Bitcoin, ever since it was first invented, has been advertised as a secure way of transacting with one another. What makes it safe? To start, each transaction is recorded on a public ledger for everyone to see and the complicated hashes prevent any manipulation of the transactions. In fact, security even plays a role in what makes cryptocurrency go up and down (bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies).
Despite it being one of the more secure payment methods, there are still a lot of people who get “hacked”. The truth is that bitcoin and its technology is unhackable. It’s virtually impossible to manipulate the network for individual benefits. What you want to protect yourself from are scams.
When you make money with bitcoins, you want to make sure that your funds will stay safe. I’ll be going through a few ways you can keep your bitcoins safe. First, you’ll have to know the difference between being “hacked” and being “scammed”.
The Difference Between Being “Hacked” and Being “Scammed”
Scams are when other people trick you into sending bitcoin into their wallets or any other wallets that you did not intend to send to. Since bitcoin transactions are irreversible, most scammers end up getting away. You have to make sure that you’re taking extra precautions to keep your money safe.
Scams come in various forms. Some people can promise to give you something in return but never follow through. Some can pretend to be someone they’re not. Some people can use fake sites to take your bitcoins. Be sure to do research on all possible scams so that you are aware and know how to avoid them.
Hacks are when people can manipulate the system for individual benefits. As said earlier, hacking the bitcoin network is impossible and has never been done in its 10 years of existence. The algorithms are too complex. The technology in itself isn’t hackable, although accounts, exchanges, and wallets are. Which leads me to my next point:
How To Keep Your Bitcoins Safe
I understand why you’d want to keep your bitcoins safe. It’s a lot of hard work to earn that much money and it would be devastating to see that all go away just because someone decided to be a dick about it. And one of the first things you can do is to invest in a Bitcoin Doubler. Here are a few more tips on how to keep your bitcoins safe:
Use a strong password
Whenever you make an account on any online platform, it is a golden rule to make your password as secure as possible. Even with the constant reminders from various websites, not everyone follows this. Think of your password as a protective shield that does not allow anyone to enter but you. It will stop any random user from accessing your encrypted data.
If you’re wondering what makes a password strong, strong passwords contain all sorts of characters: letters, numbers, and symbols. It’s also recommended that your password be at least 16 characters long. The longer your password is, the harder it will be to guess but that also means your password will be harder to remember. Make sure to write down your password and keep it somewhere safe. You can check how secure your password is on this site: https://howsecureismypassword.net/
Also, make sure to change your passwords every now and then. This adds a layer of security that can keep scammers guessing. This will keep those pesky “hackers” guessing.
Encrypt and Backup Your Wallets
Wallets are sensitive applications that contain details of your funds. Each type of wallet offers their own brand of security features so make sure to do extensive research about each kind of wallet. Doing this will allow you to choose a wallet based on your needs. Usually, the most secure wallets are a bit pricey so if you’re looking to store bitcoins worth a lot of money, then you should be ready to put some money down.
Remember to also backup your entire wallet, including its private keys and other info about your bitcoin addresses. Backups are important because if your wallet is tampered, lost, corrupted, or all of a sudden, crashed, then you can recover it easily. You can also encrypt the backup using an encryption tool and a long and strong password. This will make sure that nobody can use your backups even if someone happens to gain access to it.
And along with this, you can also keep investing your Bitcoin on platforms like bitcoin arbitrage. This will help you accumulate your bitcoin safely and securely.
Using multi-signatures
Some wallets have a feature that allows several people to own a single address. When you want to do a transaction with your bitcoins, the signature of the complete party is required to initiate it.
The number of signatures can be configured depending on the number of people you wish to divide the authority with. For example, you can set another signature to your friend or from a second device you own. Even if someone gains access to your private keys, he can’t steal your money without the other keys.
Choose Your Wallet Carefully
As said earlier, doing research on what kind of wallet you’d want will do you wonders. If you’re looking to hold a significant amount of bitcoin, I suggest going for either a paper wallet or a hardware wallet.
Hardware Wallets
These days, anything connected to the internet poses a security threat. Although hardware wallets can sometimes connect to the internet, they aren’t always connected. Some hardware wallets can verify your transactions physically by requiring you to press a hardware button. With that wallet, it would be hard for hackers to gain access to your funds without first obtaining the physical hardware wallet.
Most hardware wallets will require you to shell out some money so if you’re looking to use a hardware wallet, be ready to invest in it.
Paper Wallets
Although it may be a little bit more difficult for beginners to use, paper wallets are a cheaper alternative for any of the other kinds of wallets. On paper wallets, private keys aren’t stored anywhere digital.
Paper wallets create 2 QR codes: a public code for the public key to receive bitcoins and a private code for the private key to spend bitcoins.
Paper wallets are mainly used to store huge amounts for long-term but take note that you can’t spend a fractional amount from paper wallets. You have to swipe the entire amount of the paper wallet into a digital wallet using its private keys. After all the funds are transferred, the paper wallet can no longer be used. Now that is security but…
Do You Feel Safe?
Of course, doing all these things will make your account a whole lot safer. Even if you’ve done all these things, you still have to be wary about everything when it comes to trading bitcoins. I can’t stress this enough, make sure to do all your research so you can learn to minimize all the possible risks. It will protect both your account and your money. After all, you worked hard for your coins so better protect them.
I wish you nothing but the best of luck when dealing with people within the crypto-community! Stay safe!