Blockchain-based technology is a great way to make money. But without securing your investment, it also functions as an easy way to lose everything. There are many ways to keep your coins safe, so take advantage of every method possible.
1. A Solid Wallet
IT services Sydney knows about securing investments in an always changing market. A secure wallet will be the first step in your long journey of investing in cryptocurrency. New wallets are created every day, and each come with their own set of pros and cons. The biggest truth about a digital wallet is that if it is too convenient, then the investor loses. Don’t be afraid of wallets with a small learning curve. This is your money, and a small amount of complexity is a small price to pay for keeping your funds secure. Look at reviews, and listen to word of mouth from reliable resources. Use that information to gravitate to a wallet that is safe, reliable and well-known.
2. Devices Matter
Crypto is a fantastic example of how convenience will always get in the way of security. Mobile options for crypto trading exploded long before the security was able to catch up. As a result, there were several investors downloading fraud apps and getting caught up in scams. When going mobile, security should never be sacrificed for convenience. Less attention to the stars an app has and more attention to the actual reviews. And if you trade on public Wi-Fi, then prepare to have your information stolen.
3. Backup
Backup your wallet keys to a safe location. A USB drive that is saved in a key protected fireproof lockbox is a great option. Never save your wallet private keys online. There are stories of users accidentally putting their keys in a folder that automatically backs up to the cloud. There are even worse stories of employees making network backups that store their keys to the company’s backup servers. A backup will always be worthless if its location doesn’t make sense.
4. Diversify Your Funds
Ethereum is a goldmine for a lot of investors. Mining using GPUs has a heavy cost to performance ratio that can flip at a moments notice. If one of your mining rigs fails, then the current market will take a huge chunk out of your profits. This is less of an issue if you don’t mine coins, but still creates a problem with other coins that fluctuate in price. A crypto crash for a single coin can wipe out all of your profits if you went al in. By spreading out your investment in crypto, the lowest of lows in the market will never be a major issue.
5. Stay Away from Scams
Scams will always follow the money, especially in situations where the source can be untraceable. Crypto faces the same amount of security risks as regular investing, but the marks are bigger since this type of investing attracts a lot of new faces. Individuals that had no interest in the stock market have found a home in crypto investing. These are the usual targets, and online scam artists will have a field day if you’re not careful. Fake websites, popups, viruses and general misinformation should always be avoided when your money is involved.
6. Look for Clues
Look in the address bar of your browser if something seems off when handling a transaction. Any webpage dealing with your investment should be encrypted. That means the web address should be HTTPS rather than HTTP. You will also notice a lock icon by the web address to confirm that the page you’re on is secure. Hackers trick users into entering information by switching back and forth between secure and not secure pages. When sensitive information is entered on a web address starting with HTTP, it becomes a buffet for anyone snooping online.
7. Don’t Brag
Social media is a weak point for many investors. They love to brag about how much they won or lost when trading crypto. While the majority of this information is harmless, it does open the door for scammers to size up their mark. It also makes you a target for crypto scams since they already will know your current mindset.
8. Exchanges Have Limits
The biggest exchanges will usually have insurance to protect themselves and the investors. Even so, there are limitations to what they can cover. Diversifying your investments also means keeping only what you need on specific exchanges. In an ‘end of the world’ scenario where a single exchange gets hacked, you’ll only lose a small portion of your investments.
9. Take Care of Compromised Systems
If a device has a virus, then it is safe to assume that all information on it is compromised. Instead of dealing with this immediately, users will often treat it as a minor inconvenience. There are millions of users currently trading on compromised devices. Some even take it a step further and change their passwords on these on these compromised devices to protect their data. Treat an infested system like a fire that you have to put out before it spreads. Halt all trading activity on the device, and go to a clean device to make protective account changes.
10. Is the Information Correct?
Before you go all in and make a transaction, triple check the information. For most users, there is no way to recover funds that are lost when the destination address is wrong. This is another reason why it is important to use an industry recognizable wallet. If the receiver of the bitcoins acknowledges the mistake, then it becomes incredibly easy to reverse the transaction. But if you are dealing with reversing funds from two completely different wallets, then prepare for an impossibly large transaction fee. It varies from wallet to wallet, and is definitely one of the first things you should check before committing to a specific company.
The Big Plan
What do you have in mind for crypto? If it is a long-term plan, then secure it ASAP. The only thing that hurts more than making a bad investment is losing it due to negligence.
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