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CoinBase bills itself as a digital wallet before it bills itself as an an exchange. They are at least domestically based which gives me some legal recourse in t
by Aqueous 13y ago
CoinBase bills itself as a digital wallet before it bills itself as an an exchange. They are at least domestically based which gives me some legal recourse in the event that they do lose my coins.
1) Does CoinBase have an interest in keeping my BitCoin's safe?
They do.
2) Is it competent to keep my BitCoins safe?
They seem about 100% more competent than Mt. Gox, which isn't saying much, but unlike Gox I actually believe CoinBase has had its cold storage audited, especially by its rather well-known backers who almost certainly do not want to lose prestige to a massive BitCoin heist/loss...
3) If I keep my BitCoins on my home machine will they will be
a) harder to access from anywhere I wish to access them and
b) equally susceptible to being lost?
Yes, and yes.
I've seen too many nightmares of people losing their private keys to believe that I'm fundmentally more capable at keeping my BitCoins safe than CoinBase is.
- jafaku 13y agoDo you really need to access all your coins instantly from multiple places? The worst thing about this is that you are probably recommending this scheme to everyone else.
- Aqueous 13y agoIt's not a scheme. And I would advise anyone who asked to make up their own mind about where to store it. If they feel confident that they can 100% keep their wallets safe better than CoinBase can, then absolutely, yes, they should keep it on their home machine. The promise of BitCoin is that it functions like cash, with all the advantages of electronic payments. If I can't bring my cash with me everywhere, then yes, it does fundamentally limit its utility to me. BitCoin is just like any other money: the base system is based on distrust but for it to be mainstream an ecosystem of trust must be built around it. If we can't sort out the difference between competent BitCoin institutions and incompetent ones then we are in a world of trouble.
- RedneckBob 13y ago"BitCoin is just like any other money: the base system is based on distrust but for it to be mainstream an ecosystem of trust must be built around it." Speaking of ecosystem, I noticed that FDIC insurance suspiciously missing.
- Aqueous 13y agoIt's only a matter of time. If BitCoin makes the legal transition from commodity to currency then FDIC regulations will apply.
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