Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says that it is better to store cryptocurrencies on exchanges than in wallets with private keys.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the world’s largest exchange, Binance, recently said that it is safer to keep cryptocurrencies on these trading platforms. He even specified that it was better to store funds on an exchange than with well-known private keys.
It should be noted that Zhao became interested in this issue after a comment made by well-known American economic commentator Peter Schiff. In a post through his Twitter account, the former said that he had lost all his bitcoins because his wallet was corrupted and it no longer accepts his password as valid.
The expert also expressed his disappointment at losing his investment by stating that he that having Bitcoin was an even worse idea than he had thought.
This unfortunate event led Zhao to reply to Schiff’s post by claiming that the wallets that advocate storing their keys still have much to improve. He added that, at least for the moment, the safest option to keep the funds was a cryptocurrency exchange.
The Chinese-Canadian executive explained that many hardcore crypto ogs advocate storing their keys when the truth is that most people cannot secure a key even from themselves (losing it). He said that most people find that centralized exchange #SAFUer is reliable, which is reflected in the numbers. However, he thinks that they still need to work on the wallets.
It is important to clarify that the Binance CEO used the word SAFU, which is a term in the crypto community that refers to “safe.”
The Dilemma of Keys
The problem that can be seen in Changpeng Zhao’s suggestion is that exchanges have a history of being hacked. It is worth mentioning that, even his exchange, Binance, suffered a hack of that type. For this reason, some people do not consider exchanges to be the safest way to store cryptocurrencies.
However, the wallets that gave the user private keys to access their digital currencies have become popular. In this way, even if the platform was hacked, criminals would not be able to reach the users’ cryptocoins. The vast majority of the crypto community believes that this is one of the safest ways to keep funds.
The fact that great personalities in the industry do not think in the same way is problematic. Reference is made not only to Changpeng Zhao but also to the creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.
Buterin said that he completely disagrees with users taking responsibility for the management of their private keys. This is because, if there is bad management of the keys, the platform is not to blame.
The Russian-Canadian programmer said that he is disappointed at people replying that it is the user’s job to be very careful and record backup seeds in three places. He suggests creating a better wallet technology to facilitate security.
There is no doubt that the issue of keys and, especially, the one of security when storing crypto funds still need to be studied. In this way, cryptocurrency owners would be provided with better solutions.
By Alexander Salazar
