If you are looking to join the world of cryptocurrency trading, safety should be your top priority. One small mistake, and you lose all your coins and assets. You don’t want that to happen.
Keeping up with crypto best practices is indeed a challenging undertaking for most buyers and investors, but it is even more difficult for newbies. You see, as a beginner, it is way much easier to misplace that private key or even send transactions to unintended addresses, mistakes that could see you lose your hard-earned funds for good.
On top of all these challenges, there are deadly scams and tricks out there, and their target is usually unsuspecting investors. As a crypto owner or trader, it is helpful to beware of all the stuff you are up against, at least if you want to last longer and make profits out of the cryptocurrency marketplace.
This post brings you a few pro tricks for securing your crypto and digital assets. Keep reading.
Of course, you can’t secure your assets if you are not aware of what and who are you are up against. In other terms, it is overly important to know the men in the middle- people trying to place obstacles between crypto investors and their destinations. We are talking about fake URLs, spoof sites, clone sites, and such sites that tend to mimic legit sites.
If you are not able to continually double-check URLs, then you can make sure to bookmark the websites you visit often. Verify all your downloads because software with spyware, worms, viruses, and malware are no good. This may leave you a bit worried, but it is worth your time and attention that: Not all software is safe- most are infested with spyware, and you could end up losing your life savings if you aren’t careful enough!
Safe computing is like playing Chess- always believe that your opponent, or in this case, your attacker, is smarter than you.
By now, you should know the drill- no birth dates, names, music lyrics, and such jokes for your passwords. Mashing the keys doesn’t render your passwords random enough. Use mnemonic generators and hardware wallets to come up with a strong password that makes it difficult for password-crackers to rifle through.
A smart investor will opt for Gnosis and other multi-signature wallets. Also, use 2FA for your exchanges, email, Steam, etc. Let this be your warning.
Now, having robust passwords doesn’t mean that you can’t be hacked. For example, even if you have a strong private key, be wary of fake websites and fake support teams that are out to steal your passwords and personal information. Allowing hackers access to your passwords is like giving a criminal all your banking information, except that it is harder to trace, irreversible, and doesn’t come with insurance.
It is unlikely that you will hand over your mnemonic phrases and personal information, but strive never to allow attackers to access your Keystore files. What this means is that you should never enter them directly into suspicious sites or give them to fake “support” teams who cold-call or email you. Remember, where there is money, many thieves are looking to steal it. Crypto is not an exception. Anyway, no legit support representative will ever ask you for your password when helping you solve something.
Be very careful when sending your crypto to other users because there is no way around reversing transactions made accidentally. One it is gone, that’s it! You can easily commit this mistake because some addresses like those on Ethereum are usually 42 characters in length and one different letter means that you are sending crypto to an other wallet.
What to do: Express extra caution and take your time to verify an address before making any move. This is one way to avoid panic resulting from sending crypto to the wrong addresses.
While browser-based crypto wallets are more convenient as compared to hardware wallets, the latter is the best option for you if you are handling large amounts or if you need long-term storage.
Many smartphone-based secure wallets function the same way as hardware wallets, so get one and keep your personal information and keys safe and secure.
This one may come across as a stupid or self-explanatory point, but it’s easy to overlook your device security. If your laptop or mobile phone is stolen, it is incredibly easy for a smart hacker to steal all your crypto and everything else you own.
It is indeed worse enough to lose your device, but it is even worst if it is compounded by losing all your crypto afterwards.
Make sure also to protect your devices using strong passwords so that if the unimaginable happens, all your cryptos stays safe.
This is relatively straightforward, especially in this day and age. Unfortunately, most internet users don’t take online privacy seriously.
In the past few years, we have witnessed frequent invasions into our online privacy by attackers and supposedly reputable search engines and companies, so the thing to do is to ensure that your data isn’t listed anywhere online.
Remember, hackers can use your email or phone number to engineer their entry into your crypto wallets! If it seems impossible to steer clear of listing your personal information online, how about creating a new email address and using it to open crypto accounts?
This is a no-brainer, but we should look at it, at least for the record.
Never boast about the crazy amount of crypto you own. Not even on Facebook or Twitter. End of the short story.
It is best if you don’t mention that you have some cryptos- begin with that. Believe it or leave it, many bad people are idling around on the internet. If they notice you are bragging about the Limousine you are planning to purchase with your crazy crypto riches, there are chances that those coins will be gone before the next minute.
This is never guaranteed to happen, but the best way to remain safe and secure is always to go unnoticed.
This is a piece of advice we hear now and then. Smart investors will tell you that you shouldn’t keep all the cryptos you own in a single place. This works to minimize the impact of the loss just in case an exchange gets lost without your knowledge. Yes, it is time-consuming, but it’s a worthy risk management technique.
In the same spirit of utilizing hardware storage, having a backup of your passwords can help you if the keys get lost. Make backups of your crypto stash as much as you can, so that if one drive dies, you won’t lose your coins.
These tips above are the best ways to keep your cryptos safe. However, there will still be new scams arising in the years ahead. As such, it is vital to play your part like a smart investor and, at the same time, ensure that you are growing together with technology. Be innovative!
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as any form of advice.
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