Are bitcoin exchange sites safe?

[whatupjeffy]

I googled a few and a lot of them seem sketchy with weird popups and poorly made sites. There are a couple that seem very professional. How do I know if its legit.

[phil22]

you have to mainly go by reputation -- googling what people say about them is about all you can do.  using a google search like "kraken site:reddit.com/r/bitcoinmarkets" should help show you what experienced traders think of an exchange.  (i don't recommend kraken).

coinbase.com is the big one and it's legit.  gemini is also legit.  there are few others but you should be fine with either of those, depending on your location.

no matter what exchange you choose, don't buy more crypto than you can stand to lose and first learn how to set up a secure offline wallet (electrum, trezor, or ledger) to store your coins.  do not use exchanges for storing coins.  practice storing and retrieving small amounts of coins first before buying a significant amount.

[jaykim0505]

A lot of them are questionable, especially the ones with the weird domains like rxhgsdl.com. I just stick with bithumb since they are the biggest exchange for bitcoin at the moment.

[whatupjeffy]

Well thanks for sharing and as for bithumb it seems they have english support but do they let  people outside of Korea register?

[jaykim0505]

Well thanks for sharing and as for bithumb it seems they have english support but do they let  people outside of Korea register?

Of course. There's no way they are trading at that volume if it were only for koreans. On a side note, they have one of the best (lowest) transaction fees. It's like .15%. A lot of places are in the .18-.20% range.

[neonlight]

Hi, try to do the followings to determine:

1. team and company visibility - make sure that the team and company profile are sufficiently highlighted, this includes business address and linkedin profile.

2. safety - trusted exchanges have 2-factor authentication as an option. I would frown upon any sites that don't offer this feature.

3. trading volume - In theory the bigger the better. The bigger the trading volume the more reputable but an easier target for hackers. Coinbase, bittrex, kraken, bitfinex are site with heavy trade volumes.

And to be honest, anyone that trades heavily on cyrptocurrency should always store their coins in their own offline computer or hardware wallet. This means having the private key only to yourself, this is the only way to proof you *REALLY* own the coins.

Remember, at the end of the day, many reputable sites get hacked and there is no strong government oversight yet. If you are just starting out I'd say don't sweat it and keep your coins in the exchanges until you are comfortable with how things work in the cryptoworld, slowly as you increase your holdings or go long term, then move your coins somewhere where you can own your private key.

PS: If you can share which site you are referring to maybe someone can offer some experience.

[whatupjeffy]

Hi, try to do the followings to determine:

1. team and company visibility - make sure that the team and company profile are sufficiently highlighted, this includes business address and linkedin profile.

2. safety - trusted exchanges have 2-factor authentication as an option. I would frown upon any sites that don't offer this feature.

3. trading volume - In theory the bigger the better. The bigger the trading volume the more reputable but an easier target for hackers. Coinbase, bittrex, kraken, bitfinex are site with heavy trade volumes.

And to be honest, anyone that trades heavily on cyrptocurrency should always store their coins in their own offline computer or hardware wallet. This means having the private key only to yourself, this is the only way to proof you *REALLY* own the coins.

Remember, at the end of the day, many reputable sites get hacked and there is no strong government oversight yet. If you are just starting out I'd say don't sweat it and keep your coins in the exchanges until you are comfortable with how things work in the cryptoworld, slowly as you increase your holdings or go long term, then move your coins somewhere where you can own your private key.

PS: If you can share which site you are referring to maybe someone can offer some experience.

Thank for sharing, really appreciate it

[whatupjeffy]

Well thanks for sharing and as for bithumb it seems they have english support but do they let  people outside of Korea register?

Of course. There's no way they are trading at that volume if it were only for koreans. On a side note, they have one of the best (lowest) transaction fees. It's like .15%. A lot of places are in the .18-.20% range.

Oh ok. It looks like I can register. i'll look into it. Appreciated!

[neonlight]

Well thanks for sharing and as for bithumb it seems they have english support but do they let  people outside of Korea register?

They should since they are now the largest exchange by volume.

Having said, please take a look at the traded currency, I believe it's still Korean Won which means a big majority user are Koreans (unless the exchange force you to exchange and trade in Korean Won which is illogical).

Interesting point, check out how Bithumb and other Korean exchanges totally dominate BCC, they account to almost half the daily traded volume. I smell something going on in Korea and BCC, some say it's related to the government ;)