I'm sure someone else has left a similar post to mine below somewhere along the line in this thread, but since it is a pretty long thread on a very important topic, I would imagine some readers will find this helpful.
This is my personal approach, there are other ways to go of course.
So, it seems that lots of the YouTube videos and research that I have done boil down to a few main principles.
- If you are going to hold on an exchange, only hold what you are willing to lose. That said, I have never had any issues holding some crypto on Coinbase and Kraken. I had some crypto on Coinbase for some time while I waited for my hardware wallet and never had any issues. I have a very low amount (next to nothing) on Kraken and that has never been an issue. Nonetheless, it seems best to not hold on an exchange.
Assuming that you are not going to hold anything on an exchange, it gets down to a couple points:
1) For larger amounts (which will be relative for each person) - make sure to hold on cold storage. I personally use the Ledger Nano S. I have heard great things about the Trezor as well. I checked YouTube for a Trezor set up video and it is quite similar to the Ledger Nano S. The single most important point thought is to make sure you BACK UP YOUR RECOVERY PHRASE!! This involves at least writing it down on the card provided. I made sure to make a copy of the backup and place it in a different location (so I have two backups that are separated from each other). If you are holding a large amount then it might be worth considering a safety deposit box at a bank. As you will no doubt learn, the recovery phrase is by far the most important item in your cold storage. If you lose break, damage, or have your Ledger Nano S stolen then you can set up a new Ledger Nano S device with your recovery phrase.
2) I am holding crypto for the long term so I don't really do this next point, but it makes sense. Basically, if you want to have access to crypto on the go, then hold some in a wallet on your phone. I have heard people say that you should carry an amount on your phone that is about what you would hold in a traditional wallet and therefore be willing to lose. But I would argue that a good crypto wallet is way more secure than a normal wallet - someone has to really know what they are looking for if they find your lost phone on the ground in order to get your crypto - and even then, there would have to be no security measures in place on the user's part.
So if you choose to hold some crypto on a wallet on your phone, I have had a good experience with CoPay. This app is great because you can set a code/fingerprint to get into the app, then you can also set up a transaction authentication requirement. I would suggest each of these. Setting up a transaction authentication is great because it requires you to enter your password for sending crypto anywhere (even to yourself). Once again though - make sure to get a backup phrase set up - this is in the settings tab. Again - WRITE THIS DOWN. That way if your phone is lost or broken you can download the CoPay app, then enter the backup phrase to recover the wallet on your new phone.
Sorry for the long message - but I hope this helps. As I said, this is my experience - there are other ways to do things too of course with approaches such as desktop wallets, paper wallets, etc.
This is my personal approach, there are other ways to go of course.
So, it seems that lots of the YouTube videos and research that I have done boil down to a few main principles.
- If you are going to hold on an exchange, only hold what you are willing to lose. That said, I have never had any issues holding some crypto on Coinbase and Kraken. I had some crypto on Coinbase for some time while I waited for my hardware wallet and never had any issues. I have a very low amount (next to nothing) on Kraken and that has never been an issue. Nonetheless, it seems best to not hold on an exchange.
Assuming that you are not going to hold anything on an exchange, it gets down to a couple points:
1) For larger amounts (which will be relative for each person) - make sure to hold on cold storage. I personally use the Ledger Nano S. I have heard great things about the Trezor as well. I checked YouTube for a Trezor set up video and it is quite similar to the Ledger Nano S. The single most important point thought is to make sure you BACK UP YOUR RECOVERY PHRASE!! This involves at least writing it down on the card provided. I made sure to make a copy of the backup and place it in a different location (so I have two backups that are separated from each other). If you are holding a large amount then it might be worth considering a safety deposit box at a bank. As you will no doubt learn, the recovery phrase is by far the most important item in your cold storage. If you lose break, damage, or have your Ledger Nano S stolen then you can set up a new Ledger Nano S device with your recovery phrase.
2) I am holding crypto for the long term so I don't really do this next point, but it makes sense. Basically, if you want to have access to crypto on the go, then hold some in a wallet on your phone. I have heard people say that you should carry an amount on your phone that is about what you would hold in a traditional wallet and therefore be willing to lose. But I would argue that a good crypto wallet is way more secure than a normal wallet - someone has to really know what they are looking for if they find your lost phone on the ground in order to get your crypto - and even then, there would have to be no security measures in place on the user's part.
So if you choose to hold some crypto on a wallet on your phone, I have had a good experience with CoPay. This app is great because you can set a code/fingerprint to get into the app, then you can also set up a transaction authentication requirement. I would suggest each of these. Setting up a transaction authentication is great because it requires you to enter your password for sending crypto anywhere (even to yourself). Once again though - make sure to get a backup phrase set up - this is in the settings tab. Again - WRITE THIS DOWN. That way if your phone is lost or broken you can download the CoPay app, then enter the backup phrase to recover the wallet on your new phone.
Sorry for the long message - but I hope this helps. As I said, this is my experience - there are other ways to do things too of course with approaches such as desktop wallets, paper wallets, etc.
Thanks for this one. I think all points are valid and we are almost identical in the way we handle our coins. but instead of Copay i have used mycelium and coinomi but as you described CoPay I will check that one also. Each wallet has each own features so we need to choose one that will suit out taste.
Glad you found this helpful. I am pretty much summarizing different points that I have come across, so it seems like a good overall approach. But as you were saying, there are alternatives to Copay. Another one that I used for awhile was Jaxx
