The arrival of cryptocurrency has brought with it a world of financial possibilities. But by doing so, it also opened its doors to an array of new risks. Stories of exchange hacks, phishing attacks, and fraud have been doing the rounds in news headlines lately, meaning the security of your crypto assets has never been so crucial than it is today. Whether a beginner or well-established trader, ensuring your funds are secure becomes of prime concern.
Fortunately, there are best practices that one can follow to essentially reduce the chances of losing one’s assets to theft or scams. In this article, we outline a number of important strategies you should consider in a bid to ensure safety while trading cryptocurrencies. If you want to swap usdt to btc, then websites like Exolix offer secure, anonymous, and fast swaps and are a great starting point to safe trading.
1. Choose a Reliable and Secure Exchange
First of all, when trading crypto, security is ensured by the kind of platform chosen. Not all exchanges are created equally: some are better in terms of security than others. Make sure to choose an exchange that has a high policy toward safety and good reputation in the crypto community.
Some things one would want to factor into account with a crypto exchange include:
Reputation: Look for customer testimonials and feedback to ensure the facilitator enjoys a good reputation concerning security and customer support. Security Features: Opt for those platforms that incorporate 2FA, encrypted connection, and cold storage solutions.
Non-custodial exchanges like Exolix do not store your assets; therefore, they are less susceptible to hacks. On the Exolix platform, you retain the ownership of your assets, with no need to create an account on this platform or go through lengthy Know Your Customer procedures, thus further maintaining your privacy.
2. Enable Two-factor Authentication
The most relaxed yet efficient way to give your crypto account that extra layer of security is two-factor authentication, 2FA. This is going to require not only your password but also a second form of verification-something like a code sent to your mobile phone or actually generated via an authenticating app, like those from Google Authenticator or Authy.
Here’s how 2FA enhances security:
Even when someone steals your password, they will never log in without the second form of verification.
It incorporates another step into the procedure that makes it impossible for a hacker to easily gain access to your account-even when your credentials show up in any data breach.
Enable 2FA on all cryptocurrency exchange accounts, and related services such as email or wallet apps.
3. Store Long-term in Hardware Wallets
In cases of large amounts or where you hold a cryptocurrency or assets which you are not planning to trade frequently, you can consider storing them on a hardware wallet. Hardware wallets are physical devices that keep your private keys offline to protect them from online hacks and malware.
Hardware wallets, like Ledger or Trezor, are more secure against software wallets or just leaving one’s funds on an exchange. They are also encumbered with PINs and recovery phrases in case a wallet gets stolen-meaning that someone who stole it will not have immediate access to your funds.
Long-term investment safety can be ensured by the use of hardware wallets, especially if one intends to keep their assets out of the reach of cybercriminals.
4. Keep Your Software and Firmware Up to Date
Perhaps the easiest, simplest security step is keeping devices and software current and up-to-date. This tends to be overlooked frequently. Cybercriminals are always searching for a weakness in un-updated software. To be sure, you:
Keep your desktop and mobile wallets, as well as hardware wallets, updated with operating system updates.
Use the most updated wallet apps and trading platforms to benefit from new security patches and features.
When possible, enable automatic updates so you are automatically protected from attacks without having to go searching for new versions of the software yourself. 5. Be Cognizant of Phishing Attacks
The most widespread approaches of hackers for crypto asset theft are phishing attacks. Generally, such kinds of attacks involve emails or messages, or websites looking like some well-known service with the aim of forcing users to give away sensitive information such as passwords, private keys, or 2FA codes.
Here would be some tips on how to avoid phishing attacks:
Also, double-check the websites’ URLs at which one would enter personal information, as bad actors sometimes open fake websites that use addresses very similar to real websites with minor spelling differences.
Never click on links in unsolicited emails or messages received that purport to come from any exchange or wallet provider. Go directly to the official website by manually typing the URL into your browser.
Anti-phishing codes can be enabled on some exchanges, which will let you verify if an email you receive from them actually originated from them.
6. Leverage Non-Custodial Platforms for Greater Privacy
The bottom line is if it were a matter of privacy and security, consider a non-custodial platform like Exolix. What does this mean? Non-custodial platforms do not hold your funds. That means at no time has any of your assets ever been on the server of the platform. You keep full control over your private keys and can trade cryptocurrencies straight from your wallet.
For example, with Exolix, you can have fast, untraceable swaps without needing to open an account. Trading happens directly via a non-custodial platform, minimizing your exposure in cases of hacked exchanges and giving you more control over your assets.
You can also convert USDT to BTC on Exolix with no extra hidden fees or risks of losing your assets to some greedy centralized exchanges. Check out Exolix to see just how easy and secure trading can be.
7. Use Strong, Unique Passwords
A strong password serves as your first line of defense against the hacker. The best practice would be to avoid using very easily guessable passwords, such as your name or birth date, and instead use much longer, more complex ones with combinations of letters, numbers, and special characters.
Further, it is worth trying to have a different password for each of your accounts. This can prevent a chain reaction in the event of one of your accounts being compromised.
Use a password manager to securely store complex passwords. Thus, you won’t need to remember them, yet your accounts would be better protected.
