HAPPY SATURDAY CRYPTO FAMILY!!!
Today I am here to provide every one with tips and tricks to help avoid common mistakes I have seen over the years when it comes to using a Bitcoin / Crypto Exchange.
#1 Sending Bitcoin to a BitcoinCash (BCASH) "deposit address"
When it comes to an exchange you don't own the private keys to the wallets, the only thing a user is provided with is a "deposit address" meaning you are only going to deposit funds to that specific address. Unlike a personal wallet you won't have the ability to recover your funds by making a mistake of sending one crypto to another crypto wallet. This would be one of the biggest things I run into on a daily basis. The main offender now being People choose to send BITCOIN to another currency called BITCOIN-CASH deposit address. This is resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars being lost. I have proposed the community should force exchanges to list it as BCASH which will clear up majority of the issue of people sending to the wrong wallet.
#2 Sending Ripple or XLM without a proper destination tag or not including a memo
This is another major issue I run into on a day to day basis, I understand that these markets move quickly and you want to move in and out of exchanges to profit more however patience is key in most cases. Rushing to send funds leads to mistakes such as forgetting the Memo or the destination tag. This leads to additional time being wasted to locate a deposit and place it in the right address, which leads to profits not being maximized since it can take time for an exchange to respond to your ticket. My rule of thumb is even though you want to be in an out of trading quickly is to always take your time when making a deposit to another location or withdrawal. Triple check the rules!
- Does the exchange have a deposit minimum where if I send less the funds won't be credited?
- I am sending Bitcoin so let me triple check the deposit address I am sending to to make sure it is a Bitcoin address.
- Triple Check the address, did I copy the whole address or did I happen to miss the first or last letter.
- Does it require a Memo or a destination tag (Ripple,Lumens)
- Confirmation times (how many confirmations does it take for my deposit to clear)
#3 Every exchange has a FAQ and help page on their websites you can avoid waiting on a ticket to be answered by support on any major exchange by typing in your question on the help page. This will save you time and trouble.
Kraken
https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/articles/203325983-Kraken-Help-Center
Bittrex
https://support.bittrex.com/hc/en-us/categories/200049234-FAQ-Frequently-Asked-Questions
Binance
https://support.binance.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000609071-Operation-Guide-for-Help-Center
OkEX
https://support.okex.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000275231-FAQ
GDAX
https://support.gdax.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2425208-gdax-frequently-asked-questions-faq-
#4 Investing in an ICO
When you invest in an ICO I recommend always using a hardware wallet such as Ledger or Trezor however any other personal wallet works just fine. Don't use an exchange to invest in an ICO. The problems that occur with this is split in two
- You don't own the private keys to the addresses as stated above, addresses provided are "deposit addresses" only.
- The withdrawal from an exchange comes from a "Hot wallet" not the "deposit address" you deposited to. So when the ICO returns the tokens you bought into, they are going right into the hot wallet of the exchange and not your own. This leads to lots of funds lost or at least a long waiting period if there is a recovery process.
This can also go for making payments that have a certain time frame window. Don't make payments from the exchange you should again do it from a personal wallet. The problem here can be many things.
- Exchange has down time or maintenance which means your withdrawal won't process in time.
- The hot wallet may be low resulting in funds stuck in a pending phase which means your payment won't make it in time.
- DDOS attacks bringing an exchange down so they can mitigate will also lead to this.
- I could continue to go on however I believe you guys get the point now.
#5 Not Using 2fa to Secure your account
In the Crypto world we live in today you have all seen the stories. Phishing attacks, fake twitter names giving away free money if you send to them first. Hackers work every day to steal from other people. One of the first things I tell everyone I get into crypto is to make sure you secure your account with 2fa.
- Google Authenticator
- Authy
- Yubikey
These are all great options to give your account extra security. A lot of users have their emails hacked which leads to easy access to their account on an exchange if you are not using 2fa. PLEASE PROTECT YOURSELVES!
My goal in all I accomplish besides contributing to projects and continuing to work in Crypto-space is to give the community of new comers the real advice they need to succeed, so they can turn to a friend and get them involved. As a community we must grow to point out scammers and provide actual advice.
All I see is technical analysis videos and videos of people telling other people what coins to buy when they are already +20% - 30% in the green at the time of making the video. While I agree that these are also parts of Crypto and not everyone who does them falls into the same category however we as a community need to do better providing the basics to new comers so they don't make these 5 simple mistakes along with many more I see on a daily basis.
Guys My name is CryptoMaAk please feel free to come to me with any questions you have or even issues you have run into when it comes to using an exchange. I want to help people make money while also saving them money by making costly mistakes.
-Exchange Expert and Advice
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- Professional HODLER since 2013
See you all at one trillion!
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