Whenever people think about the cryptocurrency space, who have never experienced what it is like owning, transferring, and storing cryptocurrencies, they might feel a bit of fear.
This is due to the fact that the crypto space has numerous types of wallets, and what people do not understand, they generally fear. However, the cryptocurrency space as it stands today is safer than ever before due to the fact that there are hundreds of solutions out there created to let users store their cryptocurrencies safely. If you learn how to make passive income with crypto, you will also want to keep it secure.
Today, we will be going over how you can store your crypto with peace of mind and no fear of it getting compromised or taken from you. Let’s dive in.
Key Points:
- The cryptocurrency space today is a lot more secure than at any point in its history due to the numerous wallet types available.
- There are hot wallets, cold wallets, custodial wallets, physical wallets, and paper wallets, all of which bring their own pros and cons.
- We will be going over the best practices you can utilize in order to store cryptocurrencies as safely and as securely as possible using any wallet type.
- You can easily accept crypto payments using NOWPayments, which will provide you with all of the required tools to get the job done.
Top 5 practices for storing crypto income
There are numerous types of wallet types that you can access today, all of which have their own pros as well as cons. Today, we will be exploring how you can store your cryptocurrency in each one of these wallet types in the most secure way possible.
- Hot Wallets – these are wallets that are typically offered by a cryptocurrency exchange at the point in time when you create an account. Additionally, under this category fall any other wallet that is browser-based or requires an internet connection, such as MetaMask for example. What this essentially means is that any wallet that has to be online is a hot wallet. The best way for you to secure your hot wallet is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) or if you have a supported device, biometric verification. Additionally, never open the wallet on websites that might be phishing websites; always just open them up on the official wallet page.
- Cold Wallets – these are any wallets that can be disconnected from the internet completely. While to transfer cryptocurrencies to the wallet and back from the wallet, you will need to connect to the internet; these wallets are still the most secure option. Once you transfer your crypto to them, you can just disconnect the USB cable or whatever method you use to connect, after which nobody can access the crypto. The device is then placed in a safe location.
- Custodial Wallets – these wallets are controlled by another party. For example, when you sign up for an exchange, the exchange controls the private keys. This means that if you ever forget your password, you have the convenience of clicking on a “Forgot Password” button and having the third-party exchange reset it for you. However, this is not the most secure option, and it is advisable to switch to a non-custodial wallet, one where you have full control over your private keys and passphrase.
- Physical Wallets – these are wallets that typically come in the form of an external hard drive or USB drive in terms of their look. Some high-end models might even feature LCD displays or even OLED displays, which can showcase specific data. These are wallets that exist in the physical world, not just virtually, and the best way for you to secure them is to lock them up somewhere safe and keep them out of reach from anyone. You can store them in a safe or anywhere else you feel they are the safest.
- Paper Wallets – these are wallets that, as the name implies, come in a physical wallet form. They typically work by having the user individually write them down or by printing out two QR codes. One QR code gets scanned to check the wallet balance, while the other gets scanned to transfer or release the cryptocurrencies to other cryptocurrency wallets. These are the cheapest offline wallet types, but if torn or lost, they could result in the permanent loss of your cryptocurrency. So keep them in an area that is not heavy in terms of humidity, and remember where you have placed them. This is how to store cryptocurrency safely, after you learn how to earn passive income with cryptocurrency.
How to safely accept crypto payments?
Now that you have a much higher level of understanding as to how you can keep your crypto income safe, you might be wondering how you can accept cryptocurrencies, to begin with.
This is possible through the usage of the NOWPayments cryptocurrency payment gateway, which allows businesses to accept over 150 cryptocurrencies. We will now go over everything you need to do in order to accomplish this goal.
- Step 1: Navigate to the Official NOWPayments Website and create your account. If you already have an account, or at the point in time when you create your account, you can just log in.
- Step 2: Configure the Payout Wallet
You will now need to go to “Settings,” after which you need to click on “Payment Settings.” Here, you need to add a Payout wallet.
To do so, click on “Add Another Wallet,” after which you will need to select your preferred cryptocurrency and enter the wallet address. Note that NOWPayments supports over 150 different cryptocurrencies.
- Step 3: Generate an API key
Once you have entered your cryptocurrency wallet, you need to generate an API key. All you need to do here is to essentially click on “add a new key.” You can then review the API documentation in order to see how you can connect the service to your specific use case. The full API key has been covered in the example below.
Conclusion
If you were curious about how to keep your crypto safe, hopefully, you now know everything there is to know about keeping your crypto income as safe as possible. By leveraging the power of NOWPayments, you can easily and efficiently accept cryptocurrency payments in over 150 different cryptocurrencies.
Ensure that you pick a wallet type that works best for you and that you enable all of the proper security measurements in order to get the best possible level of security available. When you learn how to earn passive income with crypto and keep your safe crypto in your wallet, these are the best practices you can implement.
By enabling all of the features custodial wallets have, or switching to a non-custodial, or physical cryptocurrency wallet, you can ensure that you are getting the highest level of security possible when it comes to storing crypto.