In this lecture, I would like to explain a little bit about the wallets and the exchanges so you will know how you can store your cryptocurrency and which is the safest way. We use the exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies with our debit card, credit card, wire transfer, or to exchange one cryptocurrency for another, to sell a cryptocurrency for fiat currency, or this is for USD, EUR, GBP.
How to store cryptocurrency online
But the exchanges are not the safest place where you can store your cryptocurrencies. You better use wallets to safely store your cryptocurrencies.
And there are 2 types of wallets.
One is the custodial wallet which is known to be less secure because you don’t have full control of your cryptocurrencies. Others are non-custodial wallets where you have bigger control of your wallet. Such a wallet, for example, is the Exodus Wallet, which is very friendly.
And I have done reviews on YouTube for most of the wallets I use but Exodus is one of the online wallets that I’ve been using and it’s non-custodial, meaning that I have control over my cryptocurrencies, I have my private key, and so on.
And of course, the biggest exchanges like Coinbase have a wallet. So there is the Coinbase wallet, which I’ve been using as well without any issues. It’s very comfortable because the 2 connect easily and I can transfer cryptocurrencies from the wallet to the Coinbase exchange very easily without copy-pasting addresses and it works really nice.
And these wallets usually keep most of our cryptocurrencies offline.
And keep in mind that the different exchanges and wallets secure their funds and their customers in a different way. For example, most U.S.-based exchanges and wallets cover the funds of U.S. citizens up to $250,000. But for the non-U.S. citizens, they pull the cash and keep it in dedicated custodial accounts.
And of course, with time, this will change. So by the time you are reading this lecture, probably the conditions will be different with most of the crypto exchanges.
How to safely store Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency offline
In 2021, one of the most secure and safest ways to store crypto offline is the Ledger wallet, which you can easily keep in your pocket. It’s a hardware crypto wallet. This is where I keep store safely most of my cryptocurrency. So being offline, I have full control of my cryptocurrencies.
Many people are using the Ledger nowadays but keep in mind that it’s a bit costly. We have conducted a detailed review of the Ledger hardware wallet here. Ledger also allows staking, but not for all of the cryptocurrencies. Just for a few of them for the moment. And if you decide to buy the Ledger, don’t forget to read our review first.
Safest way to store crypto
If you have difficulty choosing the safest way to store crypto, you can check our list of trusted brokers and exchanges. I have asked my team to make detailed reviews for the brokers, the exchanges, and wallets that we have been using. And we will add some more cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets with detailed reviews about each one.
This way it will be easier for you to select how to store cryptocurrency. Especially if you are just starting out. So probably by the time you are reading the lecture, more exchanges and more wallets will be on that list. You can use them as a resource for trusted exchanges and wallets that I personally test before we put them on the list.
But of course, before selecting how to store cryptocurrency, you need to make your own research for the safest way to store crypto. For example, on the Crypto.com website, there are 2 different ways that allow you to store cryptocurrency and earn passive income.
One is with the Earn option, which I’m demonstrating in the Crypto Staking course where we can receive up to 12% annual interest from crypto deposits.
And the other option is to do CRO staking. CRO coin is the Crypto.com cryptocurrency and it’s pretty much related to their Visa card options, which I’ve been using as well. But I don’t want to go into many details because I don’t want anyone to feel like I’m promoting this exchange. I just had to pick one of them to demonstrate the staking and the earning rewards.
Learn everything about the exchanges before choosing
So when you choose your exchange, make sure to learn all the different options they offer and all the conditions they have.
As I said, they are changing it all the time. For example, with Crypto.com, as I said, we have 2 options. One is to use the Crypto Earn option and the other one is to stake CRO tokens where you can order Visa card and earn cashback from Crypto.com partners.
And one more time, all of these conditions change. So, for example, when staking CRO, they have different cards, and depending on how much you stake, you will receive different benefits and so on.
But for the purpose of the course, I will start with the Earn option which is more suitable for beginners. And we can earn interest in many different cryptocurrencies, not just the CRO.
This way, I’ll be actually lending my cryptocurrencies to get rewards at the end of the period.
But one more time, guys, don’t take any of the cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets I show and mention in the lecture as a recommendation. I am not paid by any of the companies that I mention. The purpose of the lecture is educational. And I have selected to use Crypto.com for the purpose of the Crypto Staking course because it has a huge variety of cryptocurrencies to choose from for staking.