At this point in time, one would expect most people have a basic idea of what it means to properly control their Bitcoin funds. Unfortunately, it seems more people struggle with this concept than ever before. There is still a lot of confusion regarding what it takes to properly be in control of your own funds. Luckily, it has become increasingly easy to do so over the past few years.
You Need To Control Your Cryptocurrency Funds
It has to be said, the following guidelines do not just apply to Bitcoin. It is applicable to every cryptocurrency in the world today. It is not overly difficult to properly control your funds at all times. For some reason, a lot of [novice] users are more than willing to give up this control because that is what they are used to, though. After all, traditional bank accounts take away all of the worries associated with controlling one’s money. These banks will then charge you to withdraw your funds as well, which is a trade-off no one should agree to in the cryptocurrency world.
To put this into perspective, owning cryptocurrency is about more than just buying it. Granted, purchasing cryptocurrency – or earning it through legal means – is the first big step to overcome. There is no real reason to worry about storing your cryptocurrency if you have none to begin with. Luckily, there are so many places to purchase cryptocurrency from, which means it has become a lot easier to obtain Bitcoin and popular cryptocurrencies these days.
Herein also lies the main problem, unfortunately. A lot of (novice) users will buy Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency from an exchange. Once they do so, they let the balance sit in the exchange account without worrying about it further. This is very convenient, but it is also a major problem. After all, keeping money in the exchange account means the buyer does not control the funds whatsoever. Controlling cryptocurrency is all about owning the private key of the wallet used to store cryptocurrency.
What most people fail to realize is how they do not control the private key associated with the exchange account. The only entity containing to that information is the exchange itself. To properly control one’s cryptocurrency funds, they need to get their own wallet – not an online wallet, but a mobile or desktop software client – of which they own the private key. More specifically, they should be the only one controlling that key. A hardware wallet is a good solution as well, although it can be quite expensive for novice users.
There is nothing worse than actually losing your Bitcoin. In most cases, these losses are a direct result of people not using a proper wallet which only they can control. That is rather unfortunate and frustrating at the same time. It is evident there is a lot more work involved when it comes to keeping cryptocurrency safe. It requires some research, which is only to be expected. One does not regain financial control without taking the necessary precautions. That means researching wallet solutions, ensuring you install one which suits your needs, and making a backup of the wallet as well.
Although this topic has been touched upon multiple times in the past, it is always good to remind people about the importance of controlling their cryptocurrency funds at all times. We have reviewed several Bitcoin wallets over the past few years. It is evident hardware solutions are the best way to go. Solutions such as Trezor, KeepKey, and Ledger are all worth considering. It is of the utmost importance you use a wallet which only you control through the private key. Failure to do so will virtually always result in the loss of funds.
If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.
