I haven't used Gemini, but as far as I can tell its just another exchange just like all others, and if you have your crypto held by them then you dont own it and you can lose it anytime.
You can create a software wallet OR a purchase hardware wallet to keep your crypto secure.
Software wallet like Exodus is free and supports most blockchains. You can run it on your desktop or your mobile. I suggest running it on a device thats dedicated to holding your crypto that is not used to download a lot of stuff and that you dont carry around. Make sure to create backup and write down the pass phrase and keep it somewhere safe.
You can also use hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezr. They are expensive, but for a tech novice it is the best way to keep crypto secure.
However if you are tech savvy (even if you dont know too much about crypto), I suggest investing a little time to learn how these wallets work, and you can install a software wallet thats as secure as the hardware wallets, but not worry about these hardware wallets having some bugs preinstalled (I wont rule that out!)
You're missing one very important aspect of the hardware wallet: transactions are signed on the device and not on the computer/endpoint like a software wallet.
Your private keys never get touched, written, displayed, put on RAM/disk, etc with a hardware device.
Also, Metamask which is a popular extension for use with DeFi has the ability to integrate with hardware wallets so you get the best of both worlds.
Hardware wallets are not for 'novices' as you suggest, they are for people who are truly serious about their security.
Your private keys never get touched, written, displayed, put on RAM/disk, etc with a hardware device.
Except, you are trusting these startup companies did not do any tampering with their hardware like a backdoor for instance. If I was building a company like that, I would be very very very tempted to "accidentally" leave a small debugging backdoor for someday in future.
Personally this is what I do, which I consider to be the most secure way to save your crypto. I wrote a small script on my macbook from early 2000s that I dont use for anything else. This script generated the addresses and the corresponding BIP passphrase, and displayed the address on screen. I transferred the crypto I am hodling to these addresses. This wallet exists only on a couple pieces of paper as BIP phrase and nowhere else. Far far more secure than a hardware wallet which you dont know what is really inside it.
I would have to argue with you on that. A software wallet is just not going to be as secure as a Trezor or Ledger (personally I like Trezor more because they require no identifying information for making a wallet on Trezor, Ledger asks for an email address). Even if you are tech savvy enough to program your own software wallet, you may leave vulnerabilities in your software and you you have to keep the software up to date with upgrades happening on your cryptocurrencies.
These hardware wallets have been audited several times by prominent tech companies. The only way to take someones funds on a hardware wallet is to physically take their hardware wallet and computer they use to make transactions (unless they know the hardware wallet seed words which would never be typed in on a computer in the first place).
People think of wallets as active entities. They are literally a public and private key pair and a mneumonic. Once you send your cryptos to that address, it does not have to exist anywhere digitally.
My friend uses Nano ledger and got an email that all their customer data was recently compromised. Of course it does not compromise the device itself, but does not give me the warm and fuzzy feeling such a company should be oozing.
Do I think you will lose your crypto you stored on Nano Ledger if you safeguarded the device? Highly unlikely. However, it's not a zero probability. I wont rule out the 0.1 % chance that there is a backdoor in the device.
As for Monero - I know that its one of the very few cryptos that guarantee complete anonymity. For me this raises the curiosity to understand how this works from a blockchain point of view. If the details of which address owns how much crypto is not stored in the blockchain for everyone to see, how does it work? Been too lazy to do the research.
I vaguely remember the origins of Monero connected to some Globalists - but I might be wrong. I know one of Dorsey's buddy boys (Alex Gladstein) was pushing Monero at one point, and that makes me wary as well.
Simple answer - I havent done the full research and I havent bought any Monero.
I haven't used Gemini, but as far as I can tell its just another exchange just like all others, and if you have your crypto held by them then you dont own it and you can lose it anytime.
You can create a software wallet OR a purchase hardware wallet to keep your crypto secure.
Software wallet like Exodus is free and supports most blockchains. You can run it on your desktop or your mobile. I suggest running it on a device thats dedicated to holding your crypto that is not used to download a lot of stuff and that you dont carry around. Make sure to create backup and write down the pass phrase and keep it somewhere safe.
You can also use hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezr. They are expensive, but for a tech novice it is the best way to keep crypto secure.
However if you are tech savvy (even if you dont know too much about crypto), I suggest investing a little time to learn how these wallets work, and you can install a software wallet thats as secure as the hardware wallets, but not worry about these hardware wallets having some bugs preinstalled (I wont rule that out!)
You're missing one very important aspect of the hardware wallet: transactions are signed on the device and not on the computer/endpoint like a software wallet.
Your private keys never get touched, written, displayed, put on RAM/disk, etc with a hardware device.
Also, Metamask which is a popular extension for use with DeFi has the ability to integrate with hardware wallets so you get the best of both worlds.
Hardware wallets are not for 'novices' as you suggest, they are for people who are truly serious about their security.
Except, you are trusting these startup companies did not do any tampering with their hardware like a backdoor for instance. If I was building a company like that, I would be very very very tempted to "accidentally" leave a small debugging backdoor for someday in future.
Personally this is what I do, which I consider to be the most secure way to save your crypto. I wrote a small script on my macbook from early 2000s that I dont use for anything else. This script generated the addresses and the corresponding BIP passphrase, and displayed the address on screen. I transferred the crypto I am hodling to these addresses. This wallet exists only on a couple pieces of paper as BIP phrase and nowhere else. Far far more secure than a hardware wallet which you dont know what is really inside it.
I would have to argue with you on that. A software wallet is just not going to be as secure as a Trezor or Ledger (personally I like Trezor more because they require no identifying information for making a wallet on Trezor, Ledger asks for an email address). Even if you are tech savvy enough to program your own software wallet, you may leave vulnerabilities in your software and you you have to keep the software up to date with upgrades happening on your cryptocurrencies.
These hardware wallets have been audited several times by prominent tech companies. The only way to take someones funds on a hardware wallet is to physically take their hardware wallet and computer they use to make transactions (unless they know the hardware wallet seed words which would never be typed in on a computer in the first place).
I hardware wallet for me
Haha I love your username!
People think of wallets as active entities. They are literally a public and private key pair and a mneumonic. Once you send your cryptos to that address, it does not have to exist anywhere digitally.
https://greatawakening.win/p/141FOYBPNp/x/c/4OTNVab3FfE
I know these kind of tech companies too well and the kind of people who run them, I will never trust my savings with them.
Do you have any good links/resources for introducing people to setting up a paper wallet?
I will try and put together something
Have you used a Nano Ledger before? and what is your opinion on XMR?
My friend uses Nano ledger and got an email that all their customer data was recently compromised. Of course it does not compromise the device itself, but does not give me the warm and fuzzy feeling such a company should be oozing.
Do I think you will lose your crypto you stored on Nano Ledger if you safeguarded the device? Highly unlikely. However, it's not a zero probability. I wont rule out the 0.1 % chance that there is a backdoor in the device.
As for Monero - I know that its one of the very few cryptos that guarantee complete anonymity. For me this raises the curiosity to understand how this works from a blockchain point of view. If the details of which address owns how much crypto is not stored in the blockchain for everyone to see, how does it work? Been too lazy to do the research.
I vaguely remember the origins of Monero connected to some Globalists - but I might be wrong. I know one of Dorsey's buddy boys (Alex Gladstein) was pushing Monero at one point, and that makes me wary as well.
Simple answer - I havent done the full research and I havent bought any Monero.