How to Trade Bitcoin Safely
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The success of cryptocurrencies in the past years has led to their current popularity, showing everyone that decentralized finance does have a future. That’s not to say, though, that some of the early hindrances have been totally eradicated.
We’re talking, of course, about the old days, back when crypto trades were seen as a dangerous venture considering the frequencies of scams and hacks. Thankfully, those days are long gone, with security guaranteed on the most trustworthy platforms.
Trading with Paxful
Paxful’s peer-to-peer trading platform allows users to securely purchase bitcoins without having to peer into each transaction too deeply. The reason Paxful is able to do this is really thanks to the efforts of the developers behind the platform.
That said, they are certainly helped by a few of these features that they use:
User verification
When you first create an account on Paxful, you might notice that there are further steps to verify your account. This verification process will involve having the user send us over some personal information and documents (e.g. government-issued identification, phone numbers, etc.)
Having a user verify themselves prevents them from trying anything too risky. This system allows Paxful to limit the access of unverified users as well, preventing them from participating in certain trades or limiting their access to some of the features.
Trade feedback
With all that being said, there can still be instances where trades between verified users get a little clumsy. To help users pick out only the best offers, Paxful also shares the user feedback of each user.
This feedback score will give you an idea of just how easy it is to deal with the user, whether you’re buying or selling crypto. Work with the reviews to know what to expect from the user ahead of time.
This will even warn you of certain quirks that some users might have. Alternatively, these reviews could also be the one to convince you to accept a particular offer, assuming the reviews of the user are positive.
Escrow protection
With Paxful’s secure escrow, your trades are guaranteed to remain safe as long as the platform is involved. Any trade offers guarantee security for both parties, with the trade value secured in the escrow. What better way to protect your money than to keep it in a safe place?
The minute the payment has been verified, Bitcoins held in escrow will immediately be released into the user’s BTC wallet.
What to be aware of
The reality of the matter is that there are people who will want to trick you into giving them your money. Don’t worry; as long as you know how to spot the red flags, you should be fine.
Here are a few examples of what to watch out for:
Phishing incidents
Take phishing emails, for example. These have been around since emails were first a thing, yet they still find ways to trick people into bad situations. On your part as a trader, the smart thing to do would be to make sure that the email is coming from a legitimate source.
They usually succeed then they offer a deal that is too good to be true. Say, if you get an offer for a low-cost, high-payoff investment, chances are you are being targeted by scammers.
Phishing isn’t limited to emails, though. Nowadays, there is a real risk in landing on a website that looks exactly like the site you wanted to go to. The difference is this site is owned by scammers, designed to gather your information via your login credentials and personal information.
Fraudulent trades
Another way that people have been tricked is through the faking of transaction receipts. On platforms such as Paxful, the standard way to complete the trade is to submit proof of transfer to be verified by the coin holder. When the proofs of the transaction are faked, the coin holder is at risk of losing their coins.
Luckily, this method only fakes their side of the transaction. This means that if it was a legitimate transfer, there ought to be other records of the transaction that you can verify on your end.
What’s important is that you, as a trader, are aware of these dangers. As a final example, when a seller offers to trade without the security of an escrow on platforms like Discord, you should definitely think twice. There’s a reason why we consider this one of Paxful’s best features.
Things to remember
There are a lot of steps you can take so that you can be safer with your crypto transactions. Account verification and security are the easiest of them, but there are a few more you could do.
The most important part is to do your research and learn as much as you can about crypto trading. That way, you can easily tell if something is off. It’s that kind of discernment that helps you avoid these situations altogether.
Paxful, for one, provides two-factor authentication (2FA) for account security, an escrow for trades, and a user feedback system for your peace of mind. If you haven’t yet, check out the platform and start trading today!
*The content of this article is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
