June 11, 2024
There is simply no reason to let "crypto exchanges" have access to your bitcoin. It's time to get serious about self custody. Being a bitcoiner means holding your own private keys.
Director of Product
Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank. It's a money technology breakthrough that lets any regular person hold and control a scarce asset that is also digital. It accomplishes this by way of self-custody, which means that you personally hold the private key to your bitcoin and are the only one with access.
Now that this breakthrough has occurred, there is simply no reason to let "crypto exchanges" have access to your bitcoin. Especially when the third biggest exchange publicly threatens to confiscate your money if they run into problems.
Reflecting on why people continue to keep their bitcoin on exchanges, even when they don't intend to trade it, we are reminded of the idea of learned helplessness. We are so used to money being this thing that big companies and governments get to manipulate at our expense, we just expect to access our money by logging in to a company website.
It's time to get serious about self custody. Being a bitcoiner means holding your own private keys.
Setting up self custody might feel daunting, but it's easier than it might first seem. Read on to learn how much bitcoin to keep in a "hot wallet" on a phone, and how much to keep in "cold storage" with a separate, bitcoin-only hardware device – and how to take custody of the bitcoin your hold in your Coinbits account.
If you need help, reach out! The more bitcoiners hold their own keys, the stronger bitcoin becomes.
As long as you self-custody your bitcoin, you don't need a bank, exchange, or third party custodian to grant you access to your funds. You are in complete control at all times.
This means you can use bitcoin without asking permission from a third party, without transaction limits, and without being locked out on bank holidays.
This uncensored access is vital to the bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoin was designed to be permission-less money – that is, no one can tell you how, when, or how much you can spend. You are in complete control of your money. As you should be.
Risk is a part of being alive – there's no way around that. Self custody is not risk free. However, the type of risk is fundamentally different from the risk of leaving your coins under someone else's control.
When you take custody of your private keys, you take on the risk that you might lose your keys, which would mean losing access to your bitcoin forever.
However, when you let other people manage your keys for you, you take on something called counterparty risk, which means you take on the risk that they might lose your keys, or use your keys to take your money. If this sounds unlikely, consider that the third biggest exchange publicly threatened to confiscate their client's money if they run into problems.
We believe that, while self-custody entails risk, it may be minimized once you understand how to responsibly manage your private keys.
A bitcoin wallet provides you with two codes: A public key and a private key. The public key is the code that people use to send money to that wallet. It doesn't need to be kept secret. However, the private key is what you use to unlock the wallet and spend the bitcoin in it.
You may be surprised to learn that these codes can still work even if they're written down on a piece of paper. Once the codes are generated, they don't need to be stored in software or hardware at all.
However, if you want the convenience of being able to use a phone or computer to monitor your wallet balance, send, or spend your bitcoin, you will need either a wallet app for your smartphone or a hardware wallet device.
Wallet apps
If you search in the Google Play store or the Apple App Store for a crypto wallet, you'll find dozens of options. These apps store your private keys on your phone. This is convenient because it means that you can access your bitcoin whenever you have your phone with you. The downside is that if your phone is hacked, or if the app you used was created by scammers, your coins can be lost.
The pros and cons of wallet apps
Wallet apps are incredibly convenient but pose some security risks as they are connected to the internet. These risks can be reduced by using security features like two-factor authentication, where you need to unlock your phone and enter a PIN to move funds out of your wallet app. However, using a wallet app is always going to entail too many risks to secure large amounts of bitcoin. Wallet apps should only be used for small amounts of bitcoin that you intend to spend or send to friends.
What's the best wallet app?
There are many options for wallet apps, but it is important to be careful when selecting which one to use. If one in particular looks like it might be a good fit for you, do some research to make sure the developer has a good reputation and the app enjoys an active community of users. As you do this research, we recommend taking advice from online resources that are focused on bitcoin rather than cryptocurrency in general.
Hardware wallets (signing devices)
A hardware wallet, which is more accurately called a "signing device," is a miniature electronic device that stores your private keys offline in cold storage. This ensures your funds stay under your control and are inaccessible through the internet. These small hardware devices are designed to protect against hackers and bad actors, while letting you spend your bitcoin in a few steps.
The pros and cons of hardware wallets
The downside of hardware wallets is that they are less convenient when you want to spend bitcoin. However, for large amounts of bitcoin, we strongly believe this inconvenience is worth the extra security. Moreover, the inconvenience really is minimal – if you want to spend bitcoin from your hardware wallet, you simply connect your hardware wallet to your computer, unlock the it with a special code, and make your transaction.
Hardware wallets do pose their own set of risks however. A hardware wallet comes with a "passphrase" that can be used to recover your bitcoin in case you lose the device itself. But, if you lose this passphrase and your hardware wallet, you will lose access to your bitcoin forever. That's why you should write down your passphrase and store it safely in a separate location from your hardware wallet. Some people like to record their passphrases on steel plates so that they are more likely to survive natural disasters.
What's the best hardware wallet?
A few years ago there were only a few options for hardware wallets, but recently there has been an explosion of new products. While this gives you more choices, it also makes choosing a hardware wallet seem harder. How do you know which ones are safe?
While we cannot endorse a specific hardware wallet, you will quickly find that there are three prominent companies that manufacture hardware wallets:
While these are three of the more popular options on the market, it's important to do your own research to figure out which one (if any) is right for you.
And how much should you keep in cold storage?
The answer depends on your preference, but a good rule of thumb is to use a cold wallet when you are storing any amount of bitcoin you don't feel "comfortable" losing.
If you have $50 worth of bitcoin, it might not make sense to purchase a $50 hardware wallet. A hot wallet will provide reasonable security while offering the convenience of access to your bitcoin from your phone at all times.
A cold wallet is best utilized for larger amounts of bitcoin that you want to store securely for long periods of time.
Multisig (short for "multi-signature") is bitcoin software that allows people to divide the responsibility of keeping their private keys among a few people. A multsig wallet requires multiple private keys to authorize the spending of bitcoin. It ensures no single person is able to send or withdraw funds without the the approval of another. It also helps mitigate the risk of loss, because if only one of the pieces of the signature is lost, the others can still be combined to unlock the wallet. Use cases include shared accounts among family members, escrow accounts, and business treasuries.
We don't endorse specific companies or services, but two leading providers of multisig solutions are Nunchuck and Unchained. If you're savvy with technology and want to set up multisig by yourself, check out Spectre Solutions.
First, enable two-factor authentication in Settings by clicking Privacy & Security (if you haven't done so already).
Navigate to "Move Money" and select "Self Custody."
Choose between a Manual Withdrawal or an Automatic Withdrawal.
One Time:
Choose an amount of bitcoin to send out of your account.
Enter a valid bitcoin wallet address and confirm. Coinbits App will check that your address is a valid, supporting bitcoin address, but we cannot check whether this address is the one you intended to enter.
Click Continue, and review the information on the confirmation screen. Move the toggle to confirm that you reviewed all the information and that it is correct.
Enter your 2-factor authentication code.
Automatic:
First, enable two-factor authentication in Settings by clicking Privacy & Security (if you haven't done so already).
Next, in under the Move Money menu, click Self Custody.
Choose Threshold or Interval.
Threshold
Threshold will withdraw bitcoin every time the amount available to withdraw reaches the threshold you specify.
First, choose an amount of bitcoin you wish to withdraw automatically.
Enter the invoice address where you wish to withdraw your bitcoin. We recommend copying and pasting your invoice address.
Review the information, and if it looks good, check the box to acknowledge you’ve reviewed it and click “Continue”.
Enter the two-factor authentication code from your authenticator app.
Your bitcoin will be sent. It usually takes a few hours to show up in the new wallet.
Interval
Interval will withdraw all the bitcoin available to withdraw on a schedule you specify.
First, choose a time interval and a start date.
Enter the invoice address where you wish to withdraw your bitcoin. We recommend copying and pasting your invoice address.
Review the information, and if it looks good, check the box to acknowledge you’ve reviewed it and click “Continue”.
Enter the two-factor authentication code from your authenticator app.
When you click the confirmation button, a web page will open with a second confirmation button. Click that one too.
Your bitcoin will be sent. It usually takes a few hours to show up in the new wallet.
Did we miss any key points about self custody or cool products that help people custody their bitcoin? Let us know!
November 23, 2022
There is simply no reason to let "crypto exchanges" have access to your bitcoin. It's time to get serious about self custody. Being a bitcoiner means holding your own private keys.
Director of Product
Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank. It's a money technology breakthrough that lets any regular person hold and control a scarce asset that is also digital. It accomplishes this by way of self-custody, which means that you personally hold the private key to your bitcoin and are the only one with access.
Now that this breakthrough has occurred, there is simply no reason to let "crypto exchanges" have access to your bitcoin. Especially when the third biggest exchange publicly threatens to confiscate your money if they run into problems.
Reflecting on why people continue to keep their bitcoin on exchanges, even when they don't intend to trade it, we are reminded of the idea of learned helplessness. We are so used to money being this thing that big companies and governments get to manipulate at our expense, we just expect to access our money by logging in to a company website.
It's time to get serious about self custody. Being a bitcoiner means holding your own private keys.
Setting up self custody might feel daunting, but it's easier than it might first seem. Read on to learn how much bitcoin to keep in a "hot wallet" on a phone, and how much to keep in "cold storage" with a separate, bitcoin-only hardware device – and how to take custody of the bitcoin your hold in your Coinbits account.
If you need help, reach out! The more bitcoiners hold their own keys, the stronger bitcoin becomes.
As long as you self-custody your bitcoin, you don't need a bank, exchange, or third party custodian to grant you access to your funds. You are in complete control at all times.
This means you can use bitcoin without asking permission from a third party, without transaction limits, and without being locked out on bank holidays.
This uncensored access is vital to the bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoin was designed to be permission-less money – that is, no one can tell you how, when, or how much you can spend. You are in complete control of your money. As you should be.
Risk is a part of being alive – there's no way around that. Self custody is not risk free. However, the type of risk is fundamentally different from the risk of leaving your coins under someone else's control.
When you take custody of your private keys, you take on the risk that you might lose your keys, which would mean losing access to your bitcoin forever.
However, when you let other people manage your keys for you, you take on something called counterparty risk, which means you take on the risk that they might lose your keys, or use your keys to take your money. If this sounds unlikely, consider that the third biggest exchange publicly threatened to confiscate their client's money if they run into problems.
We believe that, while self-custody entails risk, it may be minimized once you understand how to responsibly manage your private keys.
A bitcoin wallet provides you with two codes: A public key and a private key. The public key is the code that people use to send money to that wallet. It doesn't need to be kept secret. However, the private key is what you use to unlock the wallet and spend the bitcoin in it.
You may be surprised to learn that these codes can still work even if they're written down on a piece of paper. Once the codes are generated, they don't need to be stored in software or hardware at all.
However, if you want the convenience of being able to use a phone or computer to monitor your wallet balance, send, or spend your bitcoin, you will need either a wallet app for your smartphone or a hardware wallet device.
Wallet apps
If you search in the Google Play store or the Apple App Store for a crypto wallet, you'll find dozens of options. These apps store your private keys on your phone. This is convenient because it means that you can access your bitcoin whenever you have your phone with you. The downside is that if your phone is hacked, or if the app you used was created by scammers, your coins can be lost.
The pros and cons of wallet apps
Wallet apps are incredibly convenient but pose some security risks as they are connected to the internet. These risks can be reduced by using security features like two-factor authentication, where you need to unlock your phone and enter a PIN to move funds out of your wallet app. However, using a wallet app is always going to entail too many risks to secure large amounts of bitcoin. Wallet apps should only be used for small amounts of bitcoin that you intend to spend or send to friends.
What's the best wallet app?
There are many options for wallet apps, but it is important to be careful when selecting which one to use. If one in particular looks like it might be a good fit for you, do some research to make sure the developer has a good reputation and the app enjoys an active community of users. As you do this research, we recommend taking advice from online resources that are focused on bitcoin rather than cryptocurrency in general.
Hardware wallets (signing devices)
A hardware wallet, which is more accurately called a "signing device," is a miniature electronic device that stores your private keys offline in cold storage. This ensures your funds stay under your control and are inaccessible through the internet. These small hardware devices are designed to protect against hackers and bad actors, while letting you spend your bitcoin in a few steps.
The pros and cons of hardware wallets
The downside of hardware wallets is that they are less convenient when you want to spend bitcoin. However, for large amounts of bitcoin, we strongly believe this inconvenience is worth the extra security. Moreover, the inconvenience really is minimal – if you want to spend bitcoin from your hardware wallet, you simply connect your hardware wallet to your computer, unlock the it with a special code, and make your transaction.
Hardware wallets do pose their own set of risks however. A hardware wallet comes with a "passphrase" that can be used to recover your bitcoin in case you lose the device itself. But, if you lose this passphrase and your hardware wallet, you will lose access to your bitcoin forever. That's why you should write down your passphrase and store it safely in a separate location from your hardware wallet. Some people like to record their passphrases on steel plates so that they are more likely to survive natural disasters.
What's the best hardware wallet?
A few years ago there were only a few options for hardware wallets, but recently there has been an explosion of new products. While this gives you more choices, it also makes choosing a hardware wallet seem harder. How do you know which ones are safe?
While we cannot endorse a specific hardware wallet, you will quickly find that there are three prominent companies that manufacture hardware wallets:
While these are three of the more popular options on the market, it's important to do your own research to figure out which one (if any) is right for you.
And how much should you keep in cold storage?
The answer depends on your preference, but a good rule of thumb is to use a cold wallet when you are storing any amount of bitcoin you don't feel "comfortable" losing.
If you have $50 worth of bitcoin, it might not make sense to purchase a $50 hardware wallet. A hot wallet will provide reasonable security while offering the convenience of access to your bitcoin from your phone at all times.
A cold wallet is best utilized for larger amounts of bitcoin that you want to store securely for long periods of time.
Multisig (short for "multi-signature") is bitcoin software that allows people to divide the responsibility of keeping their private keys among a few people. A multsig wallet requires multiple private keys to authorize the spending of bitcoin. It ensures no single person is able to send or withdraw funds without the the approval of another. It also helps mitigate the risk of loss, because if only one of the pieces of the signature is lost, the others can still be combined to unlock the wallet. Use cases include shared accounts among family members, escrow accounts, and business treasuries.
We don't endorse specific companies or services, but two leading providers of multisig solutions are Nunchuck and Unchained. If you're savvy with technology and want to set up multisig by yourself, check out Spectre Solutions.
First, enable two-factor authentication in Settings by clicking Privacy & Security (if you haven't done so already).
Navigate to "Move Money" and select "Self Custody."
Choose between a Manual Withdrawal or an Automatic Withdrawal.
One Time:
Choose an amount of bitcoin to send out of your account.
Enter a valid bitcoin wallet address and confirm. Coinbits App will check that your address is a valid, supporting bitcoin address, but we cannot check whether this address is the one you intended to enter.
Click Continue, and review the information on the confirmation screen. Move the toggle to confirm that you reviewed all the information and that it is correct.
Enter your 2-factor authentication code.
Automatic:
First, enable two-factor authentication in Settings by clicking Privacy & Security (if you haven't done so already).
Next, in under the Move Money menu, click Self Custody.
Choose Threshold or Interval.
Threshold
Threshold will withdraw bitcoin every time the amount available to withdraw reaches the threshold you specify.
First, choose an amount of bitcoin you wish to withdraw automatically.
Enter the invoice address where you wish to withdraw your bitcoin. We recommend copying and pasting your invoice address.
Review the information, and if it looks good, check the box to acknowledge you’ve reviewed it and click “Continue”.
Enter the two-factor authentication code from your authenticator app.
Your bitcoin will be sent. It usually takes a few hours to show up in the new wallet.
Interval
Interval will withdraw all the bitcoin available to withdraw on a schedule you specify.
First, choose a time interval and a start date.
Enter the invoice address where you wish to withdraw your bitcoin. We recommend copying and pasting your invoice address.
Review the information, and if it looks good, check the box to acknowledge you’ve reviewed it and click “Continue”.
Enter the two-factor authentication code from your authenticator app.
When you click the confirmation button, a web page will open with a second confirmation button. Click that one too.
Your bitcoin will be sent. It usually takes a few hours to show up in the new wallet.
Did we miss any key points about self custody or cool products that help people custody their bitcoin? Let us know!
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