Do These 4 Things to Invest in Crypto Safely

The crypto space is sometimes referred to as the "Wild West" for investors. For this reason, understanding the dangers and how to avoid them is extremely important before investing in any crypto asset.

Don’t learn the hard way; take responsibility ahead of time by learning the basic precautions and safety measures needed before making your first investment.

The security and safety of buying, transferring, and storing your digital assets is your responsibility.

This can be difficult to understand and, for some, to accept. For example, bank deposits are insured by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), who will cover $250,000. In addition, many assume that the government will bail them out if anything goes wrong. This financial responsibility has moved away from individuals to the government and financial institutions. However, with crypto assets, the responsibility is completely yours.

Luckily, some safety nets exist; however, you are responsible for setting them up yourself. The good news is that setting them up isn’t complicated.

Install Antivirus Software

As cyberattacks are becoming more common, installing antivirus software is necessary to protect everything you do online. The cyberattack statistics are plentiful with 41% of Americans encountering fraudulent credit card charges, 35% receiving notices that some type of sensitive information like an account number has been compromised, and 16% having their email accounts taken over. There are many antivirus software companies to choose from. Here is a list of well-known free ones to choose from.

Although installing antivirus software isn’t fool-proof, it will help a lot. You will still need to practice common sense and take other precautions.

Stop Using the Same Password for Everything

Having over 100 different usernames and passwords for all your online activities can make using the same passwords conveniently tempting. However, this is a horrible idea. No matter how strong your one password is, you are not protected. Getting into the crypto asset space requires new crypto exchange accounts, digital wallets, and plenty of new passwords to go with these accounts. Therefore, you must do the following:

• Avoid the obvious. Read this article to learn how 10 million passwords were hacked. It shows things like the most passwords used and how adding a number to your password doesn't necessarily make your it more difficult to hack.
• Include a space. From this list of 550 million passwords, only 0.03% of them used a space.
• Use length over complexity. We are often asked to include capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, which results in a password of different characters. This formula, however, isn’t what you should be using. Length is much better than this type of complexity. Use this toolto check how secure a password is and how long it would take to hack. Please do not use your real password on this site. You’ll be surprised at how easy short, complex passwords are to hack. Use a long, uncommon quote from a movie or a long sentence only you know and can easily remember.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

Creating an account with a crypto exchange requires an e-mail address (or username), a unique password, and identity verification by providing ID copies, proof of address and bank details.

You'll also need to verify your identity with the exchange – providing ID copies, proof of address, and maybe your bank details. After approval, you can start buying cryptocurrencies.

However, you don’t want to stop there because your account is only protected with a password. To have more security, you need a two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is a second layer of security above and beyond your username and password. All exchanges either allow or require you to add 2FA. In addition, you can select 2FA for withdrawals from your account as well, which provides an extra layer of security. The three most common ways to add 2FA protection to your exchange accounts are:

1. Text message verification. To log in to the exchange, you'll need your username, password and a short security code that will be texted to your mobile phone.
2. E-mail verification. To log in to the exchange, you will need to click on a link that is sent to your registered email address.
3. 2FA application verification. To log in to the exchange, you’ll need to a code that is generated every 60 seconds by the authenticator application you’ve chosen. The most popular applications are Google Authenticator and Authy. These apps can be downloaded from your phone’s App Store.

Triple-Check the Website Address

A typical phishing scam will create a website that looks identical to the original; the only difference will be that the website address has just one different character. For example, the scammers website for mybitcoinwallet.com may be mybitcoinwatlet. They may add this website to chat groups, blogs, and internet forums, or you may receive an urgent email to update your information by clicking on the link. If you click on the link and input your private account details on this fake website, they will have the information needed to steal all of your funds. Always check the website address closely to make sure it’s the real one. In additions, make sure the address always begins with "https" – the "s" means there's a security certificate issued.

These best practices are the foundation for secure crypto investing. If you want some more tips, check out our 10 tips to become a successful crypto investor in the "Special Reports" section of the website.