[Poll] Where are you keeping your crypto? Hardware wallet, exchange, private wallet, other?
Of course there is a lot of talk about cryptocurrency security and safety, as well as Segwit adoption which is lagging behind. Underlying these issues is the fact that many people keep their funds on an exchange. I thought it would be interesting to poll if this is true for my Steemit followers: Where are you all keeping your cryptocurrencies?
So please post below if you keep your cryptocurrency on a private wallet, a hardware wallet or on an exchange (or a combination of these)?
I know that most of the 'mainstream' investors do indeed keep their funds on exchanges, but I am curious to know if this is true for people on Steemit too, who by the fact they are on Steemit are probably a little bit more aware of cryptocurrency and the security issues. So please tell: Do you keep your funds on an exchange? If so, why? Are you worried about the risks involved, or do you think other methods are riskier? Or is it because of the high transaction/withdrawal fees?
Or are you the paranoid type who works with paper wallets instead and purely trades decentralized? I'm genuinely interested to know what the average Steemian crypto-investor does these days!
As a follow-up question to those who hold their funds in a personal wallet: Are you using a Legacy address or a Segwit address?
I personally keep about 80% of my funds on my hardware wallet(s), with 20% currently on an exchange which I am itching to get off. The goal is to have no more than 5% on an exchange, for trading. I have to admit that I am still using a Legacy address, although I intend to move the funds from the exchange into a new Segwit wallet. I still dare not put everything on a Segwit address, purely out of irrational skepticism and paranoia in terms of safety.
So please share your storage-setup, for science! 🔬👩🎓
Exchange.
Despite all the stories about hacks and theft, I still trust an exchange more than I trust myself. It has offline storage, insurance, and two-factor authentication, so it should be reasonably safe.
Interesting! So far the results are roughly 50% keeps it on the exchange and 50% doesn't.
I would advise to try and keep your funds spread out though. Keeping it on an exchange really is dangerous.. not just the famous Mt.Gox story that everybody knows, but I also remember a famous exchange called Cryptsy where I used to store my funds back in the day. Cryptsy, like Mt.Gox, was at the time the most popular crypto-altcoin-exchange. It's happened far too often and especially because it's the biggest exchanges of their day being hacked. I am not sure cold storage, insurance, 2fa, etc. really matter when the crap hits the fan..
It's not just about hacks too - a lot of exchanges are really tightening grip on anything that could be deemed suspicious. I have read many reports of users having their accounts locked and frozen, sometimes for weeks/months at a time for no apparant reason. Could be the wrong nationality, or a flag may have happened because they were trading a large amount at once, I don't know... all I know is that I don't want my funds hijacked and kept from me. How terrible it would be to see the price crashing into oblivion, and not being able to do anything because the exchange flagged you for some odd reason.
so now i'm not so sure about it... but i have most of my coins on exchanges, it give me bigger liquidity... but i think its manly because i fill safe for some reason and i am a bit lazy too haha... like to start looking for which coin goes into what wallet... nothing rational maybe it is time to move things around....
I know what you mean, it's really convenient to keep on the exchange and it shows you that nice combined dollar figure ticker for your entire account!
But it's really a risk..
What you could do, as an alternative, is identify those coins which you really want to hodl for the long term, and only move those into wallets. Kind of go 50/50 on the amount of hassle involved and the security it provides. For example, you could choose to move all of your BTC or ETH to a private wallet, but keep the minor holds in other altcoins on the exchange. Or perhaps you have a large stake in something in particular that would be interesting to secure. That way if something goes wrong, you always have the other stash... And only have to figure out how 1 or maybe 2 wallets work.
P.S. Ethereum addresses can hold about 50% of all the crypto's out there since they are ERC20 tokens. That means you only need a single wallet, and you can transfer both your ETH there but all the erc20 tokens too.. so basically EOS, BAT, OMG, and plenty of other popular ones. Makes it far less of a hassle than having to make wallets for each one individually
I keep most of my crypto in my own private wallets, with a small amount on Coinbase that I send to my own wallets from time to time.
Interesting! So far the results are roughly 50% keeps it on the exchange and 50% doesn't. That's a bit 'better' than the mainstream I believe, who mostly keep on exchanges
Usually an individual has a wallet developed. I use that and then encrypt and back-up. I have ERC-20 coins on MEW.
Cobinhood uses cold storage and has insurance. It's the only exchange that I don't mind holding crypto on for a long time, but right now i don't have much on there.
I haven't checked Cobinhood out.. is it live yet ? I wasn't aware. All I know is they came with a bang and free trade fees during their announcement, but then all the news went silent! Kind of wondering why... free trade fees sounds pretty great (except for bot-manipulation.. could just buy up your own sell orders to increase the price)
Cobinhood is active. They had a few issues out of the gate. The biggest was withdrawals, but now they have that fixed. If you do a lot of trading, then i bet most a person will tolerate these issues because they are normal at the start andthey are saving on trading fees (there are still withdrawal fees). I use Cobinhood whenever I can and have not any issues with using them.
I would really dig an exchange that had higher trading fees but no withdrawal fees....
I don't trade all that often, but when I do I don't want to take an extra $15 hit because I don't store my funds on the exchange
yeah it depends on how much you trade.
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