Never store your coins in a CEX wallet

[DubemIfedigbo001]

The correct discipline have always been to purchase coins or consolidate small units of coins eg. BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation and the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Be Warned and Be Wise while making a decision on wallet to preserve your coins.

[apogio]

It's important, no doubt.
But I think that theymos's announcement in 2022 explains it perfectly.
It's good to remind newbies about it though.
It's disappointing that still the great majority of people store coins on exchanges.

[notocactus]

BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation

You did not fully understand what you wrote as your advice to others. Be more careful and more accurate next times!

There are custodial and non-custodial (aka. self-custodial) wallets. There is nothing like centralized wallets and decentralized wallets.

You can store your bitcoin in centralized platforms as CEX, and in custodial wallet but remember it is not a centralized wallet.

the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

This is correct!

Bitcoin Q&A: Not your Keys, Not your Coins

[_act_]

It's disappointing that still the great majority of people store coins on exchanges.

Exchanges deceives the newbies in a way they think exchanges are also wallets. Some people do not know there is something called wallets. I have some friends that use the words interchangeably. Some people will call an exchange a wallet. Only few people have the knowledge to avoid loss during exchange hack.

But it is good to know that not all funds on exchanges are hold there, some people are trading and their trading funds are on the exchanges.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation

You did not fully understand what you wrote as your advice to others. Be more careful and more accurate next times!

There are custodial and non-custodial (aka. self-custodial) wallets. There is nothing like centralized wallets and decentralized wallets.

You can store your bitcoin in centralized platforms as CEX, and in custodial wallet but remember it is not a centralized wallet.

the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

This is correct!

Bitcoin Q&A: Not your Keys, Not your Coins

I know what I'm saying sir, in order to send funds from my OKX wallet to it's exchange I pay transaction fees and recently I lost my phone and when I tried retrieving my wallet, I could only retrieve my exchange which was binded to my email and keys were requested before I can have access to my wallet.

I initially thought they were intertwined and the wallet is merged with the exchange since it's the same entity, but I found out there was a clear distinction between the two and I lost all coins in my OKX wallet while my exchange was intact because I didn't have the keys.

These CEX, some even now have different application for their wallet versions and you can store coins in both their exchanges and their wallets differently.

Consider the image below for more clarification

[AVE5]

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Centralized wallets as binance I've known has only provided users with Centralized passkeys which has only served to give users limited custodial to their funds in the wallets.
Don't get this private keys twisted to be self custodial Private keys which you're to be self control of your funds.
Besides instead of the Central exchange to pose they've dynamic wallets features as Dex and Cex it'd be more security wise to embrace the non custodial specifically.

[apogio]

Exchanges deceives the newbies in a way they think exchanges are also wallets. Some people do not know there is something called wallets. I have some friends that use the words interchangeably. Some people will call an exchange a wallet. Only few people have the knowledge to avoid loss during exchange hack.

Yeah definitely. Most people don't know anything about what bitcoin (or even crypto) is. The only thing they hear when someone says "Bitcoin" is: "when moon?"
Too much effort and too many thoughts about getting rich quick. They don't care about the means, they only care about the result.
Let's make an experiment. Go tell someone that you know and trusts you that you have found a way that could potentially make them rich (and it's not a job or business idea).
8/10 people will trust you and try your suggestions.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Centralized wallets as binance I've known has only provided users with Centralized passkeys which has only served to give users limited custodial to their funds in the wallets.
Don't get this private keys twisted to be self custodial Private keys which you're to be self control of your funds.
Besides instead of the Central exchange to pose they've dynamic wallets features as Dex and Cex it'd be more security wise to embrace the non custodial specifically.

Binance wallet is on telegram now and gaining attention with referrals and BNB rewards. Bitget wallet started exactly this way before launching their separate wallet app, but I've experienced that of OKX demanding seed phrases to recover my washer tied to my exchange account first hand and with all developments I'm seeing I decided to put up this thread to warn especially newbies to be alert. They would all have more upgrades soon and make lots of newbies preserve funds in their separate wallets and that's why I'm creating this thread tho warn them before hand. These CEXs are all moving pretty fast.

[Faisal2202]

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Be Warned and Be Wise while making a decision on wallet to preserve your coins.

Web3 wallet of Binance is decentralized, although not open source. The bitget wallet is also decentralized but not open source, just like trust Wallet, owned by Binance, TW is also not so open source. I agree that we must chose wisely and open source wallets but saying these wallets are still controlled by the exchange is not right, I mean these are non custodial wallets nothing bad can happen or at least nothing bad happened till now.

Overall I agree we must follow your suggestion as it is the best and I also love the slogan we don't own the keys we don't own the funds. cases like FTX can happen but I suggest we must choose exchanges wisely like who the team is and how experienced they are and from my POV coinbase and Binance is not going anywhere.

[Patikno]

The correct discipline have always been to purchase coins or consolidate small units of coins eg. BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation and the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Be Warned and Be Wise while making a decision on wallet to preserve your coins.

I like the way you said Centralized wallet and Decentralized wallet, instead of Custodial and Non-custodial. These words make it easier for beginners to understand the language you convey, and this also happened to me when people around me asked what the difference was, and I also told them by using the terms Cex and Dex to them to make it easier for them to distinguish, and when there are people who already understand it so well then I use more precise language such as custodi and non-custodi.

And of course I still recommend using a non-custodian wallet for security, because we don't know what will happen in the future to a Cex, even though some Cex have Proof of Reserve, but it still has loopholes.

[Mpamaegbu]

It's disappointing that still the great majority of people store coins on exchanges.

It's expected though, as there's no way everyone will toe the same line given the same event. There are bound to be dissidents in everything in life. However, the way I see this storing coins on exchange thing, is if those doing it aren't trading it there; then they seem to be ignorant of the unnecessary exposure they're putting themselves through. If they're trading it on Cexs, then it's not a bad idea. Nevertheless, we can also see the whole thing; whether storing on exchange or on web3 wallet as risky. Hacks and lost of funds can happen with either of them.

[JiiBs]

The correct discipline have always been to purchase coins or consolidate small units of coins eg. BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation and the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

Be Warned and Be Wise while making a decision on wallet to preserve your coins.

Even with this idea of having to store your coins on centralized exchanges until they are big enough to pay fees on them and have them transferred to a decentralized wallet doesn’t work. I say this because, the movement it’s big enough or close to that, you’re already taking a risk you wouldn’t have liked to take.

Also, it’s easier to save little or small amounts on decentralized exchanges than centralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges have deposit limits of which, should you happen to send coins below that defined limit, the coin is lost to you. In the case of decentralized exchange, there is no limit what so ever. You just be cool with the fees which is usually far less than what centralized exchanges would require of you.

Reasons far from storage would account for users having to have their coins on centralized exchanges. Maybe for trading, swap for other coins or exchange for fiat and not storage, that would be so wrong.

[btcltcdigger]

This is indeed true for 99% of the CEXes out there. However, there are few exceptions. Namely Binance. I've had crypto in amounths of $20k there for years now.
Never have i had any issue or any funds lost.

[apogio]

This is indeed true for 99% of the CEXes out there. However, there are few exceptions. Namely Binance. I've had crypto in amounths of $20k there for years now.
Never have i had any issue or any funds lost.

We never said that you will inevitably lose money on CEXs. But, we said that your money is not guaranteed. It's not yours. The only thing you have is a contract the Binance ows you $20k.
Yes, they 're probably never going to go away with your money, but if they decided to freeze bitcoin withdrawals for 10 days, there is nothing you can do, even if the money is yours.

[Familian]

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Maybe the CEXs has had enough of the criticism about not your keys, not your coins. And they have come out with a different approach something I would refer to as "semi-decentralized wallet" hehehe. The obvious is that, if it's not a decentralised noncustodial wallet then it is not, because there no difference in giving the owner of the CEX account a private keys while you the CEX still do have access to it too. What's private about that?

[nakamura12]

It's important, no doubt.
But I think that theymos's announcement in 2022 explains it perfectly.
It's good to remind newbies about it though.
It's disappointing that still the great majority of people store coins on exchanges.

It's usually like that where majority of people will change their mind about cex when they experienced it themselves that's why no matter how much we remind them is that they don't even take it seriously. I can say that they do trust people who owns the cex since they are storing their coins on the exchange when we know that it isn't really safe to store coins on a platform that you don't have full control.

[avp2306]

The correct discipline have always been to purchase coins or consolidate small units of coins eg. BTC on CEX until it's big enough to pay transaction fee for it and send it to a decentralized wallet for preservation and the correct slogan I've always known is "Not your keys, Not your coin".

However, recently CEXs like Binance, Bitget and especially OKX are introducing their own wallets looking decentralized by issuing keys to it. I know those wallets are still in full control of the CEX and not the investor. It is better to go for decentralized wallets that are open source instead of preserving your precious coins in the wallets of CEXs which you have limited control over.

CEX wallets are centralized and those keys are just a camouflage. Use open source decentralized wallets like Electrum, Blue wallet e.t.c. to have total control over your coins.

Be Warned and Be Wise while making a decision on wallet to preserve your coins.

Hopefully this situation https://www.investopedia.com/news/largest-cryptocurrency-hacks-so-far-year/ will give a reminder for people not to store their coins on exchange.

Since they might lose their funds especially if the exchange cannot pay their depositor if they experience to lose a lot of money. There might be some people say that they are SAFU with big exchange like binance, but they would never know how long they remain like that. So secure their coins on the wallets they have full control and avoid using any third party platform then leave it there. Because as being said Not your Keys, Not your coin and people need to realize how important to acknowledge that word.

[Peanutswar]

If you have money to invest with crypto why not secure your funds, a hardware wallet is a must right now, because even though the exchange gives you a passphrase, you cannot call this at yours like you don't have the full utilization with your funds. In a hardware wallet at least you can say that you have your wallet that even offline you will feel secure not connected to the internet and have a safe funds and  keep your seed safe. Imagine the peace of mind it can give to you that you can store your funds without too much thinking being compromised or might be lost. Well, not unless you forgot the seed where you put it and got stolen your seed.

[ultrloa]

If you have money to invest with crypto why not secure your funds, a hardware wallet is a must right now, because even though the exchange gives you a passphrase, you cannot call this at yours like you don't have the full utilization with your funds. In a hardware wallet at least you can say that you have your wallet that even offline you will feel secure not connected to the internet and have a safe funds and  keep your seed safe. Imagine the peace of mind it can give to you that you can store your funds without too much thinking being compromised or might be lost. Well, not unless you forgot the seed where you put it and got stolen your seed.

Sometimes people think that its easy for them to dispose their crypto stored on exchange when they want to sell it that's why they decide to use those platform to store their funds.

They ignore those risk presented to them and they are comfortable that the exchange is trusted also won't scam their user. This thinking is really wrong since we don't know on when those exchange remain to be trusted. That's the reason before those scary thing happened and got a problem with scamming. They better secure their funds on their hardware wallets so that they can make sure that their funds is safe and have full control of it.

[albon]

This is a good topic. Thank you for shedding light on the need to avoid CEX and their wallets when storing assets. Anyone who wants to use the Web3 wallet provided by these exchanges should create an account on the exchange to open a wallet and adhere to the wallet's terms of use. Indeed, they have control over whether the wallet is custodial or self-custodial.  

Anyone who prefers decentralization should completely avoid these wallets managed by CEXs, as they offer a middle ground solution, not a complete one. Using an open-source, non-custodial wallet is one of the safest and most feasible solutions.  

I don't know why any long-term investor would choose these exchanges and their wallets when many alternatives are available like hardware wallets and other non-custodial wallets. Is it due to a lack of experience, or what?