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Comment by Svekax | Hacker News Reader

This could not be further from the truth. If anybody else has the private keys to your coins, you don't own the coins. People have been burned by a countless number brokers. They will not leave their coins with a company such as this. Only the most unsophisticated investors leave their coins with brokers.

Anybody knowledgeable enough to invest in multiple cryptocurrencies is smart enough to know they need complete control over the primary keys. Otherwise, your investment could vanish at any moment.

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Does your argument still apply if you change "coins" to "cash" and "brokers" to "banks"?

I leave my fiat money in banks because I judge that the risk of the bank disappearing and taking my money with it is lower than the risk of my house getting burgled, catching fire, etc. Likewise, it's entirely reasonable to think that a competent Bitcoin broker is more secure and safe than my half-assed attempt to keep my own keys and risk losing access to my coins through my own incompetence.

> competent Bitcoin broker

That's the entire problem. Bitcoin has existed for eight years, and for a long time virtually nobody knew about it. Not a single bitcoin broker could demonstrate competency yet. It's better to stay out of this market if you think you can trust them.

Looks like the parent uncovered an HN bug. I'm guessing that they posted an unbalanced asterisk, which resulted in the "reply" link being italicized, and an empty message.

Bitcoin theft from brokers and outside sources has been a big issue over the years. It's universally accepted that the only responsible practice is to transfer funds from brokers and not share your private keys.
I can now tell you don't own and know nothing about Bitcoin. This discussion is pointless and has now ended.

Wow why the aggression man? You have a point and it will benefit the community if you spent just two more minutes to educate people on your viewpoint, rather than attack the intelligence or knowledge of others. Links to articles to back up your point will help and advice on how you store yours will be of even more help. Contribute positively. Thanks

Banks are insured By the fdic. There is no bitcoin custodian that has insurance that even comes close to what the fdic garuntees.
Done correctly you are absolutely better off with your btc stored at home

Most of the people who by gold don't seem to be concerned also by the fact that they just hold paper not the real thing. If this business model works for gold it should be viable for btc also.
I am not talking about if it is a good idea to hold paper gold or btc, just if people would by paper btc.

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