OK friends, I currently have my fortune (lol) parked on #Coinbase .
Is that smart or...??
Getting a cold wallet for long-term storage of larger amounts, but is Coinbase ok to use or another newbie mistake??
Be gentle but honest...
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Replies (115)
For long term, you should store in cold storage. Seedsigner or coldcard are my picks
Anything that Coinbase is doing for you with respect to Bitcoin is done better elsewhere, by companies not profitting off of a crypto casino model. Coinbase incentivizes you to play silly games, and we all know what that will win you.
Get it off the exchange. Take the time you need to feel comfortable, but if it’s a life changing amount of money, learn how to secure it yourself without question.
My advice is get Nunchuk and a hardware wallet. Coldcard is solid, I also love tapsigners as a second key.
Yeah, I haven't fallen for any of their "offers" but...
You gave them your corn tho?
Please get Your coins on a coldcard or Jade as fast as possible so that I can sleep well
All BTC on exchanges = IOUs. Definitely move it to cold storage, that will make it actually yours.
Then you can sleep well, sit back, and watch the eventual shitshow when we find out exchanges have been cooking their books to pretend they have more bitcoin than they actually have, and things start blowing up ⏳️🧨
Talk to @Casa
Coinbase is a solid trading platform and good for easily converting crypto to cash and back again on a debit card via usdc. As long as you dont mind paying the higher fees.
However you should have nearly all your crypto in cold storage. Not your keys not your crypto. Ive lost money on exchanges that shut down suddenly. Then you are fucked. Dont let that happen to you. That is my advice.
I prefer coldcard paired with sparrow, but honestly, basically any hardware wallet is better than an exchange. @BTC Sessions has tutorial videos if you dont't feel sure about something.
I had problems getting funds to Coinbase and Strike.
Swan worked for me without issue, but I'm a new user, and haven't had time for anything to go wrong.
I own less bitcoin than a bitkey wallet costs.
Article 
Podcast that goes with the article 
The Bitcoin Breakout -
The Very Basics of Bitcoin Self Custody - The Bitcoin Breakout
This article will likely piss off many purists who believe only in what I will call the gold standard. Others may be upset that I am only going to ...
The Bitcoin Breakout -
The How What & Why of Bitcoin Self Custody – Epi-28 - The Bitcoin Breakout
The entire point of bitcoin is that you can self custody your bitcoin. In fact while many seem to think "be your own bank" means run your own node,...
Any exchange (even if it's a DEX [decentralized exchange]) is a VERY good way to practice bad monetary OPSEC. I won't be using an exchange for on-ramps and off-ramps that can be completely compromised.
You are nuts! Grab a hardware wallet, Trezor, jade - just not a ledger. Get a small fire safe, you can have your BTC on your hardware wallet (just connect device to a computer, type in pin to access). Next you can write your wallet backup phrase and pin on paper, place in that fire safe and hide somewhere.
No. FTX was the 2nd largest exchange in the world, larger than coinbase, and it collapsed. People lost the IOUs that the company promised them. You see, you don't own the bitcoin on exchanges because you don't control the private keys.
Keeping your btc on an exchange is just ensuring that you will one day lose it. If you want to hold bitcoin, you MUST self-custody, there is NO OTHER WAY AROUND IT.
The best way to do this is to have a hardware wallet, ideally a coldcard (Q or mk IV). This device will hold your private keys offline, not touching the internet. You must then transfer your btc from the exchange to the bitcoin addresses generated by the private keys held on the wallet device.
This may sound complicated, but it really isn't. You're a brilliant man, you can figure it out.
You're 100% right Fren!
Passport from @Foundation long before anything from Coinkite (coldcards). I speak from experience and don't shill. Pp is so easy your grandma could use it. She'd get a migraine from eye strain with coinkite. And PP can keep nostr keys safe with your coins.
Holding on an exchange any exchange is a bad idea.
Using any third party to store your Bitcoin is not smart. Get a Coldcard Q or Mk4 from Coinkite, then go to @BTC Sessions for a tutorial on how to transfer to self custodial cold storage.
I went to the grocery store today, paid for everything, and then put it back on the shelves for safekeeping. I will come back when I'm hungry.
That's what you sound like.
Build a @SeedSigner
newbie mistake
Look at one of the multisig solutions like unchained, casa, or nunchuk rather than keeping it on an exchange
When Bitcoin is in the hands of a custodian it is still subject to counterparty risk(coin base)
Get a hardware wallet or an old computer.
Take control of your sats. If you need help reach out.
Self custody is the difference maker.
You may become rich with your Bitcoin on coinbase, but you'll never be free.
Newbie mistake. Use strike or river and send to cold storage every 1million sat or more. Don’t send any less or you UTXOs will be unusable in the future (maybe). Or get coin through nonKYC like @Bisq
This.
As a dog with his sats safely "buried" in a geographically-distributed multisig vault secured by bitcoin-only hardware wallets from various vendors:
@Ken Berry, MD we all go through this journey. Buy on Coinbase if you still want but skip the single signature hardware wallet and go straight to Unchained Capital vault. You will need 2 hardware wallets, ideally different vendors like Coldcard and Blockstream Jade.
Wait! What's a UTXO??? I feel like I don't want that to be unusable in the future!!
Kathy Wood would say no it is not smart
Now is the time to "consolidate uxtos" because fees are practically free. If its all at coinbase, its all paper(fake) bitcoin so you don't have any UXTOs. When you transfer it to your multisig wallet (stamped in steel and geographically distributed) from coinbase it will be all in one UXTO, so dont worry about it. In the meantime, do some self education on how to manage your bitcoin wallet and how to self custody without doing something stupid.
BTW @jack (yes the real Jack Dorsey) just posted a link to you about to bitkey, this is an option designed to help people like you self custody more easily.
It’s a great hardware wallet and I’d trust @jack over Brian Armstrong
Get it off coinbase Ken. Not a good idea to keep it there
Get some help with Sparrow wallet and then get your stack into cold storage self custody. From there you can go multi-sig. You don’t have the keys yet, so they’re not yet your coins, if I understood you correctly.
Let me be clear, fuck coinbase.
You own 0 bitcoin until you hold your own private keys. Get comfortable moving bitcoin around onchain first though. @BTC Sessions has many great tutorials on YouTube.
I'd still get a hardware wallet.
When say "not your keys, not your #bitcoin", because the keys *are* the bitcoin.
Typo...
*We say...
1) Plan on a journey that eventually gets your stack off the exchange.
2) Take your time educating yourself of how you want to do this. You want to feel empowered and not rushed.
3) While everyone is jumping the gun and recommending hardware wallets and multisig, etc., while they’re not wrong, if you haven’t sent small amounts to a mobile hot wallet or desktop hot wallet, try both. Play around with it, get comfortable. I think you’re zapping so you’ve probably done that part.
Single Cold wallet the learn multi Sig like those offer by unchained
Multi sig is 2 out of 3 where you hold 2 keys and 1 in unchained. You always need 2 to sign so in case you lose one of your 2 keys, unchained will be a back up
Take it slow. Learn everyday and move at your pace
When you leave your Bitcoin on an exchange like Coinbase, you don't actually control it, since that exchange possesses the 'private keys.'
You're in a dark place right now; I don't know how much of your 'fortune' you've blindly invested so far, so I highly recommend that, for the time being, you leave things as they are and get yourself up-to-speed on learning Bitcoin. Once you've learned the basics of Bitcoin you can begin making sound decisions, i.e. moving your Bitcoin off an exchange, et cetera.
For now learn Bitcoin. A good starting point would be to get a copy of 'The Bitcoin Standard', by Saifedean Ammous - I was able to download a PDF version for free. Next, you'll want to visit the following YouTube channels:
1. Matthew Kratter - Bitcoin University
2. BTC Sessions
Take your time, learn the basics; then you'll know what you have to do regarding your Bitcoin on Coinbase - but don't take too long...there's a saying in the Bitcoin community, "not your keys, not your Bitcoin." You may not know what that means now...but you will eventually 😉
Coinbase was and is a good place to start. But their fees have never been the lowest, and until very recently the transfer fee to move things off of Coinbase has been high, and really annoying. That has recently changed thanks to integration with the Lightning Network, but those fees are still not zero, so be aware of what you are paying.
Get familiar with the wallet options, and choose the best one for you and your situation. Map out on paper what wallets you have and figure out what the transfer fees will be along the various paths available. When you figure out the cheapest path to move things, then do it.
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When sending to an address you own consider the size of the transfer (UTXO). Greater than 0.01 at a minimum.
In other words, keeping some relatively small bag (0.1) on CB or River or Strike or Swan or CashApp is fine. Use as staging or as a buffer if you had to sell quick.
Not your keys, not your coins!
Not optimal. Personally we don’t want to be told we can or can’t login or not have withdrawal access when someone else is having a bad day.
An air gapped cold storage with seed phase backed up in multiple locations is great.
But will also take some time to learn and practice. Start now. Best time prepare is before the event.
Self custody is the only way. You can buy a @Start9 server and set up your own Node. This is really a must as you journey down the rabbit hole. Use Sparrow Wallet to manage your BTC. You can then take a further step and run a Bitcoin Lightning Node for payments. Use @ZEUS wallet to manage your channels. Get your BTC off Coinbase. Plenty of help here if you need it.
Definitely get a hardware wallet. Coldcard Q is my favourite (fwiw they sponsor my podcast).
You can use it easily with software such as nunchuk or Sparrow Wallet.
Another +1 for the hardware wallet solution. Coldcard mk4's are great! Highly recommend. Definitely prioritize getting your coins off the exchanges
I would rather move to a cold wallet. I can fully recommend @Blockstream Jade. I moved from a Ledger and haven't looked back
Self custody can be done in stages. I'd suggest researching hot wallets* like Aqua and Blue Wallet, possibly Green. Aqua is great for newbs. Blue has all the bells and whistles and will be able to interact with your future signing device / hardware wallet.
Learn what your seed / private keys are and how best to store them. Become comfortable moving your Bitcoin into one of the hot wallets.
Then follow the advice here and research collaborative custody with an institution or fully self custody with single or multisig. Either way you'll need a hardware device.
The good ones:
- @SeedSigner
- Coldcard
- Jade
* Hot wallets private keys are generated on the Internet. Cold wallet generates keys away from the Internet and always completely airgapped.
Absolutely love My Seedsigner.
The sense of achievement for a 54 year old artist to build one from purchased parts; download, verify and install firmware; create offline multisig seeds with various entropy; create child seeds for older family and then signing PSBTs with the device. Is just priceless.
The amount of new things I learnt in order to make my cold storage self sovereign made it all incredibly worthwhile.
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Buy a hardware wallet and start with a small amount. You will lose it all if you store it on Coinbase; it is just a matter of time. (No, there is no insurance.)
Taking it off an exchange gives you full control, means you're immutable by a custodian/government, but also makes you fully responsible...
Take it in steps, try a hot-wallet first for smaller amounts under $1000, transfer something, learn about fees, trace your transactions on mempool.space (great tool for understanding what is happening and what a UTXO consists of.
Then, when you feel comfortable, get a hardware wallet, MUST be open source (NOT ledger), and ideally is a Bitcoin only wallet. Get it from the official seller to be safe.
If you're stacking over $10.000, it might be wise to start looking at a multisig wallet, this is expert level, took me a couple of months of playing around to feel comfortable setting up a multisig setup with different hardware wallets, don't try to immediately go for the most difficult setup.
Take the small steps first, most important thing for self custody is getting security down. Keep your seed phrase only physical, never on a pc/mobile (unless playing with a hot-wallet where you'll have to have it in some app to use it). Just assume someone is always trying to steal your Bitcoin. Sounds scary, but being careful and responsible with your funds is the price of being in full control. It's worth it 😊
Send me a message if you need help, but best to just ask here in the open, so people don't try to scam you in private.
No
Start here. Bitkey is the easiest and safest option. It’s so sleek & stylish too. There’s a steep learning curve involved with some of the other wallets that you may want to master before buying. Most people own more than one wallet but Bitkey is the only one you actually need.🔐🪨🧡💜
This is a good video explaining it.
Good luck trying to withdraw it.
Not ur keys not ur coins!!! … IMHO cliches are cliches for a reason… it’s often wise to heed or at least be aware of them🤷🏽♂️
I personally prefer River Financial over Coinbase… it’s kinda like the Shire compared to Mordor (IYKYK)
Also: I love the Coinkite cold card “q” paired with sparrow and ur own node (multisig is even better)…but this is not a simple/convenient set up and clearly not for everyone.
An alternative (esp for convenience and simplicity) is “nunchuck” (it can be used via free phone app and has concierge (for a fee) customer service available).
It’s very simple and can be easily paired with multiple different cold wallets (coin kite cold card Q, jade, foundation passport/envoy etc). Most importantly if ur seeking easy/convenient control of self custodied BTC it can quickly be paired with any of the above and/or Coin kite tapsigners.
The Coinkite Tapsigners are very intuitive and (if ur interested) make multisig a breeze.
The Coinkite Coldcard “q” which is much simpler and intuitive than the old cold card mark IV and has built in NFC
Another great thing about nunchuck with Tapsigners and multisig is they make distribution of keys among ur heirs very easy (one for each heir and the last required for full multisig signing given to a trusted independent actor) while u maintain the majority of keys. For example u have 3 heirs and a trusted friend/associate and create a 4 out of 9 multisignature wallet. You keep 5 keys safely and preferably geographically separate and ur heirs and associate have the cumulative power to sign if something happens to you.
For ease of more regular use you can keep a small amount of BTC in a single signature account/wallet also on the same nunchuck app to transfer small amounts on chain or top off lightning/ecash accts.
By the way nunchuck itself is a watch only app which doesn’t see ur private keys. This prevents “nunchuck”, ur phone provider/OS and cellular service company from having access to ur funds.
Srry…I know I rambled on there but I hope this helps
I would highly recommend getting it off coinbase in to a hardware wallet (Cold Card, Jade, Bitbox 02 - bitcoin only, Passport). To reduce attack surface, only go with a bitcoin only hardware wallet, not one that supports other crypto. Coinbase will charge a higher fee to pull your bitcoin off, but it's highly worth it, because as the saying goes, "Not your keys, not your coins". If coinbase gets hacked, or if they don't have your bitcoin for whatever reason, then you're out of luck. It's much better to trust yourself. More stress, because it's all on you, but at least you have it in your control. I pulled my bitcoin off coinbase a few years ago, and the fee was 1.4-1.5% (I believe). I don't know how much harder it is right now, but if it's hard, that also tells you something. Good luck in you bitcoin journey. Self-sovereignty is the best. Oh, and also make sure you buy your hardware wallet directly from the manufacturer so you don't get a compromised device.
For buying and transferring bitcoin, I use Swan Bitcoin. They have been great, and the fees were 1%, but I think they still have a deal for the first $10k of bitcoin purchased is "no fee". That would save you about $100 in fees, which means you can get more bitcoin. I haven't used River, but they seem good too. There are probably other good ones out there, but I like Swan.
Every satoshi you have should be in open-source wallets and in my opinion on the actual chain (not lightning)
Open source hot wallet, open source cold wallet, open source room temperature wallet
Personally, I would never keep my BTC on an exchange for many, many reasons. I have my hardware wallet and I keep everything in there (to put it simply, of course). BTC should be kept away from prying eyes, especially since exchanges have been equated to banks in terms of reporting customer activities to governments.
The only reason to have it on exchange is if you are trading. If not and you are saving, it's a simple question. Do you want someone else to have your savings in their hands? There's always a learning curve and every bitcoiner has to go through it which is why there's soooo many great resources online but if you have anything there that you don't want to wake up tomorrow and feel greek.... I mean notice your savings are gone, take the plunge. Start with a small amount if uncomfortable and try a "soft" wallet - blue is good. You won't be asking after that, you'll simply be choosing between Jade or Cold Card. I made the journey by passing through Trezor and they're easy to use for sure but CC or Jade are step up. Also highly recommend looking up some vids on Sparrow Wallet. Signing the transactions in Sparrow really made everything a little clearer to me what was going on. Slightly more busy UI but required for clarity of transaction.
Take baby steps in direction of cold storage. It's a learning process that takes months. Tutorials from @BTC Sessions are very helpful.
Yeah get a hardware wallet for cold storage and withdraw your bitcoin from Coinbase. And store your seed preferably on metal. Yokis by @npub1nt2x...lhax is the most convenient: it has 3 seed metal plates and a metal carver pen with which you can write the seed on the metal plate. Storing the seed safely is the most important part, because the hardware "wallet" is just a signing device and can brake down at some point, so you need your seed to restore the keys to another signing device. Think of the seedphrase as your bitcoin.
And practice this process by making just a tiny transaction into your hardware wallet, wipe it out and recover it with the seed phrase that your hardware wallet created before sending to it, just to get comfortable with it.
For buying bitcoin and withdrawing, Coinbase will do the job but it isn't ideal, they're a bit of a shitcoin casino, and if I recall correctly they're servers have crashed during some bull market mania due to high traffic. US has better options like River, and I think you can buy the bitcoin from them straight to cold storage, so one extra step avoided. And they are bitcoin-only.
Another option is a 2-or-3 multisig setup with a third party, like casa.io, where you will hold two keys and casa holds one. Two keys are needed for making a transaction so if you lose one, you can recover them with casa's recovery key, but they cannot make a transaction on their own. They use a similar setup for inheritance planning, something to consider if you want it to be passed on to your family.
Everything is a tradeoff. If Coinbase gets hacked or goes bankrupt you’re fucked, but self custody you have to take responsibility and that can be scary at first. Just take your time. Here’s a good place to start:
you should deposit your sats on wallet of satoshi and use them to play @Chain Duel
It is certainly is not a good idea to keep in on coinbase. Learning to properly cold storage is paramount but also a learning process.
Either buy a cold wallet now and learn to use it by putting smaller amounts on there. Or, I often recommend clients first play with a BitKey. It’s like training wheels for could storage and is fool proof. DM me for a promo code if you like.
Make it a priority to move your coins off of there. Don't do it all at once or they may freeze you out lol. Pocket change can stay on an exchange ,0.1-1 can be on a trezor or bitbox with a passphrase. Any larger amount, assuming it is significant to you should go into a multi sig vault. Coldcard reccomended- it has so many features for you to architect your multi-sig in a way that works for you.
OFF the exchange.
Also, it is okay to slow down a bit. I admire how quickly you dumped ETH shitcoin for Btc, it took me years. Study up further to avoid tragedy, it should be obvious that the exchange is only for buying or selling.
Coinbase is a shitcoin casino, choose a better one. Maybe Bitcoin Well.
self custody is the end goal... learn how to do it and go for it when you feel confortable
+ Jade. Best and the most simple option for the majority of people. Let alone great security integrated.
Steve Martin, cutting his live comedy album in the mid 1970s, a heckler yelled out during it and this was Martin's instant response:
"I remember my first beer."
what?!! no - get it off of there
I haven't read through the replies, so I'm sure this is covered many times, but I see two separate questions:
purchasing btc on CB
keeping your btc on CB
Step one: get that btc off of Coinbase. Learn to self custody, maybe starting with smaller amounts, but start this process ASAP
Then, later, figure out if that's where you want to buy your btc going forward.
Begin making plans to get it off and in to cold storage. I recommend @Coinkite's Coldcard series of hardware wallets.
Take your time, ask questions to us if you are unsure about things but order your Coldcard asap so you can have it ready.
Don't panic as that causes mistakes to be made. Slow and steady is the way to go.
Make sure you reach out to us if you need help or have questions and go visit @BTC Sessions. Great tutorials there. @ODELL has some very good tutorials as well.
Recommend getting collaborative multi cold storage with Casa unchained or nunChuck
Omelette du fromage.
Bitbox!
Don’t trust your fortune on company EVER
Get a Coldcard TODAY
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Important advice!
Try to transfer a few hundred (or thousand) sats first when you got your hardware wallet or you might end up with nothing.
Got a local bitcoin meetup to get advice on how to transfer.
Last but not least, buy your corn from reputable bitcoin only exchanges to avoid shitcoin casinos.
Coinbase hold your bitcoin under a terms of service.
Hold your bitcoin in a wallet only you control. That your bitcoin is under held on your terms, not someone else's
Coinbase has been proven to be a pretty reliable CEX Centralized Exchange. Using it reqires you to provide ypur true identity and a contact link.
I would (and do) treat it like a specialist recommend by my personal physician. Use it for its specific purpose and then get away and unlink. The surgeon that did a joint surgery in 2007 does not need current information on me. Use Coinbase and any CEX to obtain BTC but when you get more value than you would carry on your person in cash, it's time to get it off the exchange and into a wallet not continuously connected to the internet.
Treat it like your personal medical record. No one needs access to it unless you are dealing with a particular issue.
My $0.02
Take care
Hogeye Harry
Buy on Swan or River then move to your own hardware wallets using Unchained for multisig self custody.
Exchanges are trap 🪤.
Find your peer in local community. See @twentyone.world or use @vexl 😎
Bad idea to stay that way. Get yourself a Coldcard and take custody yourself.
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As a short answer , Coinbase Bitcoin is simply an IOU. You’ll lose the coin if they default. We recommend a more secure setting including well-known hardware wallets such as ColdCard, @Blockstream Jade and @BitBox .
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Buy a Coldcard Ken, set it up and take custody of your funds. Otherwise you might never know if they really exist.
Time to get your self a hardware wallet. It’s easier than you think.
buy only from Bitcoin-only firms.
Swan or River are the only ones I can recommend.
Coldcard Q + Nunchuk for me! 💪🏻
Bro, you should get a hardware wallet, this was the first thing I got and I was at that point like a week into studying Bitcoin! 🧡
Keeping your life savings in a hot wallet can be risky. For better protection, it's safer to move them into a non-custodial wallet.
Great points on sovereignty. Another point is that they just can’t keep their API working in times of high traffic. That leaves much of their value prop, actually exchanging things, inoperable when you need it most.
The French have a different word for EVERYTHING.
Avoid ledger cold wallets, even if they are open source. I personnaly also avoid trezor. Recommended bitcoin only wallets such as the coldcard
You can buy on Unchained now too and send the sats direct to multi-sig cold storage
You've got some great replies and some really good questions I see. I'll reinforce what some people have been saying. Definitely get a hardware wallet. I like the Coldcard from CoinKite. Avoid the Ledger hardware wallet. It's okay if you use Coinbase as an exchange for a while. I recommend eventually using Strike instead of Coinbase. Take it all slow & learn the basics of on-chain Bitcoin. There's also a lot of leveling up you can do beyond hardware wallets! 😄
Self custody is absolutely mandatory!!!!
Yea get a jade
It’s my daily driver
Blockstream jade is the way to go
Hey, how old is that kid? 2? I got a joke for him….
🤣 "Hey this guy's good..."