There’s been a lot negativity around crypto over the past year, especially when you hear about the LUNA crash, and crypto exchanges going bust … like Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, and of course the 2nd largest exchange in the world, FTX. It’s not looking good for the entire crypto industry, and these unregulated exchanges didn’t help its cause … but only made it worse.
Before I continue, I need to make a disclaimer. I am not a financial advisor or a financial expert. Any investments you make is at your own risk.
Firstly, in order for you to buy crypto, you’ll need a digital wallet to store them. There are 3 types of wallets availble … a Hot wallet (which is online), a Cold wallet (which is off-line), and a wallet provided for you in a crypto exchange.
Now a lot of people who are new to crypto, don’t know the difference between a wallet provided for you in an exchange, and a wallet that’s on your device, usually in a form of an app that’s online like MetaMask or Exodus. These are sometimes called hot wallets.
While cold wallets are usually in a form of a USB device, and is totally off-line such as Trezor or Ledger.
Now, all wallets provided by crypto exchanges do not give you keys (or secret phrases), and therefore you do not own the wallet … the crypto exchange owns it. So the saying goes “Not your keys, Not your crypto” is quite poignant.
For hot and cold wallets, you do have your own keys. And remember to store these keys safely. If you lose them … your cryptos are GONE!
| Disclaimer: Every investment is a risk! Always remember to only invest what you can and are willing to lose. I’m not a financial advisor or professional in crypto currency, nor am I giving you any proven professional advice. Invest at your own risk. |
So how do you protect your cryptos?
For me, I usually USE a crypto exchange to buy my cryptos. Then I transfer it out of the exchange and into my hot or cold wallet for safe storage. That way, my cryptos are NOT stored on the exchange which is prone to hacks, bankruptcies and locked accounts.
If you need to sell your cryptos… just transfer them from your hot/cold wallet back into the exchange and sell. It may be a little inconvenient … but hey, I rather be safe than sorry.
Hot wallets like MetaMask and Exodus, are great for quick access and easy transfer of cryptos to and from exchanges. I use it quite a bit.
For long term storage (what people refer to as HODL – Hold On for Dear Life), you can use cold wallets. There are several cold wallets availble on the market which you can get, such as Trezor, Ledger and CoolWallet, these are all good devices for safely storing your cryptos.
I’ve been using the CoolWallet Pro for over 2 years now, and I happy to say it’s a great product. Here’s a list of other wallets I trust and use regularly.
Hot Wallets
- Exodus – 9/10
- Trust Wallet – 8.5/10
- MetaMask – 9/10
Cold Wallets
– 9/10 (
– 8/10
– 9/10
– 8/10 (
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