Ask HN: How do you “own your private keys” for cryptocurrencies held Exchanges

3 points

8 years ago

Context: In light of the Coincheck Exchange's hack in Japan, @VinnyLingham‏ tweeted this => https://twitter.com/VinnyLingham/status/938830553477824512

Text of Tweet

> #1 most important rule about owning Bitcoin. If you don’t own the private keys, you don’t own the Bitcoin. Do NOT leave your coins on exchanges!

What does he mean by "Do NOT leave your coins on exchanges"?

My question is, how do you "own your private keys" when trading and holding positions in cryptocurrencies at various exchanges.

The popular ones for US Residents are Kraken, GDAX (Coinbase), Gemini and I think Bitstamp also, so I would like to know the process of doing this if anyone knows.

If the solution is to move your cryptos out into a software or hardware wallet, then doesn't that add new complexities, in that you can really actively trade your positions without a whole bunch of steps and activities?

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