As some of you may be aware, many mainstream exchanges and wallets are experiencing technical troubles currently. Even the massive coinbase (one service I've never trusted) has been down today.
As the price of BTC skyrockets, and demand for entering the crypto market does as well, much chaos is to be expected. There are many things one can do to help lessen the madness, and simultaneously increase privacy/reduce one's online transactions footprint. One of these things is to simply create a private market in your own community.
Creating a private market is easy.
- Make paper wallets (or just use non-exchange/non-remote server-hosted wallets, depending on preference).
- Meet up with folks you know who want to buy or sell crypto.
- One party pays fiat and the other party receives crypto.
This is also an excellent way to help onboard newbies who aren't sure how to enter the market. Getting one's first coins is often the hardest part. There are often a million hoops to jump through, and privacy-compromising steps such as submitting myriad documents to identify oneself must often be taken. Making a local market with trusted individuals eliminates these negative aspects.
I, for one, prefer paper wallets as they are created offline and are not tied to any personal information/identification. Privacy, for me, is paramount.
CAVEAT: Some sites such as https://localbitcoins.net/ provide networking services to help crypto holders connect and trade crypto for fiat face-to-face. Privacy here is of course not guaranteed. Meeting strangers always carries with it an element of risk, and government officials are already monitoring such sites and even going undercover to sell to their "persons of interest." Of course, there is nothing "illegal" about using these sites, and I am not advocating using them for "criminal activity," but if you value real privacy, meeting up with friends and trusted individuals in your own locale is of course the safest bet.
That caveat out of the way, VOLUNTARY ON, and GOOD LUCK. Your money is yours, and it's nobody else's goddamn business.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
You're dead right mate, many of the exchanges are struggling with volume right now and often go down convienently right as you want to sell, only to come back online when the price has swung against you!
Privacy will be even more paramount when our criminal governments realise they're losing the battle and are desperate for another tax stream.
I've never trusted the exchanges and those who are foolish enough to hold their coins on them will rue the day at some point.
I keep the majority of my coins on 'cold storage' to ensure their safety. Paper wallets or devices like the ledger blue, naans s or trezor are the best way to ensure your coins are safe from theft.
Nice on Graham.
Thank You @Kafkanarchy84 for this Post...
Have been following You for more than 2 months since Linda (aka Canadian-Coconut ) pointed me in Your direction...
Keep Up the Great Posts Graham... Thanks Again.
Cheers !!
Cheers, @sacred-agent. Thanks!
since i lost some bitcoins some years back i have used paper wallet, they are safer , the exchanges will continue to have problems as the demand for cryptos reach a fever pitch, even SBD is climbing and people are cashing in
Sorry I have a new question... does leaving a digital wallet address for receipt of crypto leave one vulnerable to exploit? For example.... if I left this address to receive bitcoin donations here? 18mW7VvEiqxJxZWashUtjgk8YmeWrAZsB9
If that is a public address (receive address) it does not leave your coins vulnerable. However, if privacy is a big concern, enough transactions being logged to said address could technically increase the chances of the address being able to be linked to your personal identity through some advanced internet sleuthing. Hope this helps. It's a pretty common practice for many to post a receive address for donations, though.
Excellent suggestions my friend, you are right with each passing day crypto exchanges behavior going worst and i like your suggestion especially,
thanks for sharing such nice suggestions with us, Stay awesome.
Nice informative article. You are right privacy should be our main concern.
Nice subject, thank you
Thank you for personal advice, such information is useful for smart people.
Steembay on here or even the Steem classified tools could be used as well.
Thanks for sharing this perspective @kafkanarchy84! It's one of those simple things that you don't always think about, especially when other types of technology are frequently available.
I'm digging the simple approach here. Cheers!