Security! Security! Security!

[Shadiq]

The biggest security mistakes newbies make are being careless in collecting the seed phrase and not storing the private key carefully. When I was new, I made the same mistake. I was very liberal in storing the seed phrase and private key and preferred rote learning, which is why I sometimes forgot. Even new Bitcoiners make mistakes when it comes to choosing the right wallet.

Another thing is controlling emotions. Many new Bitcoiners, after purchasing Bitcoin, exchange it with third parties or exchange opinions about it. Doing so is not safe at all. You can take more precautions when holding Bitcoin and read more about it.

Post link: Best advice about cryptocurrency.

[Antotena]

Not storing their seed phrases properly. They tend to be careless about this because they are confident that they will never need to find their seed phrases or that they won't have to protect it but when they are the most confident is when they are the weakest.

This happened to me but the scenario was different. I bought something that I should have kept in the drawer because it was so important but my laziness made me dump everything on the table with confidence that when I wake up in the morning, I'm going to do that later but when I got up that very day, I was shock that I mistakenly left it on another shop I got something when I tried to remove my wallet. If I had try to put it in the drawer that day I would have retrace back to places I followed home.

Doing what's right at the right time will save you alot of time that you will never expected, most times people don't realize how important their seed phrase is to them until they need them during their difficult times like when you no longer have access to your hardware wallet or when you misplaced them. A lot of Bitcoin are waiting to be spent but some people no longer have access to their wallet again, just like that man that discarded his hard disk with millions worth of Bitcoin, he searched the whole area but mission unsuccessful.

[Hammer_Summer]

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

A common mistake I often hear from people is that they use a hot wallet [mobile] and then store their seed phrase on their mobile device -> and then their mobile device gets reset -> or their mobile device is lost so they can't access their bitcoin.

That's the most common mistake I hear about, but of course there are many other common mistakes.

You must be very disciplined about security and not take it lightly.
Especially when it comes to storing your seed phrase and device.

Yeah, it is quite dangerous to use the same mobile device as your wallet and seed phrase since gadgets are dropped, stolen, or damaged on a daily basis. The second error is that of failing to make several safe copies of the seed phrase, or writing it down in the wrong way. It is also common to find people sharing their private keys with friends or on the internet because they believe that it is okay.

The most optimal solution is to store your seed phrase offline in a safe place and use a hardware wallet to store over longer-term. Having not a single backup but two or more that are put in different places offers an added protection. It is important to be disciplined use your Bitcoin as cash that cannot be substituted by others. Security is not a choice and it is the basis of possessing crypto securely.

[Hamza2424]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

The most common security mistake can be buying Bitcoin from a centralized exchange and holding it there, thinking they are experiencing the peak of Bitcoin haha. They haven't experienced anything yet until they set up their Electrum or any other BTC-dedicated wallet with the keys in their own hands.

They then move their funds from anywhere to those wallets and pay the transaction fee, and while they are doing that they will understand there are networks too, and they will learn it. If they do it without learning, their funds are going to be lost, because I have done that one time, not with Bitcoin but with an alt. Anyway, the main point is all of these steps are a process of learning and experiencing things that can lead us to not make mistakes, and these are the steps in which the majority make mistakes too.

[knowngunman]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

I must confess that almost everyone made some silly security mistakes while coming up in this space including myself. The biggest mistake is mishandling of private keys which I'm also a victim. Of course, I'm not shy to say that I saved my phrases in my email and consequently paid the high price of losing my assets. Experience is of course the best way to learn fast and I learned the hard way through experience. The funny thing about making mistakes in crypto is that you pay with your money by losing it.

If you want to avoid these mistakes, you must pay attention to other people experience and learn from them. Read helpful articles or whatever they're called to always stay ahead. You can not completely avoid making mistakes in this industry but of course, you can avoid making silly ones.

[Obim34]

How can they be avoided?

I consider us as investors to be the first breached of security to our wallets. Any mistakes we make will affect what we have accumulated in our wallet, informations are all over the internet, any investor who don't learn on to how buy and safely hold their investment will eventually be one of the victims to lose their asset, knowledge is vital and sticking to every security measure as learned is necessary for max security.

You can learn about malware attacks, phishing attacks, dust attacks and other attacks that can breach your security.

[Rustam Meraj]

I must confess that almost everyone made some silly security mistakes while coming up in this space including myself. The biggest mistake is mishandling of private keys which I'm also a victim. Of course, I'm not shy to say that I saved my phrases in my email and consequently paid the high price of losing my assets. Experience is of course the best way to learn fast and I learned the hard way through experience. The funny thing about making mistakes in crypto is that you pay with your money by losing it.

If you want to avoid these mistakes, you must pay attention to other people experience and learn from them. Read helpful articles or whatever they're called to always stay ahead. You can not completely avoid making mistakes in this industry but of course, you can avoid making silly ones.

It is great example of common mistake in crypto not keeping your private keys or recovery phrases safe. Saving them in places like email is huge risk because those accounts can be hacked and once your keys are gone your money is gone for good. Your experience shows why it is so important to learn from others and read up on security best practices to avoid these simple and costly errors. We have seen many cases and many has shared their stories here on this forum but we still not securing our wallets.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

It is great example of common mistake in crypto not keeping your private keys or recovery phrases safe. Saving them in places like email is huge risk because those accounts can be hacked and once your keys are gone your money is gone for good. Your experience shows why it is so important to learn from others and read up on security best practices to avoid these simple and costly errors. We have seen many cases and many has shared their stories here on this forum but we still not securing our wallets.

Bad practices can result in many consequences from mild to terrible ones and sometimes with terrible consequences, you will have no second chance for learning, changing your practice and come back. In Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, transactions are irreverisble and if you lost your coins by bad security practice, you can not get your coins back.

Not all people can know about security enough but they are able to learn and it's not easy for learning with many free educational resources.

Cryptocurrency security checklist.
Bitcoin security resources.

[puloweh555]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

The most common security mistakes made by beginners are underestimating the importance of securing their wallets. I often encounter beginners who lose access to their wallets because they do not store their seed phrases securely or even forget to back them up. Therefore I suggest they should avoid these mistakes by taking independent action. And you should never use third parties, meaning you should perform backups that no one else can access. Avoid storing your seed phrase online or even on cloud storage. And suppose you are hiding your shame. So by that way you will consider all the possibilities that could lead to it being exposed.

Indeed the most common mistake is considering wallet security trivial, even though it's the most important aspect of the crypto world. Moreover, Bitcoin's high value makes it a prime target for hackers. Therefore with increasing threats such as exchange hacks, phishing, and malware, protecting your wallet is essential.

Currently the two tools considered most effective for this purpose are hardware wallets and 2FA. Combining the two creates a multi layered security strategy that provides peace of mind in the risky crypto world.

[MinoRaiola]

One thing you should always keep in view, is which website you are clicking on or currently visiting. In the past, there were many fake ads on google with fake pages that even copied a exchanges. If you entered your password there, your coins were quickly gone. There was no two-factor authentication or other security things at that time. So always check where you are surfing and which links you click on.

[Agbe]

The crypto currency space is one place that is flooded with alot of security threats in terms of safety and security of investments that people has made this is due to criminal minded people who are lazy and see nothing meaningful to do but only to see how they can defraud unsuspecting individuals of their investments. This is one reason why people should give attention to the word security especially newbies who may not be well informed about safeguarding their investments one thing that I will advise newbies when it comes to Bitcoin investment is that they should first of give attention to getting information about how they can secure investment because that is key and is the first thing that should be done by any newbie or even intending investor.

[Abu-Naim]

The most security mistake that I noticed around people that I know is that they are having their bitcoin wallet on their mobile devices. I hope that one day, there will not be a vulnerability that will make some of them lose their money which will not be their faults but the fault of using online wallets.

Some people don’t have PC to set up their wallets there and they can’t afford all these offline wallets, so they do just make use of their phone but manage their seed phrase outside the phone which I know is very risky, but at least it is better than using centralized exchange to save Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, the use of low budget PC’s can also be risky because windows can crash at anytime, and if you don’t have proper backup for your seed phrase outside the PC, then that’s all which I think is the same as using Electrim wallet on a home.

[Victorybit1]

In my opinion, the most common security mistake beginners make, and one I experienced when I first started using Bitcoin, is sending Bitcoin to the wrong address. This is a relatively rare mistake, as it's simply a matter of copying a Bitcoin address, memorizing the first few digits and the last few letters, and then pasting it in. However, mistakes can happen due to rushing, potentially copying the wrong address. This happened to me once, resulting in permanent financial loss and an irreversible Bitcoin transaction. Therefore, it's important to take the time and pay close attention before sending Bitcoin to ensure it's going to the intended address.

Well I can't really understand because I feel this mistake will be very rare for people to make since whenever you want to send bitcoin to someone you will be asked to copy of which the exact alphabet or letters you copied will be shown on where you want to post it or is it that you mistakenly altered the copied address ? I can relate to this if actually the address is manual written down because there is no way you can try that which won't lead to some error.

[Maslate]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

Investing without understanding the basics, this is very common to a lot of newbies because they only think that once they decide to invest and risk their funds, eventually they will end up successful and profitable. Not realizing that investing or even saving bitcoin has its own do’s and don’ts, and if you’re not knowledgeable on it, you will end up losing all your bitcoin, you will end up losing all your hard-earned money that you decide to risk.

Another is saving your money into bitcoin. This is so much risky, but the right thing is, save only what you can afford to lose with bitcoin.

[Asiska02]

The most security mistake that I noticed around people that I know is that they are having their bitcoin wallet on their mobile devices. I hope that one day, there will not be a vulnerability that will make some of them lose their money which will not be their faults but the fault of using online wallets.

Some people still have excuse to back this careless behavior up. Many of their reasons being that;

- For their own conveniency, always having access to phone all the time.
- For fast accessing to buy/sell at any time
- Thinking that their value of Bitcoin is insignificant to draw hackers attention to them. After all, they say it’s just a small amount.
- Being lazy of setting up an hardware wallet
- And lastly, some of them don’t know and they’re not ready to seek for the knowledge.

[As-Soon-As]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

The most important thing for Bitcoin holders is to choose their wallet, new Bitcoin holders mainly keep their Bitcoin wallet in their mobile devices. And they save the private key in their mobile, but they make the mistake of not writing it down on paper. As a result, keeping the private key inside the mobile or in online support is the most risky, it is very likely to be hacked at any time.
However, if new investors lose their money, then of course their money will be lost because of their mistakes.

[Alone055]

Security is always a vital component.

What's the most common security mistakes new Bitcoiners make?

How can they be avoided?

Using a centralized exchange as their wallet, which they used to buy their first cryptocurrencies, is probably the most common mistake newbies make and it's only because of a lack of knowledge and information from their end, which makes them do this. So many people don't even know that individual wallets exist for keeping your cryptocurrencies, and those who know about wallets don't know the difference between a custodial and non-custodial wallet, so they only download and use the ones that they feel are more convenient and user-friendly even if they are custodial wallets and don't give them complete access to their wallet or seed phrases, etc.

It's very important for someone to at least learn the basics before getting involved in anything, so that they can stay free of security threats or chances of getting compromised and then losing their funds. Why are scammers always able to succeed at scamming people and stealing their crypto? It's because they target newbies since they know most newbies barely know much about stuff they are into, so they are easily trickable, which shouldn't be the case, but unfortunately, most people don't get it until they learn it the hard way.

[Publictalk792]

Using a centralized exchange as their wallet, which they used to buy their first cryptocurrencies, is probably the most common mistake newbies make and it's only because of a lack of knowledge and information from their end, which makes them do this. So many people don't even know that individual wallets exist for keeping your cryptocurrencies, and those who know about wallets don't know the difference between a custodial and non-custodial wallet, so they only download and use the ones that they feel are more convenient and user-friendly even if they are custodial wallets and don't give them complete access to their wallet or seed phrases, etc.

It's very important for someone to at least learn the basics before getting involved in anything, so that they can stay free of security threats or chances of getting compromised and then losing their funds. Why are scammers always able to succeed at scamming people and stealing their crypto? It's because they target newbies since they know most newbies barely know much about stuff they are into, so they are easily trickable, which shouldn't be the case, but unfortunately, most people don't get it until they learn it the hard way.

Yes relying on centralized exchange as wallet is very common mistake for people who are new to cryptocurrency world. Main reason for this is that they simply do not know any better way. Many new users do not realize there are different kinds of wallets and they do not understand that on exchange they do not actually control secret keys to their money.
So this low knowledge makes people very vulnerable. If they do not control their own keys they could lose their money if exchange is hacked or shuts down. This goes against main idea of crypto too which is to be in control of your own money. Scammers know this and mostly target new users because they are easy to trick. So learning basics of crypto is best way to protect yourself. And yes sadly many people only learn this important lesson after they have lost their money.

[Akbarkoe]

In my opinion, the most common security mistake beginners make, and one I experienced when I first started using Bitcoin, is sending Bitcoin to the wrong address. This is a relatively rare mistake, as it's simply a matter of copying a Bitcoin address, memorizing the first few digits and the last few letters, and then pasting it in. However, mistakes can happen due to rushing, potentially copying the wrong address. This happened to me once, resulting in permanent financial loss and an irreversible Bitcoin transaction. Therefore, it's important to take the time and pay close attention before sending Bitcoin to ensure it's going to the intended address.

Well I can't really understand because I feel this mistake will be very rare for people to make since whenever you want to send bitcoin to someone you will be asked to copy of which the exact alphabet or letters you copied will be shown on where you want to post it or is it that you mistakenly altered the copied address ? I can relate to this if actually the address is manual written down because there is no way you can try that which won't lead to some error.

Sometimes, when copying an address, people don't press the provided button but instead use the old-fashioned method of dragging from back to front or front to back along the line of addresses they're sending.

If you want to store your Bitcoin long-term, avoid using your Bitcoin storage address for on-chain activities or any interactions that link it to your storage address. This is one way to avoid attracting the attention of thieves, being drained, and so on.

[Dave1]

I can only speak from my experienced when I was just starting my Bitcoin journey.

a. Wallet - specially when using exchange or a wallet that you don't have control of
b. You really need to be technically inclined. What I mean is that at least the basics on how to handle everything online.
c. There are a lot of cyber threat in our crypto space. So you also need to be self-aware. At least learn how not to fall for this trick.
d. How to back up your mnemonic phrase or your private key.

Read, read and re-learn everything because there will be new ways to be the next victim here. So educate yourself before it's too late.