Crypto investing is bigger than ever before all over the world, and as of December 29, 2021, the global crypto market capitalization is $2.21 trillion. While there will always be ups and downs when it comes to the value of certain coins, it will always be a high-risk-high-reward investment, there is no denying that crypto investing is going to rise further in the years to come.
The ever-growing crypto market presents a lucrative opportunity for new and established investors, but it also brings about numerous challenges. One of them is, without a doubt, the challenge of ensuring the safety and security of your investments. Whether you’re primarily investing in cryptos or NFTs, you need to protect your assets in the online world.
Here are some tips that will help you to secure your crypto and NFT assets in 2022 and beyond.
Insuring your cryptocurrency
First things first, can you insure your cryptocurrency? The short answer is yes, but you need to cover your bases and understand what cryptocurrency coverage entails. Currently, cryptocurrency insurance has reached three billion US dollars, suggesting that insurance is one the rise among investors and traders who want some form of coverage against coin theft and loss.
Cryptocurrency insurance is nowadays widely available for businesses, and it protects against theft, scams and general loss of assets. Insurance for personal crypto wallets is still scarce, though, but you can find insurers who are willing to set flexible limits to insure a portion of your cryptocurrency investments. For businesses looking to insure their crypto investments, however, insurers will typically provide coverage for exchanges, wallets, infrastructure, mining, custodians, and payment processing.
Create and secure your seed phrases
What is a seed phrase? A seed phrase is a string of words generated for you when you open your crypto wallet. This is a general failsafe, in a sense that should something happen to your wallet (like it being stolen or broken into), you can enter your seed phrase to recover your wallet and its contents.
Needless to say, creating a strong seed phrase that only you know is one of the most important tips for securing your digital wallet. There are other security tactics, which we’ll cover, but this master recovery code is the only thing that will save you if your wallet gets compromised.
Typically, though, you wouldn’t want to create the seed phrase yourself, as it can be unreliable and you may be tempted to use association phrases to avoid forgetting the phrase. Instead, let the system generate a completely random seed phrase for you.
Once you have your seed phrase, keep it safe. You can write it down and put it in a physical safe, or secure it in a cloud-based data repository. You can also store it on an external hard drive, but keep in mind that this can be risky as well.
Know how to protect your NFTs
NFT investing has boomed in the last two years, and while they are becoming increasingly popular around, there’s no denying that they are under a lot of threat as well. Scammers, hackers, and thieves in general are always on the lookout for weak NFT security in order to exploit security vulnerabilities and gain access to these prized assets.
Fortunately, there are ways to protect these investments. For one, avoid owning a high-value NFT on your own. Instead, consider fractional NFTs as a way to limit your investment and share the ownership with others, which makes holding on to a high-value NFT easier and will allow you to protect your investment more efficiently.
You can protect your NFTs in a variety of ways. From strong passwords to online vaults, and all the way to hardware vaults, there are numerous options at your disposal. However, nothing is more secure against online threats than a physical vault.
Also known as a hardware vault, this is a physical device where you can store all your NFTs in a location only known to you. There’s no risk of theft or break-ins from the online realm because the NFTs are not online anymore, so there’s really no better way to secure them. That said, if someone gets their hands on the physical device, your NFTs might be at risk – but only if they manage to get the decryption password as well.
Avoid investing in coins with low ratings
Nowadays, you can find credible online sources for ranking new and established cryptocurrencies, assessing not only their value and potential ROI, but also their security, the trustworthiness of the ICO, and more. This is invaluable information for an investor, whether you are new to the game or if you’ve been investing for years.
And the good thing is that the best brands out there dealing in coin ratings and assessments are under constant review by the online community. Recently, one of the most popular ratings companies called Weiss Crypto Investor was in a deep-dive review by The Stock Dork, a prominent online resource for investors and business leaders.
This and other similar reviews ensure transparency and accountability in the industry, so that you know whom to trust and what investment advice to take. This particular review of Weiss Crypto Investor was a positive one, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other brands out there that are just trying to take your money and make you invest in the wrong cryptocurrencies.
Work only with trusted financial companies
There are many financial advisors and financial companies out there that you can trust to make these investments for you. But can you trust them to keep your assets safe as well? Typically, financial companies that offer these services will not provide any kind of guarantees that your investments will be secured against any liabilities – you will have to secure them yourself.
Be especially wary of financial companies that have mobile apps as those can be another security threat. Scrutinize the app and their platform as a whole to verify that any sensitive data they handle is safe and secure.
What all of this essentially means is that you need to choose who you work with wisely. Look for companies that are marketing themselves using clear messaging, factual data, and transparent, verifiable statements. Now that marketing for finance in the crypto sphere has increased over the past few years, you can easily discern between genuine marketing and false advertising.
Don’t fall for catchy phrases and keywords, instead, look for clear messaging and read the fine print. If a financial company does offer crypto security, be sure to talk with the managers to find out exactly what that means.
Over to you
Securing your crypto assets and other investments is a crucial step towards long-term success in this oversaturated market. While you might think that the digital wallet you’re using has all the features you need to keep your cryptocurrencies safe, it’s important to keep in mind that it takes more to properly secure your assets.
It takes smart decision-making based on security best practices, and that means that you need to follow the latest security trends in this sector. With these tips in mind, go ahead and secure your cryptos and NFTs against nefarious online activity and enjoy the fruits of your labor.