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You should always have your own local wallet, and if you use an exchange, you should immediately transfer your funds to your local wallet once you buy them. In
by sparkie 8y ago
You should always have your own local wallet, and if you use an exchange, you should immediately transfer your funds to your local wallet once you buy them.
In terms of exchanges, there are many alternatives to Coinbase which you should look into. Coinbase has some sketchy history like insider trading, blocking Wikileaks without giving reasonable explanation, several times they've turned off their markets when conditions aren't favorable to them (sudden price drops). They're also not able to keep up with the technology as they've lagged way behind many of the other exchanges when it comes to implementing technical updates like segwit, bech32 addresses, transaction batching. God only knows how long it will take them (if ever) to be ready for the Lightning Network.
- udfalkso 8y agoThis is not necessarily good advice. If someone only wants to buy, say, $100 worth of bitcoin just to get their foot in the door and they don't put in the time to research how to keep their local wallet secure and make sure their computer/phone has not been hacked, they're very likely better off keeping that small amount of bitcoin with a service like Coinbase (and set up 2fa!) Of course if you play with bigger amounts, and you take the time to educate yourself further about taking custody of your own funds, then I completely agree with what you've said.
- blackrock 8y agoAny recommendations other than Coinbase?
- sparkie 8y agoDepends where you are. I use Coinfloor (UK). I've heard good (and nothing bad) about Gemini for US. I also used Kraken in the past but now I actively avoid any exchange which deals in Tether, as they've repeatedly failed to produce an audit to show that the money actually exists.