Over the last month, the cryptocurrency market has fallen a substantial amount – even enough to scare some large exchanges into pausing transactions or closing altogether. One of the largest crypto lenders, Celsius, said Monday that they were pausing all withdrawals and transfers from their platform. In addition, crypto futures lender CoinFlex announced yesterday that they were also pausing all withdrawals amid grim market conditions.
What gives these exchanges the right to effectively deprive their customers of their funds? Well, it’s because the customers don’t technically have custody of their assets, because they don’t hold them in a wallet they personally own and control. If assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum are stored on an exchange and it goes offline or changes its terms of service, customers can lose access to their funds temporarily or in the worst case, permanently.
Let’s Talk About Keys
This traces back to a popular concept in the crypto space that’s been around for years – “Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins”. The phrase essentially means that if you don’t personally own the public and private key to your wallet, you don’t truly own your crypto.
A cryptocurrency wallet has two keys: a public key and a private key. The public key is used to receive cryptocurrency, whereas the private key is used to take the funds out. Many, if not most exchanges do not provide these keys and therefore keep control of your assets until they are sent off into another wallet.
How is RockItCoin different?
RockItCoin prioritizes the customer’s right to privacy and security. For example, we allow customers to print a paper wallet at our Bitcoin ATMs, which provides them with both the public and private key. This way, the customer truly owns the wallet and the crypto stored on it.
The RockItCoin app is also a great way to get into self-custody of your favorite cryptos. It allows you to store, send, and receive your favorite cryptos. You can also export and safely store your private key, so you are truly in control! It’s available for download on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
The RockItCoin OTC desk is another great example of our commitment to our customer’s ownership of their assets. Our white-glove traders provide attentive service and in-depth education throughout the entire process of buying crypto in bulk. We even go so far as to show you how to store your crypto on a hardware wallet, which is the most secure method of securing your funds. Learn more about how to create a paper wallet now!
