Do you keep your crypto on exchanges or in self-custody?

[Taskford]

I don't trust major exchanges, but I have funds in one of them. I play timing the market with a small amount every once in a while. And that's the reason why I have funds stuck in an exchange. That game has always been hard to win.

I also maintain a small amount in a mobile wallet. That's for when I need funds while I'm on the go.

I have hardware wallets as well. Those are where my long-term crypto savings are stored.

That's a solid set up. Which newbies could follow, since really better to keep a small amount on exchange. Somehow doing that make sense knowing that you need funds when you want to buy at right time if there's some solid changes in the market.

Also putting small funds on mobile wallet is good option, so that you can also do quick transaction on important matters if you are far away from your house.

But another thing need to do or consider. better put small amount on exchange then treat this up as what you can afford to let go, then their funds intended to hold should go on their cold storage for better protection.

[Curious T]

Mate, no where is completely safe. Just be personally conscious, follow news and be informed alert.

However, self custody is still the best, maybe a properly set up air-gapped device will be a better solution.

Saying "nowhere is completely safe" makes it look like it doesn't matter if you chose and exchange or self custody. The fact that self custody has its cons does not mean exchanges should be an option. It's okay to use an exchange, I use them too, but keeping your money in them shouldn't be an option.
With self custody, you have more responsibility, but you would have total control and ownership of your coins. Self custody is risky, but it is worth it. Banking with exchanges may be convenient, but you might lose your coins at any moment.

[batang_bitcoin]

A combination of both is safe play at this moment. But we'll not know if some things will turn again differently since this entirely market and community is unpredictable. We don't know if another news from a hardware wallet manufacturer will have its info leak or its firmware. Or if another desktop wallet, an exchange will be exploited. We have to adapt to what's the current issue and we tell everyone not to keep funds in the exchanges but I guess that narrative is changing for many people because of the recent exploitation.

[MarryWithBTC]

Mate, no where is completely safe. Just be personally conscious, follow news and be informed alert.

However, self custody is still the best, maybe a properly set up air-gapped device will be a better solution.

Saying "nowhere is completely safe" makes it look like it doesn't matter if you chose and exchange or self custody. The fact that self custody has its cons does not mean exchanges should be an option. It's okay to use an exchange, I use them too, but keeping your money in them shouldn't be an option.
With self custody, you have more responsibility, but you would have total control and ownership of your coins. Self custody is risky, but it is worth it. Banking with exchanges may be convenient, but you might lose your coins at any moment.

No where is completely safe is a statement of fact, and we shouldn't bend if for any reasons. No where is completely safe, that is why we still need to be very cautious even while using self custody. Did you understand me now?

Besides, at the end of my post i did recommend a properly setup air-gapped device. So, self custody is gold, but we shouldn't relax completely because no where is 100% safe.

[Jostle]

I divided it into multiple trusted exchanges, and keep it in each exchange, so that the risks are divided.

[pooya87]

Using exchanges as wallet to store funds is just stupid and nobody should ever do that; but for those who want to trade and make some profit from market fluctuations, storing funds in a CEX is unavoidable. So the question is not whether you should have any funds on an exchange or not, the question is how much risk are you willing to take?

Because that's all this is going to come down to. The risk.
Any funds you store in a centralized exchange (where you have no access to the keys or control over the funds) is at risk. The exchange can just seize your funds, their whole system can get hacked, your account can get hacked, etc. But if you are making profit from trading, the risk can be acceptable.

I don't do that much trading any more but whenever I did, the total amount that I kept in the exchange wallet was proportional to the profit I had made. This way I would secure my initial capital.
You can start small and grow it slowly and pull out the profit instead of keep growing. So that you have something out in your pocket and in your control. This way if you lose all those funds, you won't regret it as much.

[Taskford]

Using exchanges as wallet to store funds is just stupid and nobody should ever do that; but for those who want to trade and make some profit from market fluctuations, storing funds in a CEX is unavoidable. So the question is not whether you should have any funds on an exchange or not, the question is how much risk are you willing to take?

Because that's all this is going to come down to. The risk.
Any funds you store in a centralized exchange (where you have no access to the keys or control over the funds) is at risk. The exchange can just seize your funds, their whole system can get hacked, your account can get hacked, etc. But if you are making profit from trading, the risk can be acceptable.

I don't do that much trading any more but whenever I did, the total amount that I kept in the exchange wallet was proportional to the profit I had made. This way I would secure my initial capital.
You can start small and grow it slowly and pull out the profit instead of keep growing. So that you have something out in your pocket and in your control. This way if you lose all those funds, you won't regret it as much.

Deciding to put their funds on centralized exchange always put those people at huge risk. If people want to trade they don't really have a choice but to deposit some funds there, but best action also decision to do is to limit only the amount they deposit.


Also another great practice to do is to treat only those exchange, as their temporary holding bay of their funds and not threat it as a vault.

Just keep the amount they can afford to lose for their trades, then make sure to withdraw the amount they want to pull out on their own self custody wallet. By this even if there's terrible things happen on the exchange they are trading. Their savings which they intend to hold is 100% safe.

[Z-tight]

I divided it into multiple trusted exchanges, and keep it in each exchange, so that the risks are divided.

You have got to be kidding me, this is simply a recipe to lose your funds. All exchanges are similar for a few things, they control your keys and they can confiscate your funds anytime. Some people only look at it from the angle of the exchange being hacked, but that is not the only risk, you could simply receive funds from a source the exchange classifies as 'dirty' and your account would be blocked, with all of your funds confiscated. They can also reject your withdrawal for any reason. Etc.

It would be in your best interest to move your funds into self custody, so you are in control of your funds and not a third party.

[Lida93]

Using exchanges as wallet to store funds is just stupid and nobody should ever do that; but for those who want to trade and make some profit from market fluctuations, storing funds in a CEX is unavoidable. So the question is not whether you should have any funds on an exchange or not, the question is how much risk are you willing to take?

It's not just about stupidity but about the laziness for some people to accept responsibility. Being a bitcoin owner amounts to a duty call of becoming responsible for the security of your asset from choosing what type of London custodial HW for storage and how to store your wallets seeds phrase.
And of course for traders it's inevitable to not have funds in their exchange account but it would be more safer to have it moved to a non custodial wallet if you wouldn't be trading in the next 24hrs or so ( a lot can play out in such duration). Even a profit that was later lost to an exchange can still be painful even if it wasn't your capital. Just an abstract transaction fee shouldn't be a reason to risk not to take absolute preventive measures.

[Jostle]

I'm currently in exchanges. But I also need advice on how to store it on hardware wallet. So I'm looking it up now, and purchase one where I know it's good to use.

[Z-tight]

I'm currently in exchanges. But I also need advice on how to store it on hardware wallet. So I'm looking it up now, and purchase one where I know it's good to use.

It is very easy to use a hardware wallet, as these devices are newbie-friendly. What i consider to be very important is to buy from a good manufacturer and back up your seed words safely. Trezor hardware wallet is recommended. However, you do not need to own a hardware wallet before you can be your own bank, there are good software wallets you can move your funds into, like Electum and Bluewallet.

[Findingnemo]

I divided it into multiple trusted exchanges, and keep it in each exchange, so that the risks are divided.

You think you are smart until you hit with a costly lesson.

I don't know about the size of your portfolio but if it exceeds a thousand dollar then better use an open-source self-custody wallet that let you keep your crypto under your complete control.

If we are talking about much bigger amount then go for an airgapped wallet.

[MoparMiningLLC]

their name says it all "exchange" - that is all one should use them for. If doing constant day trading - I can see that as well but for storage? nah - very bad idea.

[Darker45]

I'm currently in exchanges. But I also need advice on how to store it on hardware wallet. So I'm looking it up now, and purchase one where I know it's good to use.

1. Choose your hardware wallet. Search what's best for you based on feedback, reviews, recommendations of experts. Don't be in a hurry.

2. Buy from their official store/site.

3. After receiving it, dispose your hardware wallet's box/package without exposing it.

4. Set it up. Carefully follow the guide from your hardware wallet's official site.

5. You're probably given only 1 or 2 pieces of where you'd list your seed phrase. Keep more copies. Double, triple, quadruple check them. Make sure you got it right. Your backup is meant to be written on a piece of paper. Don't take pictures. Hide them in different places and locations. If you want, you can buy steel backups.

6. Activate your passphrase option. Make sure your passphrase isn't too short and predictable. Make use of capital and small letters, spaces, numbers, special characters. Write it down on separate pieces of paper and hide them separate from your seed phrase.

7. Do some tests first with small amounts. Make a deposit, make a withdrawal. If you want, wipe your wallet, recover your wallet, and check if your small test funds are still there.

8. Hide your device. It's not meant to be used as a keychain or necklace pendant.

9. Ask questions here.

[MadSl1m]

Self-custody for anything I'm not moving this month, exchange only for what's mid-trade.

What changed my mind wasn't a hack. I track payment and card programmes that shut down, and from outside it always looks the same: the app still works, the signup page is still up, and the balance is the last thing anyone mentions. So I don't ask whether an exchange is safe. I ask how fast I could get out of it.