Topic: Not your key not your wallet (Read 559 times)

I often said in my username and Pizza

To have full control over your fund, you need to use a trustworthy open source non-custodial wallet, but you don't have to run your own full node.
With running a full node, you can help the network be more decentralized, validate transactions and protect your privacy, but that's not required if your only concern is having full control over your fund.

Yet another reason to completely avoid using centralized exchanges. Just a few days ago, Kracken was subpoenaed by the IRS to surrender all information about their users who purchased $20,000 worth of bitcoin in any given year within a certain timeframe and this trend will absolutely continue.

The only way we can really combat this is to use non-KYC platforms, use open-source wallets, and run your own node.

Stay sovereign out there, plebs.

This thread is just a warning to different users - certainly this is a case that could change the mind set of many exchange centralized users to withdraw their funds from the exchange to their non-custodial wallet.

The OP has stated that he wouldn't be completing KYC just to withdraw his funds from the exchange - that's because it's not worth that much. But for what the OP has experienced with his Coinbase account this is great for all beginners - so they just need to be sure that a non-custodial wallet is a good wallet to store their assets in long term.

There are two red flags here for me, firstly you left your funds on an exchange that's a big red flag and then you are using a centralized exchange that requires you to set up KYC process with is definitely going to be a process of you giving out sensitive information to them.

Well it's a personal decision, if you are okay giving out those information you can go ahead and give it to them also you can consider the amount you have on the exchange and then be able to make up your mind about leaving it or going ahead with the kyc requirements.

From all indications it's undeniable that OP has an idea that KYC is part of the necessary requirements in completing is registration with said Cex. There are simple two ways to this, if you're someone that's not comfortable with handing out your data through KYC to any exchange then stay away from centralized exchanges and make use of those DEx that are known for their NO KYC requirements from their customers like AgoraDesk.com

Basically, the not your keys not your coin movement should be majorly newbies to be aware of. Because they are just coming into the system and are prone to scammers and in that case, they would need the knowledge to help them stand tall hence the slogan was invented and so far the awareness has been very strong and not only are the newbies aware but have since taken the steps too to making it effective in their own activities too.

Your keys, your bitcoin. Noy your keys, not your bitcoin. I think that at this point, the only people who would not get this are those who are new to cryptocurrency. However, there are still oldies who do not adhere to this simple rule because they are inherently lazy even when it comes to their own accumulated wealth. You just can't expect them to adopt bitcoin and expect them to take on the responsibility of securing their personal wealth by themselves on a cold paper wallet and storing that wallet somewhere. They prefer the easy and risky way of letting centralized exchanges do it for them.

Your fund remain secured with us, that is a big fat lie.

That's so funny, it was what how I trusted my Bitcoin and other to free wallet some years back and I learned the hard way, this is so funny, I am not surprised that people still believe in such a statement, whenever I read such online I always laugh.

You know what's best for yourself, entrusting money to even your own family and friends brings forth betrays and you entrusting your assets in the hands of people who you've never even meet for once is the craziest of all, if FTX hasn't changed the way people look and judge centralized exchanges then people will never wake up.

Not only Coinbase but also any centralized exchange wallets and every custodial wallets should be avoided for the best security of users funds. Then what should we do ?
We have only way to use non custodial open source wallets like Electrum, Mycelium, Bitpay and Alpha Wallet.

Then where to do trading? Okay you may choose centralized exchanges but you should keep your assets how much you can afford to lose to a exchange wallet or a custodial wallet. You also should choose a popular and trusted exchange but not a shadow exchange. It's even better to withdraw funds after successful trading. We should not store a huge funds to any custodial wallet or a exchange wallet.

As a day trader, you are definitely required to do KYC every time you deposit assets on a centralized exchange and most of us already know that it is very risky to use a centralized exchange to store assets there. Still quite lucky when exchanges try to warn you to withdraw assets as not all exchanges notify in advance. If you think KYC will create a crime then don't do it and choose another source of wallet which is much safer to store your assets and if you are one of the day traders who are actively trading then scale your assets every time you make a profit and keep some of the assets you have on a centralized exchange for trading needs only.

It is very inconvenient to send back and forth the assets we have each time we want to trade from a more secure wallet to an exchange and preferably when your desired trade target amount has been reached, send it to a much more secure wallet. The rest can be kept on the exchange for further trading needs. But it must be remembered, the exchange is not a safe place to store assets, but a place for short-term trading as an effort we can make to facilitate trading.

Right because even in the mentioned trust wallet I am aware that some of the coins there can still be frozen by the authority if the need be,  and if you own private keys and wallet address,  you are still a step away from total freedom and control but at least for as far as you operate within the limit you will be secure enough to do normal transactions and also decentralized but not free because the authority can still seize the assets.


We can not underestimate the role exchange plays in our daily life most especially in the e-commerce sectors where people trade one commodity to the other in the form of coins and other NFTs,  exchange plays a vital role that we can not ignore its importance.

Noo! I didn't meant to say that I have no money so I could not use Electrum, I said I have less money so I do not give that much importance to security features of Electrum wallet. And I do know electron has Software wallet, I just meant to say why I should bother more while I have not that much money which needs that much security. 

I also checked on Googleplaystore and I was also referring to these 500k download which are lower, just take an example and think of me as newbie (which I was at that time) if I had to select from different option in download wallet or any other app I always selects the one having more download because I have this mentality that more download means more security and longevity of the app.

Question!

Did you get a similar email couple of months ago? because around that time coinbase actually sent account closure notices to loads of people due to "not meeting their updated standards" however some accounts were limited to send-only for off-boarding. I suspect it was because they had funds on their account hence I'm wondering if this could be an extension of that where send-only accounts finally gets disabled.

Ofc, there's also a good chance the case I mentioned does not apply to you. According from your post, the funds locked ain't worth anything and during that time, people who received the same closure notice but had dust-to-none on their CB wallet had their account disabled right away.

This is one of the good discussions about how to verify Eletrum: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/guide-how-to-safely-download-and-verify-electrum-guide-5240594
Electrum is not a hardware wallet that you have to buy with money, it is a software wallet that you can use by just downloading it, whether you have money or not, you have to take your security seriously. Use Electrum as a hot wallet if you think your funds are so small, but if it isn't small, use Electrum for offline storage in an airgapped computer.
I don't know where you checked for the number of downloads, but on Google Playstore it has 500k+ downloads, but it ordinarily should be 0, those 500k+ people downloaded it in the wrong way, the only place to download Electrum safely should from their official website.

Dear Despair, that's what I said that not everyone is a programmer, and if some are programmers they did not give thought to auditing the code because they are trusting others just like you mentioned that warnings for atomic wallets are already shared but still people are using it just like trust wallet, you gave me warning not to use it because it is the close source and we should avoid to use it but unfortunately, I am using it for a small transaction. And i didn't mean to compare Atomic Wallet with Electrum because i do know it has the difference between Earth and Sky. But my intentions were to share the ideology that no one really checks the code. But i do understand the point you trying to teach me here and thanks for that and it would be a great help if you could refer me to the discussion that I have bolded in your reply.

OK dear hosseinimr93, I get it, no doubt it is better to use open-source wallets instead of closed ones, and even if we do not know the programming we could at least read the reviews of others about Electrum's code. Idk as I mentioned before I never used it. Why? because I do not have that much money and never give a thought about deep security because i have less money so I give less importance to security but I think to keep up to date I have to test it out at once. But back in time when I was referred to use it but after checking the number of downloads of Electrum are very low I thought this app must be a new one or do not have that much traffic and if traffic is low it means it has lesser features and securities but unfortunately, I have less knowledge at that time but still, I am learning and i do know the difference of close source and open source wallets from like 1 year maybe but still do not give any that much importance because I still do not have that much money, (hehe).

When I receive such emails like this, I must be very careful even if it is from the official account of such platform like the Coinbase. To verify, I usually go to their official site and reach out to their customer service or in their official socials to see if the email is legit or not.

But yes in centralized wallets, we do not have the full custody of the assets that we are holding there. They can freeze or hold your assets there for certain reasons rather than just having the full control of your hard earned money.

Much better you store them in a hardware wallet if you can afford. Non custodial wallets like Metamask and Trust Wallet can do but they are hot wallets in which they’re created online and the hackers can simply find ways to siphon your funds if you are not careful.

Not your keys, not your wallet, not your coins.

In fairness to Coinbase, you're given enough time to withdraw your coins. That's almost 90 days. But I wonder what the platform refers to when it says "accounts that no longer meet our updated standards." What standards in particular? Why does it have to be disabled? Is it not possible to update the account to meet such updated standards?

Are you aware of what this refers to? Or are you also confused about what it means?

I'm asking this because centralized exchanges have this penchant to be unclear or confusing in their communication that they leave their users hanging. For example, they inform a user that his/her account is locked because they detected suspicious activities. Or they suddenly require you to submit or resubmit KYC to prove that you're the owner because they observe something unusual in your account.

Coinbase sent this email to inactive accounts so don't get surprised about this since this is normally happen to any wallets if you leave it without having any transaction happened for years.

 But if you think there's misconception happen as you are actively using coinbase maybe you need to reach their support to have a clarification to the email they sent to you and also so that they can verify that you are still using their service. If you have doubts and doesn't trust their platform anymore because if this reason better leave it and find an alternative that can fits you well.

You can't trust electrum, because you can't read the code yourself. I understand you, but what change does it make if the wallet is not SPV and you run your own full node?
Can you read bitcoin core's code and know how the keys are generated? How can you be sure that there is no vulnerability in bitcoin core?

We trust bitcoin core, because it's open source and the code has been reviewed by many people.