This might be an interesting question to many people. I bought the crypto with my own money and it sits in the exchange that only I have the username and password to log in to it, of course, it is mine!
Little do you know that you can wake up the next morning realizing the exchange you have been storing your coins on has been hacked. Now you cannot log in to the exchange to transfer out any money. In this case, is the crypto still really yours?
Other scenarios that make your question the reality
Let's be real, exchanges do not get hacked that often. Although we see it happens few times a year, not everyone will face it. However, exchanges more often than not limit how much you can transact, limit when you can log in to your account (maintenance time), and can also deny access to your account. Imagine having the urgent need to sell a coin but when you try to log in to your account, the exchange is under maintenance and you had to wait a few hours. After that few hours, your chance to sell is gone. This should make you question the reality that, are your coins really yours if you cannot access them anytime you want?
What is the problem here?
There are many popular exchanges out there that many people use - Binance, Coinbase, HUOBI, OKEx, Kraken. They help people buy and sell coins and store the coins on their platform. You create a username and password and pass their KYC to start using their services. When you want to buy or sell or withdraw your crypto, everything is done through their system, they are basically acting like a middle man - like a bank.
There is nothing wrong with working as a bank, am I right? Like many real-world banks, they are secure, well regulated, and full of services to help you. However, in crypto, things are much more different. In almost every country, there are no laws to protect crypto holders from exchanges yet. You also cannot know whether the exchanges are well managed or not. If something happens with your crypto inside the exchanges, you have to bear all the losses as no laws are saying the exchanges should deal with it for you. To be precise, you are at a disadvantage, and will only you will be responsible for any mistakes the exchange caused.
Be your own bank
What if we tell you that you don't need exchanges to buy, sell and store your crypto? You can be your own bank.
A hardware wallet like the ELLIPAL Titan lets you buy, sell and store crypto securely and your funds are 100% yours and can only be accessed by you anytime, anywhere. How this works is that you have full control of your private keys.
What are private keys?
Private keys are a unique set of numbers and letters that only belongs to your crypto wallet account. The private key is required to grant access to any transaction and also works as a backup to your wallet. It is unique to you and only you have it when you create a new account on a wallet. As an analogy, it is a safe key to your wealth that only you have control of it.
Hardware wallets can communicate directly to the blockchain. You will not need a middle-man like an exchange to buy, sell or store anymore. Every action you do on a wallet is verified and secured by the private key so only you have access to it. Furthermore, the private key can help you recover your crypto even when your hardware wallet becomes broken. You simply just need a new wallet.
If you never want to be blocked out from your coins or lose your coins because of other people's mistakes, it is best to use a hardware wallet and be your own bank instead of using other people's bank.
Best Hardware Wallet
The best hardware wallet we recommend is the ELLIPAL Titan Cold Wallet. Not only you can buy, sell and store crypto just like an exchange, but it also keeps your crypto incredibly secure. The hardware is 100% air-gapped meaning any online hacking is not possible. It is also tamper-proof meaning physical attacks are not possible. With full protection of your coins and freedom to access it whenever you want, the ELLIPAL Titan is perfect to be own personal bank.