As you probably heard by now BTC-e appears they may have gone the way of the GOX! After being around for years, rumors are they are gone, possibly with no intention to return deposited funds they still control!
As of writing this is their homepage: https://btc-e.com/
What is a Private Key?
Private Keys are the building blocks for how cryptocurrency works. Your Private Key(s) unlock your coins on the BlockChain! Without the correct Private Key, you can not access your funds.
What is a Wallet?
Wallets are nothing more than a piece of software that you use to access and interact with the BlockChain. Some are Command Line Interfaced more commonly known as CLI, others more common among the average user are Graphical User Interfaced or GUI. Both types of wallets simply allow you the user to do all the different things you want with the BlockChain.
How do Private Keys and Wallets work together?
Your wallet stores the entire BlockChain (or at least has some form of api access to it), but without the proper key it has no way to know how many coins you control and can not send or receive coins! You load your Private Key into your Wallet in order to access your funds and perform all the functions you expect such as Send and Receive.
What do exchanges have to do with all of this?
Exchanges do NOT give you your private key. They control the Private Keys and therefor THEY have full control over YOUR funds! When an exchange (or and 3rd party) decides to perform the classic "Exit Scam" or just simply gets hacked, YOUR funds are stolen! You have almost no recourse to get your funds back and you accept a full loss! By controlling your private keys and learning to secure them properly, you have a much smaller risk of your funds being stolen than keeping them on an exchange.
Read more
https://www.coindesk.com/coindesk-explainer-btc-e-arrest-mt-gox-connection-big-news/
Paper and hardware wallets are the way to go. The paper wallet that I use for my ethereum and erc-20 coins, which has worked great so far, is myetherwallet.com The other option, the hardware wallet is probably the safest option out there right now for storing your cryptos. The hardware wallet that I use and would recommend is the trezor. website: https://shop.trezor.io/ Any wallet where you hold the private key is the best kind of wallet. Better safe then sorry! Great post @bigdeej keep on steemin!
Agreed very sound advise! Times like this remind us why we PREACH to have your own method of storing your keys. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the clear and practical tips.
BTC-e exchange associated with arrest in Greece - in the case of money laundering through bitcoin
https://steemit.com/news/@niceviewsua/btc-e-exchange-associated-with-arrest-in-greece-in-the-case-of-money-laundering-through-bitcoin
which place is safe from the government goons?
only place would be a brain key you memorize and hope you never forget I suppose. Good question thanks for reading!
bigdeej,
My BTC-e account is almost at NIL balance.
About 4 months back I changed to Poloniex.
By the bye,
Thanks for following me.
One doubt!
Is mutual following is allowed at Steemit? i.e, Can I follow you too?
Yes you can follow back on steemit! It is encouraged to follow people that provide quality content you like! Steem on!
This was a very good post Deej! I know this will help out a lot of new people (some not so new people) trying to understand how this system works. He who holds the private keys has the keys to the kingdom. I learned this lesson very well from MTGox. I expect at some point all will exit/scam/hacked trying to take as much as they can with disregard to us. You can see people making big trades and that adds up to a big pile of money. You have to look at it as a game because you have to start thinking defensively when you don't have the keys.