Hey everyone, 'forgot to live' here. "Not your keys, not your coins"—it sounds simple, but it’s the most critical lesson I learned the hard way. It means if you don't control the 'private key' (the secret password to your crypto), you don't truly own it.
Imagine your crypto is like physical cash. If that cash is in *your* wallet, *you* decide when and where it goes. That's "your keys." But if you keep it on an exchange, it’s like giving all your cash to a friend to hold in *their* safe. They have the key to their safe, not you.
So, you might see 1000 USDT on your Binance balance, but the exchange holds the private key for it. If the exchange gets hacked, goes bust, or freezes withdrawals (we've seen this happen *a lot*), that 1000 USDT is suddenly inaccessible, even if it shows on your...
Imagine your crypto is like physical cash. If that cash is in *your* wallet, *you* decide when and where it goes. That's "your keys." But if you keep it on an exchange, it’s like giving all your cash to a friend to hold in *their* safe. They have the key to their safe, not you.
So, you might see 1000 USDT on your Binance balance, but the exchange holds the private key for it. If the exchange gets hacked, goes bust, or freezes withdrawals (we've seen this happen *a lot*), that 1000 USDT is suddenly inaccessible, even if it shows on your...