
Ask HN: What are best practices for buying / storing cryptocurrencies - xwvvvvwx
- Which exchanges are the best
- How should I secure my coins once I&#x27;ve bought them?
======
pointsphere
Do not leave coins on an exchange. Any digital currency is only yours if you
control the private keys.

All recommendations are for Bitcoin.

Most secure: A hardware wallet like the "Trezor" or "Ledger". Good balance of
security and usability. Gives you a backup phrase in case the device is lost.
Backup phrase fits on a piece of paper, can be made as secure as required.
Keep backup phrase in multiple locations.

Cheap and secure: (encrypted) paper wallets generated from
[https://www.bitaddress.org](https://www.bitaddress.org) , with backups stored
in multiple locations. Bad usability, but can be made as secure as you
want/require.

Easy, reasonably secure, not for large amounts: "breadwallet" for iOS/Android.
OSS, user friendly, but not recommended for long-term storage. As most modern
wallets do, this one also gives you a backup phrase to be stored on paper.

As for exchanges, I'm in Europe and trust bitcoin.de. On Reddit there have
generally been no major complaints about Bitstamp, a few about Coinbase, and a
lot about Kraken.

~~~
j_s
Trezor - [https://amzn.com/dp/B00R6MKDDE/](https://amzn.com/dp/B00R6MKDDE/)
$99.93 | referral: [http://amzn.to/2wsH6WM](http://amzn.to/2wsH6WM)

Ledger Nano S -
[https://amzn.com/dp/B01J66NF46/](https://amzn.com/dp/B01J66NF46/) $146.50 |
referral: [http://amzn.to/2eYkJSQ](http://amzn.to/2eYkJSQ)

You may find better prices (back ordered) on their respective sites linked
elsewhere on this thread.

------
tmlee
Which exchanges are the best? \--- Depending on where you are located, best
exchanges probably means an exchange that has high liquidity and smoothly
facilitates withdrawal and deposit. In this case consider Gdax, Bitfinex,
Coincheck, etc.

How should I secure my coins once I've bought them? \--- Really securing coins
is hard and requires up most attention. The easiest way to get started is to
purchase a hardware wallet. I recommend Trezor but you may also use a Ledger.
These wallets supports a few other coins aside from Bitcoin such as Litecoin,
Dash, Ethereum. As for Ethereum, the Trezor wallet works well with
Myetherwallet, a web wallet for Ethereum which you can secure your own private
keys. This private key can reside in your hardware wallet in which you use to
sign transactions. This very same wallet is also used to store all ERC20
tokens.

~~~
nitin_flanker
What if I can't/don't want to buy a hardware wallet? (Since the amount that I
want to store isn't worth buying an expensive wallet)

I've heard that paper wallets are good too but I have no idea how to use them.
It would be great if you (or anyone) can help me with the process of using
them.

~~~
jrruethe
I wrote a guide a while back that may be of some help:

[http://jrruethe.github.io/blog/2015/04/23/bitcoin-paper-
wall...](http://jrruethe.github.io/blog/2015/04/23/bitcoin-paper-wallets/)

------
hackermailman
I keep an old thinkpad laying around offline and do the following

    
    
        Create unsigned transaction(online).
        Sign it (offline).
        Broadcast it (online).
    

There will be instructions for any wallet software how to do this on
bitcointalk or their own documentation. After each txn backup the wallets to
some other offline/cold storage in case the thinkpad dies. If you had millions
of coins you wouldn't want to do this obviously due to usb attacks but for my
<$1k wallet good enough. There's also QubesOS, can keep wallets running in
different VMs

------
eastindiacowboy
If you're in Australia, your options are pretty much Coinbase, BTC Markets,
Coinspot, or LocalBitcoins

Source:
[http://howtobuybitcoininaustralia.com](http://howtobuybitcoininaustralia.com)

~~~
SyneRyder
There's also CoinJar for buying & selling Bitcoin. They don't work with any
other cryptocurrencies though. (And their main focus seems to be their Bitcoin
Debit / ATM card.)

[https://www.coinjar.com.au/](https://www.coinjar.com.au/)

------
tonyztan
In the U.S., GDAX (by Coinbase) is a good exchange with a fee of 0% - 0.25%
depending on whether you are a "taker" or a "maker."[1] This is a lot less
than Coinbase itself, which charges 1.49%.[2] (Assuming you fund with a bank
account.)

Do NOT store your coins on an exchange. You do not actually own the coins
unless you control the private key. Use a hardware wallet. Some options
include the Trezor[3], Ledger[4], and KeepKey[5].

Also, ShapeShift[6] is a good exchange for converting between various
cryptocurrencies.

[1]: [https://www.gdax.com/fees/BTC-USD](https://www.gdax.com/fees/BTC-USD)

[2]:
[https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/210959...](https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/2109597-buy-
sell-bank-transfer-fees)

[3]: [https://trezor.io/](https://trezor.io/)

[4]: [https://www.ledgerwallet.com/](https://www.ledgerwallet.com/)

[5]: [https://www.keepkey.com/](https://www.keepkey.com/)

[6]: [https://shapeshift.io/#/coins](https://shapeshift.io/#/coins)

------
ars
1: Don't keep your coins at an exchange. Only keep at an exchange what you are
going to trade soon.

2: Backups, lots and lots of backups. And update the backups EVERY time you do
a transaction!!!!

3: Keep your coins in multiple "batches", so if you lose one, you don't lose
all.

4: Keep most of your coins offline. A bootable USB key is a good idea to
reduce hack surface. Divide up the coins on multiple removable USB keys that
you normally keep removed. (And USB keys can and do fail, so don't forget
those backups.)

5: If you encrypt your wallet write the password down!! Your attack vector is
hackers on the internet - they can't see the postit on your wall (if they are
in your house you have bigger problems). But your family will appreciate the
ability to have the money in case of problems. (Or if you decide to not do
anything with coins for a year or two, then want to get back into it - you'll
probably not remember the password. There are far too many people who lost
their coins because of encryption.)

~~~
wc23
#2 is overkill. Back up once and forget about it, there is no news to backup
after transactions.

~~~
ars
That is absolutely not true.

If you send coins your wallet generates a new key for the remaining coins.

At that point your old backup is useless - it has a key that no longer works.

And yes, people have lost coins because of not knowing this.

~~~
rrobukef
This should be a solved problem with HD wallets.

~~~
j_s
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11693631](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11693631)
(May 2016)

> droffel: _Hardware wallets use the BIP32[1] spec to implement "Hierarchical
> Deterministic" (HD) addresses. Using a single seed phrase (stored internally
> on the device, and also written down external to the device, neither copy
> should ever be online), you can generate an infinite number of addresses for
> your wallet. Every time you request a payment, you get a different address
> to send to, there is no address reuse (unless you or someone else chooses to
> send funds to an address that has already been spent from)._

------
psyc
Steer clear of Kraken. Their software/infrastructure is more inept than
anything I've seen in recent memory. Coinbase and Bitstamp seem fine. Put your
coins in cold storage or a hardware wallet such as Trezor.

~~~
itake
Coinbase has horrible support. if you are out of the USA, there is not
support. In the USA, it can take at least a week before they will respond. I
would not recommend.

------
j_s
Coinbase is still using MongoDB
([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14902743](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14902743))
but seems to have worked through the growing pains they had getting started.

 _Ask HN: Does anyone know what 's going on at Coinbase? |
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5427985](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5427985)
(March 2013)_

------
1ba9115454
Shapeshift or Changelly for exchange, your cois are only at risk during the
trade which will last 10 minutes or so in my expereince.

The ideal destination for your coins post trade in order...

1\. Hardware wallet if supported.

2\. Carbon Wallet for multi signature bitcoin,
[https://carbonwallet.com](https://carbonwallet.com)

3\. A non custodial wallet such as blockchain or strongcoin wallet.

------
rubycowgames
My setup:

BTC/ETH/USD Exchange: Coinbase --> GDAX

Other Coins: Bittrex/Poloniex

Hardware Wallet: Ledger Nano S

------
tunetine
Is there any way to exchange your money for bitcoin and just put it in a
'personal wallet' if you don't want to store it on somewhere like coinbase,
etc?

~~~
celticninja
Yes there are a huge variety of wallets like this, hardware and software.
Storing your coins on one is best practice, don't rely on an exchange.

~~~
jordiburgos
Transfering the coins from and to the exchange... Would that cost a fee?

~~~
celticninja
Yes, miners fees make the system go round.

------
richardknop
Few bitcoins I bought I did it on Gemini. They seem legit.

------
itamarst
Best exchange: none.

Best way to secure them: don't buy them.

~~~
quickthrower2
Reads like the Tao!

------
carvelo447
Xapo is one of the most reliable wallets to store your Bitcoins. Another great
advantage is that it has a debit card so you can shop and withdraw money at
ATMs and Coinbase is another of the recommended Wallets to store Bitcoins, for
its simplicity and power. In addition, it allows you to store Ethereum and
Litecoin.

Another advantage is that you can buy Bitcoins from most countries in Latin
America by credit card.

If you invite a friend to buy at least US $ 100 in one of the criptomonedas
they give you $ 10 in Bitcoins to you and your friend.

They are the best to store and I recommend them since they are the ones I use.

