Self-custody is truly necessary for everyone.

[abhiseshakana]

For me my self, true financial security lies in self custody, if you don't control it, you don't own it. Whatever the situation. When we want to safeguard our assets the first option and unnegotiable are the safest and the convenience of access and using it at any time we want. My main principle for everything related to money that small mistake big money, big mistake more money.

With those principle, i always thinkhow I prevent a single mistake from destroying my entire wealth, i always make a checklist as my personal SOP before do action related to money, such as do transfer or making payment. I ensure there is a procedure in place before money leaves my wallet. It doesn't make sense, if due to complexity of self custody which actually important in protecting our asset, we entrust others with the safekeeping of our assets.

For me going to cour mean we already lost, based on my experiences it is costly, take long times and waste our energy and mind. Its mean legal guarante also costly better prepare an umbrella for the worst and prepare for the best by avoid suffer losses

[batang_bitcoin]

Maybe it is better to diversify not only between different forms of custody, but also between Bitcoin, traditional investments and regulated institutions.

That is diversification in general knowledge for investments. I agree on this strategy that if someone has made it with bitcoin and still wants to invest, they can do it with the other investments that they know of. It's how they're spreading the money and wanting to be part for other assets that they think has also the potential to move a lot. While speaking only for Bitcoin, self custody is important and it's not a choice to make but an actual thing to do beforehand. Because the other assets are regulated and we might just buy those stocks under a broker's account without even holding a certificate of ownership.

[Lida93]

Why do we fear responsibility in this generation more than we fear losing our freedom?! Self custody doesn't just make you feel sole ownership and control of your asset, it gives you free access to it any time of the day without passing through protocols and limits.

When an exchange is hacked or shutsdown it doesn't go down without involving customers funds, but while you self custody just by keeping your seed phrase safe, you have nothing to worry about loss of funds and your financial activities are so private than ever.

[Russlenat]

No doubt, self-custody is what's best for us, but to be honest, even if we keep instilling to every investor to have self-custody over their bitcoin, some investors even doubt if they can perfectly perform self-custody over their bitcoin because we all know protecting our bitcoin on our own is never easy, it requires extra time and effort so that we can ensure that they remain safety and secured within our own custody. And not every investor have the capacity to do that, that's why I don't blame others if they chose to still stick with centralized exchanges.

[Darker45]

One false move could mean your funds are gone. And your funds aren't insured while in self-custody.

True, but neither are funds stored in centralized exchanges insured. The exchange can make a mistake that would cost their customers and they end up getting nothing. If people actually want their funds insured up to a certain amount, then they should keep them in fiat and store it in the bank. To be honest, i would rather leave my funds in fiat and keep it in the bank, than buy crypto and store it in an exchange.

Same here.

What I'm saying, however, is that Mt. Gox, Bitfinex, FTX, Bybit, and others have committed mistakes, lost funds, even crumbled down completely. Their users got their money back, or have received compensation, fully or in part, albeit late in some instances.

When one who is into self-custody commits a mistake and lost funds, not a tiny fraction of it will be returned to him/her.

I'm not a fan of centralized exchanges. I'm simply stating facts.

[ultrloa]

One false move could mean your funds are gone. And your funds aren't insured while in self-custody.

True, but neither are funds stored in centralized exchanges insured. The exchange can make a mistake that would cost their customers and they end up getting nothing. If people actually want their funds insured up to a certain amount, then they should keep them in fiat and store it in the bank. To be honest, i would rather leave my funds in fiat and keep it in the bank, than buy crypto and store it in an exchange.

Same here.

What I'm saying, however, is that Mt. Gox, Bitfinex, FTX, Bybit, and others have committed mistakes, lost funds, even crumbled down completely. Their users got their money back, or have received compensation, fully or in part, albeit late in some instances.

When one who is into self-custody commits a mistake and lost funds, not a tiny fraction of it will be returned to him/her.

I'm not a fan of centralized exchanges. I'm simply stating facts.

Some of the them manage to compensate several users got affected, but as always this does not give any guarantee that everyone will get their funds. Usually as what we have seen, it takes many years before users got their refunds or just get nothing then continue to fight their rights to get a refund from those exchange that collapsed.

This is what I don't like about centralized exchange, since once they get compromised their users will get heavily affected on the situation happening to them.

I still used those top centralized, exchange but only for buying and trading for short term. I don't plan to use them for long term holding, because we provably all know that this is the most riskiest decision to do.

[The Cryptovator]

Is it better to leave our money in a large regulated institution, where there are rules and, if there is a problem, you can go to court?

No, at least I am not going to store my Bitcoin and other crypto in any regulated institution. The reason they are custodial and may seize my funds anytime for any reason.

Self-custody gives the user direct control over their Bitcoin, but it also puts all the responsibility on them.

Definitely, we have to secure our funds in our own bank. Because only you have access to your wallet, which is called your own bank. So you have to take that responsibility.

Some people may have difficulties dealing with this. A seed phrase kept in an unsafe place, a compromised computer or phone, a lost backup, or simply a security mistake can be enough to lose all your Bitcoin forever.

Older people, who have difficulties with technology, may have more problems with the wallet and security.

And for someone who has a large amount of Bitcoin, does it really make sense to put everything in self-custody?

That’s why it’s very important to learn at least basic things about Bitcoin and wallet systems. Unless you know it, then probably you still aren’t suitable to purchase and store Bitcoin. Of course, it does make sense to secure your funds in your self-custody. It’s not very difficult at all; it's just a matter of learning.

[Edussa]

I agree it gives you more control over your funds, but it also means you’re responsible for keeping your keys safe and secure.

[liasbaa]

Every asset you have is important. But when it comes to cash, you have to be careful because the more you keep fiat cash, the more it will depreciate. It is almost certain that the inflation situation in your country will not be much better in the next 5 years than it is now. If you keep money in a privately owned financial institution or a government-controlled institution, the government of that country is responsible for the safety of this money. This is true. If the institution where you are saving money is closed, and the government does not have much involvement with some institutions, the chances of losing money are high if you keep money there. But if you deposit money in a bank, you will get your money back, even if it is limited, during a financial crisis.

Self-custody is relatively safe. Many people use non-custodial wallets to store Bitcoin, and I think they are the smart ones. Creating a circle of your own wealth without depending on others is good for personal finances.

[Junii]

Is it better to leave our money in a large regulated institution, where there are rules and, if there is a problem, you can go to court?

Self-custody gives the user direct control over their Bitcoin, but it also puts all the responsibility on them.

Some people may have difficulties dealing with this. A seed phrase kept in an unsafe place, a compromised computer or phone, a lost backup, or simply a security mistake can be enough to lose all your Bitcoin forever.

Older people, who have difficulties with technology, may have more problems with the wallet and security.

And for someone who has a large amount of Bitcoin, does it really make sense to put everything in self-custody?

Maybe it is better to diversify not only between different forms of custody, but also between Bitcoin, traditional investments and regulated institutions.

Satoshi created bitcoin because he wants to remove the banks or any other third party and people have control over their money we call it self custody and self custody doesn't mean you can put your whole fund in one wallet and start hoping for the best there is a quote that says don't put all your eggs in one basket because in self custody you just have a seed phrase if you lost it it means you lost your funds. So what im trying to say is choose different security methods for recovery and don't put your whole fund in one wallet . 

[Inwestour]

No doubt, self-custody is what's best for us, but to be honest, even if we keep instilling to every investor to have self-custody over their bitcoin, some investors even doubt if they can perfectly perform self-custody over their bitcoin because we all know protecting our bitcoin on our own is never easy, it requires extra time and effort so that we can ensure that they remain safety and secured within our own custody. And not every investor have the capacity to do that, that's why I don't blame others if they chose to still stick with centralized exchanges.

I think those who stored their Bitcoin on Coldcard hardware wallets might disagree with you. They took responsibility for the security of their coins, but the wallet manufacturer let them down. And on top of that, the manufacturer did not take responsibility for what happened. No one is going to compensate them for their losses.

As for storing coins on centralized exchanges, I think that’s an even bigger mistake. Because you can just as easily lose all your coins there too.

[Myleschetty]

Is it better to leave our money in a large regulated institution, where there are rules and, if there is a problem, you can go to court?

No, even with their purported license and regulations, leaving your cryptocurrency on a custodial platform is not preferable. If you have to leave your Bitcoin on a custodial platform, it should only be for the amount you can afford to lose. The idea behind Bitcoin was to avoid trusting any third-party platform.

And for someone who has a large amount of Bitcoin, does it really make sense to put everything in self-custody?

Self-custody makes sense, but it should only be used by those who already know how to use a self-custody wallet safely.

Maybe it is better to diversify not only between different forms of custody, but also between Bitcoin, traditional investments and regulated institutions.

Investment diversification is beneficial, but it's better to choose Bitcoin, gold, and silver.

[Nothingtodo]

Self-Custody wallets are not really for everyone. For those who are not very knowledgeable about Bitcoin or are not very good at wallets, Self Custody wallets are not safe at all. They basically keep their Bitcoin in their wallet but they will have to worry a lot about where to store their security seed system. However, for those who are skilled and have gained a lot of experience in holding Bitcoin in the past, Self Custody wallets are quite safe. They will basically be able to store their security seed system properly and they will be able to prevent all the chances of them getting hacked.

[standardnepo]

Isn’t this against Bitcoin’s philosophy? I feel like people often change their opinions whenever there is a major event or incident, such as the Coldcard hack or exchange failures.

My understanding was that Bitcoin encourages us not to trust banks or exchanges and to take responsibility for owning our actual Bitcoin.

[Pablo-wood]

No doubt, self-custody is what's best for us, but to be honest, even if we keep instilling to every investor to have self-custody over their bitcoin, some investors even doubt if they can perfectly perform self-custody over their bitcoin because we all know protecting our bitcoin on our own is never easy, it requires extra time and effort so that we can ensure that they remain safety and secured within our own custody. And not every investor have the capacity to do that, that's why I don't blame others if they chose to still stick with centralized exchanges.

One who values their assets will go any length to safeguard them. If anyone is not willing to take accountability for their own asset then they can overlook self-custody but should also be open to whatever be the end result incase of cyber thefts or hacks. Those who stick to centralized exchange are more vulnerable because if the exchange runs out of liquidity they might lose access or be forced to forfeit their assets.

I believe everything can be learnt, self-custody looks intimidating because most people are already used to centralized pampering and the feel it is harder to have control of our assets ourselves but that is one misconception that needs to be debunked.

[MusaMohamed]

Self-custody is relatively safe. Many people use non-custodial wallets to store Bitcoin, and I think they are the smart ones. Creating a circle of your own wealth without depending on others is good for personal finances.

With Bitcoin storage, it's safe or not safe because you will either keep your bitcoin safely or will lose your bitcoin. There is nothing in between and by irreversible Bitcoin transactions, if you stored your bitcoin unsafely, and lost your coins, you lost them forever.

Self custodial storage or custodial storage, you will either secure your bitcoin safely or lose it so learning security advice below is important for Bitcoiner practice.
How to manage Bitcoin like whale?
How to securely create a Bitcoin seed phrase.
The DOs and DON'Ts of Bitcoin key management.

[Big Dirams]

Self-Custody wallets are not really for everyone. For those who are not very knowledgeable about Bitcoin or are not very good at wallets, Self Custody wallets are not safe at all. They basically keep their Bitcoin in their wallet but they will have to worry a lot about where to store their security seed system. However, for those who are skilled and have gained a lot of experience in holding Bitcoin in the past, Self Custody wallets are quite safe. They will basically be able to store their security seed system properly and they will be able to prevent all the chances of them getting hacked.

I suggest that even those that lacks the knowledge on bitcoin and the experience of cryptocurrency should consider researching more and making advance on their knowledge about bitcoin because we don’t just see things and go into them without making research on them and finding out what we are trying to walk into.
If they are willing to hold bitcoin for long and they are very much more interested then they wouldn’t hesitate in acquiring more knowledge about bitcoin and the basics of bitcoin, which of course this self custody will be available there among the syllables and they will decide either going for the self custody or not but they have idea about it.

[Filicius]

Isn’t this against Bitcoin’s philosophy? I feel like people often change their opinions whenever there is a major event or incident, such as the Coldcard hack or exchange failures.

My understanding was that Bitcoin encourages us not to trust banks or exchanges and to take responsibility for owning our actual Bitcoin.

I don't know if it's against Bitcoin's philosophy, but what is certain is that since the Coldcard event has taken place, I'm seeing a lot of people who had always advocated for self-custody and are now rethinking their beliefs and changing their strategy. Perhaps that fear has its foundation.

But, on the other hand, it is very typical to think that something quite unlikely is more likely to happen simply because it happened recently, such as when there is a serious plane crash, an unexpected war or a pandemic, and people start saying that they could see it coming, and that at any moment a new one will happen.

[Nrcewker]

Maybe it is better to diversify not only between different forms of custody, but also between Bitcoin, traditional investments and regulated institutions.

Everything comes with its own boons and banes. The same applies to self-custody wallets. Yes what you have suggested can still be implemented but if you use an on chain centralised wallet then there are multiple risks such as hacks and account freezes.

What you can do instead is store your seed phrase and everything else you need to access your self-custody wallet physically in a safe place. Tell your spouse or child about it but dont tell them how much the wallet holds. For additional safety just keep a copy of the seed phrase in a bank locker. They are generally safe and in my country, they often provide insurance coverage of up to 100k Usd for theft. This is the best approach I can suggest.

[Obim34]

Isn’t this against Bitcoin’s philosophy? I feel like people often change their opinions whenever there is a major event or incident, such as the Coldcard hack or exchange failures.

I would rather take lessons to improve my security awareness instead of switching opinions even after the Coldcard incident. If there is anything I've learnt from the incident is that every layer of security is important as much you know what to do and how to do it, security is continuous and nonstop, slight vulnerability can lead to actual loss.

No matter what, using a custodial setup is never an option, we cannot rely on third parties for proper coverage.