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> They're trying to pretend like your coins are completely safe. They're not. Nothing is completely safe, not even traditional banks. FDIC insurance has many l
by vanzard 12y ago
> They're trying to pretend like your coins are completely safe. They're not.
Nothing is completely safe, not even traditional banks. FDIC insurance has many limits and restrictions (eg. it does not cover safe deposit boxes). In 2014 the national bank in Bulgaria had a catastrophic bank run who left depositors like you and me unable to access their money (to this day they still don't have their money - http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2014/08/18/the-bulgarian-banking-disaster/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2014/08/18/the-bu...). In 2013 customers of the bank of Cyprus lost between 50% and 100% of their deposits over 100 000 euros (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/cyprus-sets-levy-on-bank-of-cyprus-uninsured-depositors-at-47-5-.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/cyprus-sets-levy-on...). And so on. It is a good reminder that a crisis causing you to lose money can happen at ANY financial institution. Every year there are millions of people losing money who thought was "safe".
That's why it is always a good advice to diversify, to not keep all your eggs in one basket, etc. Bitcoin is no exception.
With that said, it is fair to remark that Coinbase is still probably one of the safest places to keep your coins "online" for day to day usage.
- pistle 12y agoThere's 0% safe and 100%, for everything else it's equal? FDIC is tested and backed by something beyond corporate assurances about insurance policies. Does that policy pay out upon bankruptcy? Agreed. Diversify. But, US banks are still demonstrably lower risk (with stipulations) thanks to FDIC than, currently, a bitcoin exchange.
- mikeash 12y agoDiversification is a great idea and I think your advice is sound, but I'd also like to point out that there are limits to it. FDIC doesn't quite belong in the same category as Bulgaria or Cyprus. When small countries have a shock like that, it's bad for the people with money in their banks. If the same thing happened in the US, it would either happen because of a massive worldwide economic crisis, or it would cause one. I'm not sure there's anywhere you can diversify and be safe with something like that.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- kaa2102 12y agoThe bank failures you cited are outside of the US and the FDIC is not applicable. Yet, FIDC only covers deposits up to $250,000.