How To Buy Bitcoin 2018
Steve Wozniak had $70,000 in bitcoin stolen after falling for a simple, yet perfect, scam
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak lost seven bitcoins, equivalent to $70,000 at today’s rates.
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple
who is widely considered to be a tech genius, made a rudimentary and expensive mistake recently.
“I had seven bitcoins stolen from me through fraud Cc To Btc No Verification ,”
at the Times’ Global Business Summit on Monday. “Somebody bought them from me online through a credit card and they cancelled the credit card payment. It was that easy. And it was from a stolen credit card number so you can never get it back.”
currently valued at $10,000, the move lost him the equivalent of $70,000 (or $140,000 at bitcoin’s peak value of $20,000).
His mistake is far too easy to do, said Joe Blackburn, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and head adviser at Cryptohunt, a blockchain-based geolocational treasure hunting game. “There is so much that can go wrong,” he said. “If this guy scammed Steve Wozniak out of 70 grand who knows how much he has made off of other people?”
That is why it is important to take a number of security measures in the crypto world, especially when dealing with large volumes of money.
A good way to secure your bitcoins or other forms of cryptocurrency is to get them off of exchanges and
. This can be done by generating a public bitcoin address which is a long and unique set of numbers and letters used to send bitcoin, and a private key, a corresponding set of numbers and letters used to send your bitcoins to anyone else.
The private key, or PIN, is what gives your bitcoin its value, and is best kept in a physical wallet or at the bottom of your sock drawer or anywhere else it will be safe from water damage, like a safe deposit box.
Digital platforms like Coinbase don’t give users a bitcoin PIN, so bitcoin holders can export the currency to a wallet and extract the PIN or send it to an address generated by a site like Bitcoin.com. They can also use a hard wallet like a
Storing your bitcoin on a secure device and using two-factor authentication will make it more secure from hackers, but won’t protect you from scams like the one Wozniak fell victim to necessarily.
Blackburn said the only way to remain safe while selling and buying bitcoin is to do so through trusted transfers and exchanges and never opt for what is called an “over the counter” trade like what Wozniak apparently attempted to do.
“You should never make a deal over the phone with somebody and put yourself in a position to lose that kind of money,” he said.
Cryptocurrencies are not FDIC-insured like banks and has been called the “Wild West” of finance by U.S. regulators, so there is no recourse if someone takes off with your money. Coinbase, LocalBitcoins.com or Coinmama are all more-established platforms and all three accept credit card, so simply plug in the amount you want to purchase and your information to exchange dollars for cryptocurrency.
Of course, in an era of digital currency and increasingly sophisticated hacking, nowhere is 100% safe and the more secure a platform is, the longer a transaction can take.
It’s important to use two-factor authentication to secure everything from your email account to your Twitter, and cryptocurrency is no different. If you are using a platform like Coinbase to send or hold cryptocurrency, be sure to enable two-factor authentication. That means when you log in, you will be prompted to enter a unique code sent to your phone or email to verify your identity. Without this safeguard, your money is at high risk of being hacked.
It’s also important to take note of other hacking efforts, said David Johnson, chief executive officer of cryptocurrency startup Latium. This includes phishing, where hackers pose as legitimate websites to steal user information. That could mean using an email to route a user to a site like sounding like Coinbase with a letter missing instead of the real site coinbase.com.
“For every legitimate business online, there are probably five scammers out there trying to act like they are someone they are not,” Johnson said.
Get a daily roundup of the top reads in personal finance delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Personal Finance Daily newsletter.
Millennials are afraid stocks are too risky, so they’re investing in bitcoin
Bitcoin exchange Coinbase is handing over user information to the IRS
Sorry, America, but you have to pay taxes on your bitcoin — here’s how
Kari Paul is a personal finance reporter based in New York. You can follow her on Twitter @kari_paul. Cc To Btc No Verification
Now would be the time for Apple to buy Tesla, and kick Musk out of the driver’s seat
How to potentially become a marijuana millionaire, albeit carefully
The Dow just busted out of its longest stint in correction territory in nearly 60 years
0 Reviews:
Post Your Review