determine the one you are comfortable with. But it is always important not to keep funds in these exchanges because anything could happen. To keep your coins for a long time a decentralized open source wallet will always be the best option.

[worle1bm]

To hold your coins for a longer period of time is better a wallet than an exchange.

If you are not trader and want to hold your funds then these centralised exchanges are not a good option and for sure wallets like Electrum are the best option if you don't want to spend money on a hardware wallet.They give assurance that your funds are safe unless you make some mistakes to expose them to scammers or hackers unlike exchange which have access to your funds.So make decisions wisely.