Lesson 2 of 2 · 7 min read
Mistakes you can't undo
Almost everything people lose in crypto, they lose to themselves.
Wrong network, wrong address
The same coin often exists on several networks. Send it over the wrong one and it doesn't arrive, and usually it's gone for good. The same goes for an address with one wrong character. There's no confirmation step that saves you. For every new destination, send a small test amount first, wait for it to arrive, and only then send the rest. Those two minutes are the cheapest insurance in crypto.
Approvals that stay open
When you give an app access to your wallet, you often grant permission to move coins without limit, and that permission stays after you're done. If that app later turns out to be malicious or gets hacked, it can still use it. Review your approvals periodically and revoke what you no longer use. This is how people lose money without ever sharing a key.
Exchange versus self-custody
Leave crypto on an exchange and you're trusting that exchange exactly as you'd trust a bank, but without deposit protection. Large exchanges have collapsed with customers never seeing their balances again. Holding it yourself removes that risk and puts another in its place: your own mistakes. There's no risk-free option, only a choice about which risk you'd rather carry and what precautions go with it.
Stocky says
What you actively trade can sit on an exchange. What you plan to hold for years shouldn't.
Remember this
- Send a test amount to every new destination. The wrong network is final.
- Old approvals stay valid. Review and revoke them.
- On an exchange you trust a company with no protection scheme. Self-custody moves the risk to you.
There is a quiz for this lesson
3 questions that check whether it stuck. They live in the app, because a quiz nobody grades teaches nothing.
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