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I would generally expect users to use a system like Coinbase to buy the coins and then transfer the coins into one of their own wallets. If you want to sell yo

I would generally expect users to use a system like Coinbase to buy the coins and then transfer the coins into one of their own wallets. If you want to sell your coins to someone you transfer the coins to coinbase, then transfer them. 2 - Yes, but not something that I use with any sort of frequency. If you store bitcoins in a wallet and leave them for years and years you would expect to forget password eventually and that would be a problem. So, don't do that. If you're super scared of it, go ahead and use an exchange, be aware that could be screwed.

infotogivenm 4y ago
See my replies below. You could 100% use Coinbase and plan to use an offline wallet the exact way you have prescribed, and still lose everything due to exchange insolvency. To save time on replies: “you’d have to be unlucky for that to happen,” and “just try to be fast” is not an ideal mitigation strategy.
- dymk 4y ago
  Pretty much the only other option is to use something like localbitcoins and hope someone is willing to meet you with an envelope of cash.
  - infotogivenm 4y ago
    Agreed. Unfortunately many parts of the world call this “money laundering” and impose stiff penalties.
- willmadden 4y ago
  It's a perfectly good mitigation strategy. You transfer small amounts, sell them, withdraw the the fiat, and repeat. The same works for buying.
- cinntaile 4y ago
  There is no need to debate unlikely risks such as... The exchange might limit withdrawals between that period. Buy your coins and then move them to your hardware wallet. It will be fine.
stouset 4y ago
> I would generally expect users to use a system like Coinbase to buy the coins and then transfer the coins into one of their own wallets. I would wager good money that at least as much currency has been lost from individual wallets (forgotten passwords, crashed hard drives, stolen credentials, weak brainwallets, malware, scams, death of the owner, etc.) than had been lost to exchange failures. Exchange failures are loud, public, and occasional. Individual wallets fail quietly, privately, and every few constantly. We just don’t hear about it in aggregate.
- MarkPNeyer 4y ago
  Nothing in life is risk free. The phrase "land of the free, home of the brave" has to be read as "land of the free, because we are brave enough to take personal responsibility for our freedoms, rather than entrusting powerful authorities to safeguard them for us."
- kkielhofner 4y ago
  Completely agree - the individual loss of funds from wallet hacks, forgotten seed phrases, clipboard intercepting malware, spear fishing, DeFi etc is likely greater than what has been lost through centralized exchanges, etc. It’s really troubling to see that others in the “21 million club” almost encourage such losses as they “make theirs worth more”. It’s like comparing deaths from car crashes to airplane crashes. Unless you’re personally impacted deadly car crashes are invisible (often not even reported in local media) compared to the big and dramatic deaths from plane crashes (often ~300 people at a time) that are covered in the news with the same level of intensity as centralized exchange losses. 50k people die from car crashes every year in the US but you essentially never hear about it as they’re largely considered a somewhat-reasonable and acceptable loss considering the population, number of cars, miles driven, etc in the US. Unfortunately with the “hope you learned your lesson” attitude in crypto. At least with improved safety standards, etc the number of deaths from cars has been declining. With every mass exodus like this and the state of UI/UX in crypto the losses from self-custody are going to explode in the coming weeks, months, and years. To make matters worse I don’t think the average user rushing to transfer funds away from an exchange fully understand that they’re completely on their own at this point. Unlike every experience they’ve ever had with traditional finance there’s no such thing as a password reset and there’s no toll-free number to call for help when you inevitably lose funds via a hack, forgotten seed, etc.
quest88 4y ago
Who do you consider users? I can't think of anyone I know who'd want to do that. Myself, a techie, included.
8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
do what then? if you're holding your own coins in cold storage and have no need to spend them, then what?

infotogivenm 4y ago

See my replies below. You could 100% use Coinbase and plan to use an offline wallet the exact way you have prescribed, and still lose everything due to exchange insolvency. To save time on replies: “you’d have to be unlucky for that to happen,” and “just try to be fast” is not an ideal mitigation strategy.

dymk 4y ago
Pretty much the only other option is to use something like localbitcoins and hope someone is willing to meet you with an envelope of cash.
- infotogivenm 4y ago
  Agreed. Unfortunately many parts of the world call this “money laundering” and impose stiff penalties.
willmadden 4y ago
It's a perfectly good mitigation strategy. You transfer small amounts, sell them, withdraw the the fiat, and repeat. The same works for buying.
cinntaile 4y ago
There is no need to debate unlikely risks such as... The exchange might limit withdrawals between that period. Buy your coins and then move them to your hardware wallet. It will be fine.

stouset 4y ago

> I would generally expect users to use a system like Coinbase to buy the coins and then transfer the coins into one of their own wallets. I would wager good money that at least as much currency has been lost from individual wallets (forgotten passwords, crashed hard drives, stolen credentials, weak brainwallets, malware, scams, death of the owner, etc.) than had been lost to exchange failures. Exchange failures are loud, public, and occasional. Individual wallets fail quietly, privately, and every few constantly. We just don’t hear about it in aggregate.

MarkPNeyer 4y ago
Nothing in life is risk free. The phrase "land of the free, home of the brave" has to be read as "land of the free, because we are brave enough to take personal responsibility for our freedoms, rather than entrusting powerful authorities to safeguard them for us."
kkielhofner 4y ago
Completely agree - the individual loss of funds from wallet hacks, forgotten seed phrases, clipboard intercepting malware, spear fishing, DeFi etc is likely greater than what has been lost through centralized exchanges, etc. It’s really troubling to see that others in the “21 million club” almost encourage such losses as they “make theirs worth more”. It’s like comparing deaths from car crashes to airplane crashes. Unless you’re personally impacted deadly car crashes are invisible (often not even reported in local media) compared to the big and dramatic deaths from plane crashes (often ~300 people at a time) that are covered in the news with the same level of intensity as centralized exchange losses. 50k people die from car crashes every year in the US but you essentially never hear about it as they’re largely considered a somewhat-reasonable and acceptable loss considering the population, number of cars, miles driven, etc in the US. Unfortunately with the “hope you learned your lesson” attitude in crypto. At least with improved safety standards, etc the number of deaths from cars has been declining. With every mass exodus like this and the state of UI/UX in crypto the losses from self-custody are going to explode in the coming weeks, months, and years. To make matters worse I don’t think the average user rushing to transfer funds away from an exchange fully understand that they’re completely on their own at this point. Unlike every experience they’ve ever had with traditional finance there’s no such thing as a password reset and there’s no toll-free number to call for help when you inevitably lose funds via a hack, forgotten seed, etc.

quest88 4y ago

Who do you consider users? I can't think of anyone I know who'd want to do that. Myself, a techie, included.

8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago

do what then? if you're holding your own coins in cold storage and have no need to spend them, then what?