So, you've made a bit of money investing in Crypto. Maybe by investing in the stable Bitcoin or Etherium, perhaps you've even become a Dogecoin millionaire...it can happen!
But with stories floating around on the Internet about individuals who have had their digital wallets stolen, you might be slightly nervous to have what could be a considerable amount of money sat behind a login page.
So today we're going to show you one way you can protect those crypto wallets from unscrupulous people.
INTRO
Hi, my name is Pete, and on this website, you can find posts around tech and finance. If you're looking for reviews on the latest gadgets or wanting to be smarter with your money, please head over to my YouTube channel and subscribe for more. I would massively appreciate it.
PROTECTING YOUR DIGITAL WALLET
Today we are looking at protecting your Digital Wallet, and whilst there are tonnes of ways you can protect your cryptocurrency with hardware wallets like the Ledger Wallets, the vast majority of Internet crypto investors are probably buying their crypto via sites like Coinbase. Today we're going to focus on Coinbase, feel free to let me know if you want me to do a post around a different hardware wallet.
Whilst we're talking about comments, if you do head over to my YouTube channel and happen to spot a tonne of comments down below the video for this post, talking about how my friend dave made me a millionaire, then please ignore them. I try to remove them and block them but they keep coming back.
Just stay safe out there, because ultimately you can have the best protection in the world - but if someone talks you into transferring your bitcoin into someone else's wallet, it's likely gone forever.
WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING
The first thing you should be doing with your Coinbase wallet, and any online login actually, is enabling something called Second Factor Authentication, sometimes shortened to 2FA.
2FA is basically a second password that you enter after you've typed in your username and password - which makes your account more secure and more difficult to get into.
Whilst 2FA is really great, and I always recommend setting that up at the very least. Some see it as pretty fiddly because you have to come out of the app you're using, find the app which generates the second password, copy the password, open the app up again and type it in.
Also, 2FA is only as secure as the owner's other logins. Because if someone gets into your 2FA app, and God forbid you are storing both your passwords and 2FA credentials in the same place like a password manager - then they have easy access to your login.
There's a way around this that will protect you better. Introducing Yubikey!
Yubikey is basically a physical key to your digital door, and we're going to be using one (or two) of these to protect your Coinbase wallet.
Much like a front door key, it's pretty useless on its own. If you lose it, then you don't know which door it opens and you'll probably spend most of your life trying to guess.
But the right person holding it and trying to open the right door - well it's a pretty pain-free experience.
There's no faffing with apps, you simply insert the key, or if you're using a mobile phone you can tap it on the back of your phone, touch the contact to confirm that you are a real human and are actually there, and you're in.
First, you need to decide which one is right for you. I've made a video that you can go watch which discusses it in more detail.
Typically, you'll want the standard Yubikey 5 which is USB and NFC and works on pretty much everything. I would recommend buying at least 2 because again using the analogy of a front door - you wouldn't typically have one front door key. If you lose it, you're locked out of your house. It's the same concept with a Yubikey.
You can buy 2 keys, and register both to unlock the same things so you have a backup in case one gets lost or stolen. If you lose one, you just log in and remove it from your account, you can't exactly do that with a front door key!
This link will take you straight to the Dual Pack for these keys to make it easy for you to find, and once you have them you just need to install the software, plug them into your computer, and set your pin codes, then you're good to go. If you get stuck on that step, check out this video which should help you along the way.
FIVE STEPS TO SAFETY
So now you have your keys ready, let's get these set up within Coinbase so you can rest assured that your Doge is safe.
- Firstly - Log in, then go up to the top right and click on your name, followed by Settings.
- Across the top, we're looking for Security, and then scroll down until you find the Security key.
- Click on Select
- Click I Understand
- Enter your existing 2FA Code to confirm that it's definitely you trying to set this up, touch the contact on the key to confirm that you're there, and you're done!
Now just repeat this with your second backup key, and your Coinbase account and all of your crypto stored there will now be really well protected.
To summarise, buy a 2 pack of the Yubike, log into Coinbase, and add the 2 keys to your account. That's it - it's as simple as that.
If you don't already have a Coinbase account, then use this link to sign up and get $10 free when buying $100 of crypto with Coinbase.
