All online wallets are so-called hot wallets, and unfortunately, they’re not the safest of all.
Why?
For one, they’re centralized. It doesn’t really make sense for crypto-enthusiasts to promote the hype of decentralization and then storing large amounts of digital cash on a centralized online wallet.
Secondly, like any other website, they’re prone to be hacked. If money is involved, that’s usually good enough reason to try to compromise the security. And if funds can be transferred out to an anonymous address without the possibility or reversing the transaction, that’s even more of a reason to hack.
Solution
There’s not much you can do. Every one has to use a hot wallet every now and then. However, they’re not meant to store large amounts of coins for extended period of time.
#1 - most secure method
It depends on an individual, but I like to think that the most secure way of storing your large amounts of coins is a paper wallet.
You can make a few copies of it, laminate it so the paper doesn’t deteriorate over time, and lock it in a safe, bank or dedicated security deposit box.
However, the best option is to combine both the method #1 and #2.
This way you have access to your coins on a short notice (if you decide to lock away your paper wallets a few miles away from you in a deposit box) because you are in possession of your hardware wallet.
And if you lose it, then you can always revert back to your backup paper wallets.
#2 - even better method
There are certain hardware wallets that are way more secure than the above two methods. For example, a Ledger Hardware Wallet will store your coins securely, because it’s not connected to the internet, therefore, it can’t be hacked.
The downside to hardware wallets is that you can misplace it and then ultimately lose it. Once lost, given the fact that you haven’t written down your private keys somewhere say, you have no access to your coins.
The upside is that these hardware wallets are nearly indestructible, so you not need to worry about breaking them.
#3 - a bit more secure method
Desktop wallets are considered to be more secure than hot wallets. The key word here is considered. That’s because it depends on your level of understanding how secure you can make your computer to be.
If you make it really difficult for a hacker or malicious malware to penetrate your computer, then sure - on paper it is more secure.
In reality, the vast majority of people think that one antivirus software and a system firewall are enough to prevent any security breaches.
It’s probably best to get extra education on security before one decides to store a lot of coins on one’s desktop.
#4 - least secure method
You can engage a 2-step verification process for most hot wallets and use Google Authenticator or Authy to generate access codes. Whilst this isn’t a solution, it puts another layer of security and makes it tougher to breach.
Although, sometimes hackers aren’t the problem. What if the hot wallet company goes bust or they lock you out of your account preventing you from accessing your funds?
Hot wallets are the least secure methods of storing your coins.
Summary
As you can see, it all depends on you and the amounts of coins you plan on storing. It might sound scary, but this is the reality. It’s best to be safe and take that extra step than to be sorry.
Good luck!
Here every people in this forum already knows that bitcoin can be saved in what are all the wallet. I do not know the push this thread up unwantedly. You know there are few people like this keep on doing when explaining this do not bump the thread.
I hope post mine will stop the no more unwanted posts on this thread dude. If possible. op please lock this thread or delete dude.