Topic: What Wallet Do You Store Your Bitcoin? - page 2. (Read 659 times)

To add to that, the fact that the word "wallet" refers to at least two different things may confuse even experienced people. You can read more about this in "Mastering Bitcoin" by Andreas Antonopolous, but in a nutshel, we have "wallet" - application for managing keys and "wallet" - internal structure that allows for this management.

In this case you are talking about second meaning, however structure is very simple since it consists of a single private key.

It is not productive to spend time on something like manual transaction signing, it may take days, weeks, or even months.

Many people misunderstood the meaning of Bitcoin wallet (because they are familiar with the exchange and consider the same with bank account)

I have to tell you if a real Bitcoin wallet is actually just storing your key. A wallet is not like a bank account which the sign does not by yourself.

In this case, we don't need that (wallet) if we can keep it offline.  so, if we can sign the transaction using pen and paper, better to do that (don't spend your money to buy hardware wallet).
do not worry about broadcast (where need it online), because we can use Explorer where an open service to out raw transactions in hex format.

Sometimes you can easily earn 12% and more in a single trade. You could easily buy bitcoins on exchange when BlackRock filed for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund and profit from it, then you could easily exchange your bitcoins into Ripple immediately when SEC announced that Ripple was not a security and double your coins. Do you see how easily you could double your money recently? Who cares about Nexo's 12% yearly interest.
By the way, it's very simple to understand why people don't leave their coins on exchanges and wallets, it's simply because if you don't manage the keys of your wallet, then the stored coins aren't actually yours. If you see the ToS of exchanges, for example ToS of Coinbase, you'll clearly see that Coinbase has right to block your account and/or seize your funds at any time, for any reason and they don't have to explain things to you.

So, who cares about some yearly interest when there is such a big threat on the other side? Always prioritize your wallet's safety!

I think Trezor and Ledger were never considered as the safest option out there. they were the most recommended BTC hardware wallets because they are one of the old ones, have good marketing and are easy to use while offering a lot of altcoins. I think that's the only reason.

Trezor and Ledger used to be the most recommended BTC hardware wallets, but after Ledger implemented their recovery service and Trezor are implementing CoinJoin, but they are using Wasabi for it, who are working with a blockchain analysis company to blacklist certain UTXO, the recommendations on these two hardware devices has decreased. For users who may already have the devices, it may be okay to use it without opting in for their recent additions, but i think if someone wants to buy a new hardware wallet they should go for options like Passport, BitBox02, and other recommended open source hardware wallets.

A centralized service would be a way to take away all property rights because developers have control over the wallets we use.
They have the keys and can easily freeze assets.
Or it could be a place for hackers to hack the wallet easily due to some bugs that may be available.

Wallet options like Passport 2, Open Source, and water-graphed can be a good choice.
But now Trezor seems to be the recommended hardware wallet and electrum mobile wallet is also my choice.
And maybe you can make an exception for Ledger.

Nexo and other similar services that offer   interest payments  to users of their wallets are all centralized services.

This  means they have the potential  to exercise control over bitcoins stored in those wallets.

Therefore, in my opinion, storing bitcoins in such wallets would pose a risk for me.

I would not want to limit my stash by accepting any terms and conditions imposed by centralized services like Nexo.

My only choice is Passport 2, open source,  airgapped hardware wallet.

If cryptocurrency is based on proof of stake, you can get a percentage for each address you own based on how saking work in that crypto, but that percentage increases as the number of coins you buy increases, and the reason you get some return is that you venture to invest in that currency.

some POS blockchain need min amount of coins like 32 ETH and other need to have address with balance like ADA.

So yes, there are methods for staking in from a non custodial wallet
Can you staking bitcoins from a non custodial wallet? No, because Bitcoin works based on proof of work. Here you will need a third party to benefit from your bitcoins and share the profit with you.

I'll focus on Bitcoin as does the OP. To generate interest your coins need to do some kind of work. You won't get interest simply by hodling in your own custody, at least not without doing something with them. Any other service that offers interest for your coins also has to do something with them and that's been pointed out here already. Usually you have to give up custody for your coins, let some service do something with your coins and pay you some interest for that risk. This all could go right but also the opposite could happen as shown by some examples from the past.

It should be clear by now that you don't get any interest for free.

If you strictly want to hodl in your own custody, it's your obligation to setup a secure environment, a secure computer for your wallet(s) that isn't used for everyday internet shit.
If you're not comfortable to maintain such a secure environment, a decent hardware wallet is recommended (Passport from Foundation Devices, BitBox02 from Shiftcrypto, Coldcard from Coinkite, ... (and no Ledger closed-source crap in my opinion) pay attention to transparancy of the hardware wallet manufacturer, closed-source firmware and wallets are a no-go for me and should be for you, too).

If you insist on safe self-custody and still want to explore the option to gain some interest from your hodled coins, Joinmarket could be an option which I consider rather safe. You can boost privacy of your coins if you understand the concept and you can earn some interest by offering your coins for coinjoins as a market maker in Joinmarket. I watch the Joinmarket project for a long time, understand the concept but I haven't used it yet as a market maker, simply because I have no coins to spare for it yet.
So, I can't tell from first hand experience how much the yield could be. You won't get rich for sure, but it could be better than getting nothing. And I consider it safe because you don't give up self-custody. A secure device is mandatory and I would say it's not an option for newbies. You need a good amount of understanding of basic concepts of Bitcoin.

To learn basics and more head over to https://learnmeabitcoin.com and work yourself through the pages. It's worth the efford!

My advice to you, it's better to just buy a hardware wallet if you have something to buy, rather than the wallet apps you mention which are under regulation. Or if you don't have anything to buy, it's better to try using a Sparrow wallet or Electrum wallet, it's both okay, just choose.

Because if you use a wallet in the exchange, the risk is a bit high, although it's okay as long as you don't enter too high an amount into the centralized exchange platform, that's all.

Wallets if they are good, should an open sourced and non custodial. What does non custodial mean?

It means you own private keys and your bitcoin is only owned by you, in that wallet. The wallet software company does have access to your bitcoin as they don't own private keys. So if they don't have your bitcoins, how do they get money to pay interest for bitcoin amount you stores in your wallet?

Logically no ways to have such interest from a non custodial wallet.

If you see a wallet that provide interest, it is custodial and you have risk. You have to see what is the interest rate they promise to pay? If it is too good, higher than banks, big red flag. That wallet provider is like running a scam to steal your bitcoin or a Ponzi.

Terra, UST and Anchor provided very high APYs and they were burned.
Breaking down Anchor's 20% APY on UST
Terra APY

It is considered good as long as the assets in the wallet are safe and it will be a regret when the stored assets are lost and so on.
Don't joke with wallets as a place to store Bitcoin.

Expecting profit when storing is not more important than security, privacy, control.
It's better to expect a return on the price than to expect a return on the interest paid.

Yeah, and they definitely offer another depository scheme where you can passively multiply bitcoins. The way a centralized wallet works is always as profitable as it sounds (sounds like you fell in love with it). A fully decentralized, security-oriented wallet has never offered anything like this, or even talked about a future price.

From the rate of return they offer, they're actually managing the bitcoins you deposit (or you can call it "holding") in a way they won't explain. They risk your money on the businesses they're involved in.

That's also my thinking before when I was still quite new to this market. But OP soon you'll understand why it is important that everyone here will tell you that it's best to hold your Bitcoin with the wallet that you're holding the private keys. Especially if the amount you've got is already a lot and already a life savings of yours. You know that these exchanges are vulnerable to dynamic changes and policies that's why you can't trust them wholly with your funds thus, the worst comes and they get hacked and you have no assurance you'll receive a full refund.

I'm not saying that what others say is right or wrong, I guess my point is that you should buy Bitcoin based on your belief and decision and not because of what others have told you. Because it seems like you're just putting your Bitcoin at risk in reality.

Then if you want your Bitcoin to be really safe, it's better to keep it hidden in a wallet where only you really have access and not the one you think you have access to but the truth is that it's not really. It's still better to put Bitcoin in a Hardware wallet or Electrum than to put a large amount of Bitcoin in Coinbase, or any centralized based platform that we know we don't have 100% access to because for example if there's a problem that's for sure you will have a problem there.

No, that's not important at all or called "the best".
The best purpose of storing your coin is to have better security for your valuable asset and always remember the golden rule of crypto space "Not your keys, Not your coin".  When using a custodial wallet, you are relying on the wallet provider to securely manage and protect your funds. You don't have direct control over your private keys, which means you are placing trust in the custodian to act in your best interest.

It's very risky to deal with this action if your sole purpose is to get interest while you are holding, it seems like the same concept as storing your money in traditional banks.  You let them have full control over your money, what's the purpose of Bitcoin being here and the word of having decentralized nature?

I wanted to provide some clarity as to how these custodial wallet providers like Nexo actually get the rewards they pay out to their customers as interests for being the custodian of their crypto. It's pretty simple actually, they give your Bitcoins out to lenders and in turn, you get to earn from the proceeds. But that's not always the case and you might end up actually losing both your Bitcoins and the supposed interest.

Here's a link to the SEC filing against Gemini: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-7

FYOR, this is a similar product offering to Nexo. The best and primary way to store and hold crypto is self-custody. Afterall, the best way to get something done is to do it yourself. The same applies for taking responsibility for the security of your Bitcoin.

@OP, some members here have given good advice,  only you can decide which one you want to follow. Personally, for me, I don't see any reason to keep my assets in a centralised wallet for just some little interest in which my assets are not 100% secure (just what @MK4 said). Although it's your choice to make, I have suggested that if you are using Mobile , then you should use Bluewallet, but if it's on Windows, then you can go with Electrum wallet. Perhaps, if you have enough funds to purchase a hardware wallet, that would also be the best.


Cheers 🥂, Dr.Bitcoin_Strange 👺👺

Because they want total control of there funds that is why they prefer the self custodian to wallets. Nexo and its likes act like traditional banks, they hold on to your funds and loan them out to borrowers with the promise of a percentage which is not worth the risk of leaving funds there. Most of these entities end up running into bankruptcy and that is the end for you funds and the so called percentage. So my advice will be like the rest, just keep your funds on self custodian wallets. The volatility of bitcoin it self is a better percentage if you hold for long and buy at the right time/price.

But if you’re to earn more aside holding, then it would be preferable to learn about bitcoin trading. Trading is risky but at least you can have custody of your funds all the time.

Yea, I do call it a none-custodial wallet until I came across a comment by JayJuanGee (if I could remember correctly) where the reason why it should also be called self-custodial was given: "stating that the user who owns and holds the wallet has full control over it, and when one owns something and that belongs to the person alone, that's self-property". So the same is applicable to a non-custodial wallet, which could also be referred to as "self-custodial" since the owner is fully responsible for their own security.


In this day and age, information like ratings and recommendations gotten online regarding anything related to finance should not be taken too seriously, for anyone can now pay people to give a nice review and recommendations over their app. But deep down, there are things going on that we don't know about. That's why I always recommend people come to this forum to search and ask questions regarding any particular wallet, for there will always be opinions from people who have used the wallet and will share their review based on direct experience.
 

No! If your wallet earns interest on the funds you hold, it means that it is a custodial wallet, and you are not the true owner of your coins; instead, you have entrusted them to the wallet provider for safekeeping. A recommended method for storing your coins is by using a self-custody, open-source wallet, such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core.