Exchanges charge a percentage for withdrawal of funds. Usually withdrawal fee is around 5% mark. Personal wallets charge a transaction fee which is much lower than the 5% exchanges charge.
Personal wallets tend to be more secure if you're using one which gives you exclusive control over the private key required for transaction validation. Wallets also have more options in terms of how crypto data associated with accounts can be stored, encrypted or recovered. Note: the above doesn't apply to all wallets. Blockchain and assorted web platform based wallets hold the private key to move funds stored on their servers. With internet wallets, there isn't much difference between them and exchanges except for withdrawal fee.
Most of the customization options with wallets come from using desktop & similar wallets, hardware based wallets, etc.
Topic: Exchanges versus Personal Wallets - page 2. (Read 754 times)
Its quite simple, with your own personal wallet, you own your bitcoin whereas if you store it on an exchange, they have your bitcoin. They can vanish in a instant and you'll lose all your bitcoin. Not saying that they will, but that can happen. And have happened before too, remember hashocean?
So, it is always best to have your bitcoin in your own wallet.
So, it is always best to have your bitcoin in your own wallet.
What are the drawbacks of using an exchange like Coinbase versus having my BTC in a personal wallet. I am new to BTC so using an exchange has made things easy to jump into. That being said, with August 1 approaching I worry I may be losing a lot of decision power should a hard fork occur. 
What specifics freedoms do you gain from trading outside of an exchange service with relation to the fork?
What specifics freedoms do you gain from trading outside of an exchange service with relation to the fork?
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