6 Tips to Purchase Bitcoin Safely With Your Mobile

With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, buying and selling bitcoin is becoming so easy, a child could do it.

You can now buy and sell bitcoin (and other digital currencies) with your smartphone, while you’re sitting at the beach sipping on a Cola. All you need is a mobile device with an internet connection and an account with a trusted crypto exchange.

However, as it becomes easier to buy bitcoin on your smartphone, you also need to ensure the safety of your digital assets. By their very nature, cryptocurrencies are more vulnerable to hackers than fiat money, so you need to be extra careful.

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Cryptocurrencies don’t have any physical form and can’t be easily stolen or misappropriated. They also aren’t controlled by any central authority like a government or bank, which means your crypto transactions can’t be tracked nor can your crypto ‘wallet’ be frozen by the government.

But this doesn’t mean cryptocurrencies are 100% safe. There are two primary ways in which cryptocurrency can be stolen:

• Criminals can steal cryptocurrency directly from your ‘hot wallet’ on a crypto exchange

• A con artist can trick you into handing over your cryptocurrency willingly

The Growing Threat of Crypto Crime

As digital currencies start entering the mainstream economy, there’s a large threat looming concerning the safety of those assets.

There are several reasons why the security of digital assets is becoming a big concern. In addition to the threat to crypto holders, there’s also a threat to the society at large because of the anonymity associated with crypto transactions.

Some of the most important concerns include:

• Transactions that are anonymous and hard to track.

• Many bitcoin owners are inexperienced and new to the world of digital currencies, which means it’s easy to steal from them.

• Many countries don’t have the necessary legal framework to deal with crypto crimes.

So, while cryptocurrencies might be safer than traditional fiat currency in several ways, they are by no means immune to theft and fraud. More than USD $3.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen directly from DeFi protocols and hot wallets at crypto exchanges in 2021 alone, a 516% increase from 2020.

It’s up to you to take the steps necessary to protect your crypto assets from hackers and scammers.

This is especially important when you’re buying and selling crypto through your mobile device. Smartphones are easy to misplace, and might be briefly handled by someone else when you’re not paying attention.

If you’re buying and selling bitcoin through your phone, a small mistake could cost you a fortune. Read the next section for ways to buy and sell cryptocurrencies safely through your mobile, while minimizing the risk of theft or fraud.

6 Tips to Safely Trade Bitcoin on Your Smartphone

Following a few simple tips can go a long way in keeping your digital assets safe from criminals. The following are some of the most useful safety measures you should keep in mind when buying or selling bitcoin on your mobile phone.

1. Choose the Right Exchange

Most buyers purchase bitcoin and other digital currencies from a crypto exchange. Most of these exchanges offer intuitive, easy-to-use mobile apps to help you buy and sell cryptocurrencies on your smartphone.

While this is very convenient, you should ensure that the crypto exchange you’re using is reputed, trustworthy, and has adequate security measures in place.

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One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a crypto exchange is the level of security. A reputed and high-quality exchange offers a wide variety of security features, such as:

• Multifactor authentication

• Air-gapped devices for storing crypto

• AES-256 block-level storage encryption

• Disaster recovery data backup system

• Security monitoring solutions

• Balance transfer limits and notifications

• Anomaly detection technologies

These security measures ensure that it’s safe to transact your digital assets. For instance, when you buy BTC on MoonPay, you won’t need to worry about losing your money to a scammer. But imagine transacting via one of the fake exchanges. Nightmarish, right?

Ultimately, it’s impossible to completely eliminate risk when buying or selling bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. But you should do your research to ensure that the crypto exchange you have chosen hasn’t been hacked (or otherwise compromised) in the recent past, as this could be a sign of inadequate security measures and other vulnerabilities.

2. Transfer Bitcoin to a Cold Wallet

As mentioned earlier, cryptocurrency assets stolen directly from exchanges are typically stored in ‘hot wallets’ that can be accessed via the Internet. Since hot wallets can be accessed online, hackers can find a way to get past their security every once in a while.

The easy solution? Transfer your crypto holdings to an encrypted ‘cold wallet’. Cold wallets are any storage device (or a piece of paper) that is never connected to the internet.

A cold wallet can be a USB drive or a diary where you note down your private keys. Unless you’re holding the piece of paper in front of your cam, there’s little chance that someone on the internet will be able to access it.

A cold wallet stores your private keys and can be used to access the crypto tokens you’ve purchased. As long as you don’t lose this private key or share it with anyone else, the cryptocurrency stored in your cold wallet is safe.

For maximum security, you can store the cold wallet as well as the key in a bank vault or other secure location. You can also store your cryptocurrency in multiple cold wallets for adding another layer of security.

3. Secure Your Mobile Device

When buying and selling bitcoin on a smartphone, you should ensure that the device has a good firewall and antivirus software installed. Having apps for security helps prevent hackers from accessing your device and stealing your crypto tokens.

Additionally, you must always avoid using a public WiFi network to trade cryptocurrencies on your phone. This might be tempting, especially if you’re at a cafe or a bus that provides free WiFi to customers.

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However, connecting to a public WiFi connection is the digital equivalent of inviting people to steal your digital assets. It’s never a good idea to connect a device on which you’ve stored digital assets to a public WiFi network.

Finally, you should make sure that you perform all your crypto transactions on a single smartphone or tablet. This way, you only need to worry about a single device’s security. The more devices you use, the more the probability of you making a mistake and losing your crypto coins.

4. Beware of Phishing

Crypto criminals might try to steal your data — the private key on your crypto wallet or the login credentials for your crypto exchange account — by creating a phishing page.

Ever received an email that asked you to click on a link and log into one of your social media or banking accounts? Chances are, that was a phishing page. When you input your information and click submit, the page redirects you to the homepage of the social media or bank website.

You’re probably thinking, "Oh, maybe I didn’t enter the correct information, I’ll do it again." In the meantime, the hacker receives the information you just input and gets access to your account.

The goal is to either trick you into revealing some sensitive information, or to illegally scrape the data from your device.

The following are some ways in which you can steer clear of phishing:

• Always type the URL of your crypto exchange directly into your browser, instead of clicking on the link from a third-party source.

• Before you send a crypto payment, double-check to ensure that all the details of the recipient are accurate.

• Always keep your browser up to date, as the latest versions of most browsers now come with anti-phishing filters.

• Don’t open suspicious emails from unverified sources.

Following these simple rules should keep you and your crypto wallet safe from most phishing attempts. When in doubt, don’t hesitate to reach out to the support team of your chosen crypto exchange to confirm if they actually sent an email.

5. Regularly Alter Your Password

A recent study conducted by OnePoll and Clario revealed that three out of four American Millennials use the same password for 10+ apps, devices, and social media sites.

That’s a risk proposition, especially so if you’re doing it for crypto transactions.

You should always set a strong, complex password for your crypto wallet or exchange account so hackers can’t brute force their way into your account. You should also keep changing your password periodically.

Never reuse the same password for more than one crypto exchange account or wallet. If you think you’ll have trouble remembering all your passwords, save them in a secure password manager, instead of your browser.

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6. Check for Intrusions Regularly

Always keep an eye out for intrusions when using your smartphone or other mobile device. Hackers can use malicious software to intrude into your device and wait patiently for you to log into your crypto exchange.

Once you’ve logged in, the intruding software will capture sensitive data, such as your passwords, the private keys to your crypto wallet, and more.

If you notice any unknown apps or weird pop ups on your mobile device, inspect it immediately. If you think your device’s security has been compromised, stop using it for transactions right away and get the device back to its normal state.

It’s Easy to Purchase Bitcoin Safely

These simple tips can keep you safe from crypto criminals while allowing you the freedom to buy and sell bitcoin on your smartphone. A bit of discipline and some common sense are all you need to keep your crypto investments safe and secure.

Author Bio: Arjun Ruparelia

Email - [email protected]

An accountant turned writer, Arjun writes financial blog posts and research reports for clients across the globe, including Skale. Arjun has five years of financial writing experience across verticals. He is a CMA and CA (Intermediate) by qualification.

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