Guide To Protecting Your Crypto

A lot of scams are ongoing in cryptoland and I wanted to share some ways to ensure you don’t become a victim and go about your life worry-free.

It is more likely you will be indiscreetly scammed than your account will be hacked. Most the time, nothing can be undone if your funds are withdrawn out of your wallet. Therefore, the onus is on you to protect your investments.

Here is a list of things I currently implement. If you think this is going overboard, don’t invest in crypto. You run a high risk of being another statistic in this sub posting something like “I was hacked and my funds are gone”.

Use a fresh email address for every wallet and exchange account you open

Mitigate the risk of your email being compromised. If a scammer, hacker, malware, whatever compromises your email, don’t let that be the endgame for everything you do and own. Putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t smart. Do not use the email you opened up 8 years ago, extensively used it for your entire online life, and shared its existence with thousands of websites. Data breaches occur all the time. The fewer links to your crypto accounts, the better. Enable 2FA. Use Gmail Advanced Protection Program if you require it.

Use strong passwords coupled with 2FA

If your password is “hornymonkey” go and change it. Use lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and characters. Eg. “69^{%HorNYm0nk3y#}” Write all your passwords down. Don’t use the same password as social media accounts. Fucking everybody is selling your data. For the love of God, don’t use the same password on everything you own! Every account password should be unique.

2FA stands for 2 Factor Authentication. It is a one-time, time sensitive code that is sent to you when logging in. Do NOT use SMS or email 2FA. Your email can be compromised, your number can be spoofed. Buy a Yubikey. Use a second Yubikey as a back up. Research what a Yubikey is. Don’t be cheap.

Bookmark legit websites

Pishing links download malware on your device. Don’t click on 3rd party links, scam emails, or anything asking you to enter your account login or seed phrase.

Use a dedicated computer

If you can’t afford this, then create a dedicated user account.

Buy the best antivirus you can afford

Bitdefender antivirus is the industry leader. (EDIT: Removed Norton this sub seems to really hate it). It has one of the best malware detection. Couple this with a VPN. I researched this a lot, other companies just don’t have a high enough virus and malware detection rate.

Think twice about using your phone as your crypto wallet

A ton of accounts being drained are through hot wallets on phones. This could be due to phishing links, honeypot websites, public wifi, or some porn website. Use a cold wallet instead. I only use Metamask temporarily, or couple it with Ledger for staking.

Buy a Ledger or Trezor cold wallet

We have all heard the phrase “Not your keys, not your coins”. If you are serious about security, this is extremely important. Exchanges can go insolvent in bear markets, or get hacked. Even if your computer is somehow compromised, a hardware wallet will keep your crypto safe. Unless you forget or share your seedphrase, your coins won’t be lost/stolen.

Write down passwords and your seedphrase

Don’t type your passwords in Notes on your phone. Don’t take a picture of your seedphrase. No digital copies of these things should exist anywhere.

Do test transactions before sending 100% of your coins

Send small test transactions first. This ensures you don’t have active malware auto-entering a scammer’s address instead of your own.

Feel free to add or share more. Do as many of these as your budget allows. Obviously if you are investing $20, then utilise everything that is free.