

Ask HN: Where is the safest place to buy/hold/sell Bitcoin? - hpvic03

Coinbase seems to be the major player, but is their tech really safe? The fact that they are so large concerns me -- they are more likely to be attacked.<p>What is the consensus nowadays?
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thegrif
Coinbase is legitimate. The vast majority of the company's Bitcoin stockpile
is stored on hardware encrypted offline hard drives.

I think Coinbase could thwart off a targeted attack, with the worst case being
an interruption in service due to DDoS. It is far more likely that an
individual account is compromised by an attacker who learns the user's
password. Coinbase mitigates the impact of this scenario by:

1\. Forcing all accounts to use two-factor authentication

2\. Providing users with a vault that provides additional security options.
It's meant to hold the bulk of a user's BTC, similar to a savings account at a
traditional bank. Withdrawals are subject to a 48 hour delay and can be
configured to require multiple co-signers.

The time delay accomplishes two things. One, it prevents an attacker from
instantly draining a compromised account. Two, it provides Coinbase with ample
time to retrieve the BTC from its offline storage (it's a sign that they're
telling the truth about their massive offline storage strategy).

More info on vault can be found here:
[https://coinbase.com/vault](https://coinbase.com/vault)

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jordsmi
Buy @ coinbase (if you a US resident)

Hold on your own machines. Don't trust any service to hold your coins for you.

