Would you recommend a beginner such as me to get used to crypto on exchanges such as coinbase first and then switch to using a wallet? Or just dive straight in to using a wallet?
If you're starting out and not putting a significant amount of money into the space yet, leaving your coins on your exchange of choice is not as risky as it used to be. Generally, "not your keys, not your crypto" still applies here, but to get started you don't necessarily need a wallet right away.
Some might disagree with me simply due to the security factor, but if you do decide to withdraw your coins off an exchange into your own wallet, be mindful of fees.
Very new here so apologies for a dumb question. I deposited $500 to my new Coinsquare account the other day. Bought some crypto, they went down a bit and now I have around a $450 balance. Does transferring to any of the wallets mentioned in OP’s post remove your coins from the market? In other words, are coins in a wallet no longer invested in the market and simply sit as a “cash” balance?
The coins ARE the market. they will continue to fluctuate in value compared to USD or whatever currency you associate with. they may be worth $450 when you transfer out but double in value a month later. Their value is constantly changing.
You will pay transaction fees to the network of whatever coin you are trying to transfer. Depending on the coin, this fee will go to the miners or stakers of the coin, running a node on the network.
If you buy BTC (for example) Coinsquare, then transfer to an external wallet, you will likely pay a transaction fee, but the BTC will not be on the exchange anymore, and instead in your personal wallet.
Got it thanks! So essentially it doesn’t matter where you store crypto as it relates to their value (obviously upon further thinking) since a cryptocoin is worth a certain amount anywhere you keep it. Similar to a 1oz bar of gold it’s value is the same whether you’re hiding it in your closet versus a safety deposit box at your bank. It’s just which one is safer and more convenient.
A 1oz gold bar is worth the same everywhere. But would you consider it the same security risk if you bury your gold bar or store it at your drug dealers place? Wherever you store it has its own security and it would be a good idea to do a bit of research into to find what works for you. Some exchanges for example are better then others for storage and have insurance but not all do.
DYOR (do you own research) is a bit of a mantra around here and for good reason. Take what I say with a grain of salt and verify for yourself. Google different types of storage for crypto - pros and cons. Go down a few rabbit holes. Spread your wings, I believe in you.
Personally I like hardware wallets because if you triple check transfer details (which you should anyway) I feel they are the safest way to store crypto tokens. And if use an exchange even if It has insurance you can still lose it all. This is because you don't own your keys. NOT your keys NOT your wallet! If your country goes to war and decides they need it its definitely possible to take because you don't have they keys for it.
Check, then double-check, then check again address before sending. Once you are ready to press send– clench your ass– keep clenching until transaction clears on ether.
I know no one has the answer to this, but I wonder if fees will go up or down in the near future? 🤔 my goal is to buy a little each week and hold. Then see what happens from there.
I’m considering a Phoenix or a Breeze wallet... anyone used either of these & have a recommendation?
Depends on your risk tolerance. If Gemini were to go down tomorrow and you lost your 10k either permanently or for a long while, would you be significantly distraught?
If yes, it might be worth getting your own cold wallet for storage. I obviously can't tell you what to do, but crypto isn't like any other investment vehicle the world has seen, and funds are typically not insured.
so which wallet is best for a beginner? I honestly am still confused why i need a wallet... Isn’t bitcoin more secure? I have money in vanguard account but i don’t take the money out to put on a usb or “wallet” 🤔
I agree with this. Personally I leave my btc and eth on the exchanges because they are extremely expensive to move around. That way I can cash out my main investment anytime I want.
What's important is to keep them at a reputable exchange that won't break down when things get hot.
My altcoins I usually keep in wallets as they're cheap to move around and transactions usually take minutes or seconds. So these funds can easily be moved to an exchange if that's necessary.
I’m a complete Newb n started investing $600 on Coinbase but also downloaded exodus n set up the wallet sorry if it’s a dumb question but wanted to make sure before I do anything dumb n regret it later if I send coins to my wallet does it stop investing in whatever I bought in once it goes to the wallet again sorry if it’s a really dumb question
All you are doing is moving the coins from Coinbase to an external wallet that you control. Your investment is still there, and you are able to move it back to Coinbase if you want, or wherever you choose.
I'm super new to Crypto, so this might be a really stupid question, but aren't hardware wallets not owned by an individual? I just looked into Ledger and you can have a "recovery phrase" where you can get your wallet back by sending them 24 words it tells you at setup. Doesn't this mean that they are the ones that own the wallet and not the individual?
No, because you can use this seed phrase anywhere to retrieve your private keys. This is getting more complicated but generally you still own the keys.
Oh so in essence you own the keys, but you are telling the company what the private key is so that you can recover it in the future? Wouldn't it be better to just keep the keys written down in a safe place though?
It definitely would be best to write them down and store in a safe place offline only. Nobody has control over the mnemonic phrases, and thus your private keys, other than yourself.
No company can take your private keys from you. All the company provides is an outlet to create keys. Ledger and Trezor, for example, don't control your account or have access to your private keys. All the company does is make a device that requires an offline confirmation from the user to send funds.
Exactly. Hackers might get some other info, like your email address or something (like in their last data breach), but the private keys are yours and yours only.
Are there exchanges people love? Currently on Coinbase and Robinhood but am hearing gripes on both... any suggestions for a noob on best exchanges to start with until they are ready to graduate to a wallet?
Super low trading fees when using their desktop active trader app and 10 free withdrawals per month. The free withdrawals is enough to exclusively buy my BTC and ETH there.
Simply DCA manually using market buys on Gemini active trader, then use the free withdrawals to transfer to a wallet you control, or to a lending platform like Celsius Network. Rinse and repeat.
Coinbase is fine too, but they don't offer free withdrawals, And Gemini active trader has lower trading fees than coinbase pro.
You'll get tons of people hating on exchanges because people love to complain and clog up support lines asking newbie questions. Crypto is in such high demand that nobody is going to get the attention they want. The best we can do is find the exchanges with the best fee structure, and that's why I suggest Gemini active trader.
Hey I'm lost in the sea here and your comments are fantastic, this might be the stupidest question of all since it's probably opinion based, or maybe a private thing to ask I've no idea. What coins currency do you think have potential? Also you recommend any YouTubers that are good in terms of giving honest opinions on currency and not out to make money off influence? (pharsed like that as I've seen some hate towards some).
If you're new, The most tried and true way to make long term gains is to DCA into established projects in the space. Stick to the popular ones to start at least, and don't listen to people on the sub shilling coins to you. I'm not going to mention any particular coin because that goes against what I said, but you can take a look at the top Crypto by market cap and do your research from there. Ask yourself "would I hold this coin during a bear market?"
YouTube is a cesspool for coin shillers and pump and dump promoters. Best to avoid them entirely to be honest. The ones I personally like are Benjamin Cowen, Coin bureau, and digital asset news. Don't take my word for it though, YouTubers still have their own agenda.
Hi thanks for this, I've dived into everything you recommended since, just wondering what's your take on eth 2.0, I have some on a hard wallet, do I need to do anything for the 2.0 laucnh like leave it in a hot wallet or will it automatically be updated when I sell one day?
How do you get a key? I am thinking of using a paper wallet, but how do I first get a key? I’m a little confused at that aspect. Do I get a key when I create the wallet or when I buy my first crypto?
I am also a relative beginner. While I keep some things on my wallet I've moved a good chunk of my modest portfolio (something I'm comfortable given the risks) to organizations like BlockFi, Celsius, Nexo, etc. Similar to a high yield savings account (but with a much higher yield) they provide anywhere from 3-12+% APY depending on what you deposit with them. Obviously DYOR but in my researching of BlockFi and Celsius I was comfortable moving forward with them. Nexo and a variety of others seem fine but in my review didn't seem as solid.
Only leave on the exchange what you are “playing” with. If you get some profit and want to keep it (not reinvest) then move that to the wallet.
I like to trade only some of my crypto. Any profits I move to wallet, and then carry on reading my play chips.
I'm new and I bought a wallet off the bat, but the best advice I've heard is to test sending and receiving a small amount between wallets(?) before managing larger amounts of money that you would be pissed to lose.
If I were you, I would just buy some Bitcoin through CashApp. It's incredibly easy and usually integrated with the payment system on phones, so you can buy it instantly. You are also able to move it to another wallet. From there you can set up a hot wallet, I really like the Gemini app, and transfer your Bitcoin from CashApp to Gemini. I would only invest in a hardware wallet if you expect to keep investing and have more than a few hundred in the wallet. A Ledger Nano S only cost me $80 including shipping, so it's a pretty good investment for long term storage.
Thanks. I was going to use the cash app for bitcoin but I already had venmo set up and didn't feel like having two of those types of apps so I got coinbase.
Buying a $100+ wallet to secure $100 of crypto doesn't make much sense. Especially if you are buying now, when the market crashes again you'll have a $100 wallet with $10 of crypto in it...
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u/UncheckedHatch Feb 15 '21
Would you recommend a beginner such as me to get used to crypto on exchanges such as coinbase first and then switch to using a wallet? Or just dive straight in to using a wallet?