Risk management firm Elliptic just released a report that says $10.5 billion will be lost to theft and fraud in the cryptocurrency world in 2021. That's a $1.5 billion increase from Elliptic's 2020 estimate. I don't have details about Bitcoin, but the general idea of what I'm going to explain here applies to Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies.
The first thing I would like to say is that I am not surprised by the increase in this number. We're in a bull market, and it makes sense that hacker appetite would grow as the price of assets in that market rises. The higher the rewards, the higher the motivation for hackers. That's obvious.
The irreversible nature of blockchain transactions like Bitcoin makes it virtually impossible to recover stolen money. So it's important to remember once again that while Bitcoin gives you power over your money, it's up to you to take responsibility for the security of the fruits of your labor.
To take power with Bitcoin, you must take responsibility for the security of your BTC
No pain, no gain in life. You cannot expect to take control of your life by letting someone else take charge of it , as it is in the current monetary and financial system.
However, protecting your bitcoins is not a big deal in my opinion. The first rule is well known: not your keys, not your bitcoins . Therefore, you should absolutely conquer your Bitcoin private keys by getting it off the exchanges. Once you do this, you will be protected by two things:
Possible hacks on these exchange platforms. Remember the story of the Mt Gox heist of 850,000 BTC in early 2014 d. The risk of censorship by the exchange platform that can act as powerful people in the current system.
After sending your bitcoins to cold storage, the next risk is losing your passphrase, which will allow you to regain access to your private keys at any time from any wallet. It's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Your opening phrase is the key to your future financial freedom. It is the most precious thing there is. Treat it as such.
All scams have the same goal: to take your bitcoins
The last and most important weakness in securing your Bitcoins is you!
In fact, if you look at all the frauds that have occurred in history, they all exploit two human emotions: greed and gullibility. And they are all looking for one thing: to take your Bitcoin. As I always say, if something looks like a scam, it is a scam. With this mantra in mind, you will avoid sending your bitcoins to someone who promises you an exclusive investment or sends you 2x more BTC in return.
Remember the Twitter hack in the summer of 2020. with hackers using the accounts of celebrities like Elon Musk and Bill Gates to steal Bitcoin from greedy and gullible people.
This may sound brutal to you, but I don't feel sorry for those people who send bitcoins to so-called Elon Musk or Bill Gates in the hope that they will send them x2 more BTC in return. Take a step back and you will see that this is impossible.
There is nothing more valuable than hard money like Bitcoin, except time. Do you think someone will give you bitcoins like this for no reason? Bitcoin is too valuable for that to happen.
Final thoughts
If you want to get Bitcoin, you don't have thousands of options:
- Buy BTC by exchanging fiat currency.
- Request payment in BTC for your work.
- Sell goods in BTC.
- Become a Bitcoin Miner to protect the Bitcoin network.
It is!
Everything else is just a potential scam. With this in mind, you won't come across any more scams. It's a certainty. Those who have complete trust in Bitcoin never fall for these scams because they know their Bitcoin is too valuable to be sent to questionable strangers this way.
It is up to you to follow these rules to the letter and you will see that the security of your Bitcoins will be ensured in the long run.