Alejandro De La Torre of BTC.com about how to keep your crypto safe. Wallets in the world of bitcoin
There are few common questions that need to be asked when somebody begins their crypto-adventure. The whole plot usually starts with “What is Bitcoin?”, followed by “How to buy Bitcoin?”. After the first successful purchase of cryptocurrency, a new question arises: “How to keep your crypto safe?”, and this is the matter that we will take a closer look at in today’s article.
First of all, there are many different ways of storing your cryptocurrencies, where picking up “the safest” option is not always the most useful. Therefore it is crucial to determine what level of safety, accessibility, versatility you need. The choice should be based on the purpose of your cryptocurrencies.
Traders usually prefer wallets with high accessibility, when hodlers want their savings to be safe. Some people need to make constant payments with crypto, and others want to store most of their coins and tokens in one place. Today we will take a look at different methods of storing your funds, depending on your needs. Cheers!
Leave it be on the exchange or use electronic wallets
If you are a trader and you make a lot of transactions to enlarge your capital, you can keep your money on exchange platform, which surely raises the accessibility of your funds to maximum, but you give control of your funds to the third party – even if the exchange is legit, remember, those big platforms can be hacked.
The same thing goes with electronic wallets. They are a downloadable software that can store your data in the cloud, what makes your funds quite accessible, but it marks the same issues as with the exchanges.
Software wallets
Keeping your funds on a special downloadable software in your computer is an option in between of accessibility and safety. The big advantage of these wallets is the fact that you control your own keys. This software usually is easy to set up and they are free. This should be a good choice for people that start their adventure with cryptocurrencies and don’t want to store there their lifetime savings.
The problem occurs if you break your computer without having your backup phrase. You may then lose access to your funds permanently. The same thing might happen in case of theft of your hardware, so be cautious.
Hardware wallets
If you look for a solution that should keep your cryptocurrencies safe, away from the Internet connection, third-party engagement or hack, this option might prove something that you need. Hardware wallets are specialized devices (that look like an average USB) for storing your cryptocurrencies outside of your computer. They are extremely safe. The only way to lose your funds is to get robbed of the device and password protecting it. In other cases, there is no indirect way to steal from you.
Be alerted! Hardware wallets are not the cheapest solution – their price usually varies around $100.
Paper wallets
This is basically private and public key that has been written on a piece of paper. A safe way of storing cryptocurrency, that can be presented as a gift! Important notice: keep it away from fire and water.
The voice of expert
We asked Alejandro De La Torre of BTC.com, Chainges Conference speaker about recommendations for beginners when it comes to wallets and BTC.com wallet efficency:
Online (hot) wallets because they offer the most similar experience to traditional online banking, they are simple to understand and require little technical knowledge. Different online wallets have different levels of security, as an example the BTC.com wallet does not hold funds for the users and compared to exchanges, no intruder can steal the users cryptocurrency by attacking the company.
But what with everyday availability?
BTC.com supports the usage of cryptocurrencies as currencies in every day purchases. There are a lot of good initiatives from merchants and many online wallets offer strong security while allowing the purchase/ exchange of cryptocurrencies.
Magnificent diversity!
Level of wallet security and accessibility depends on your needs. Apart from your preferences, you can be sure to have a wide range of possible solutions. Pick well, and don’t be scared to ask questions – community may help you to avoid fraudulent software and scammers that will try to steal your money.
This article is part of a media partnership with the event organisation of Chainges.
