5 essential tips to secure your crypto wallet in 2024

A report from Chainalysis indicates that the value of stolen and hacked cryptocurrencies has decreased significantly in 2023 compared to the previous year’s data.

Illegal proceeds from cryptocurrency scams fell 29.2% and illegal proceeds from hacks fell 54.3%. This has been aided by a sharp decline in decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks, which may indicate that DeFi systems are improving their security practices.

However, cryptocurrency holders must remain vigilant and proactively protect their assets.

Here are some of the best ways to protect your cryptocurrency portfolio in 2024.

How to Protect Your Cryptocurrency Wallet: Experts Outline Five Key Steps

Despite an overall decline in cryptocurrency-related criminal activity, the ever-changing nature of scams and hacking techniques can still put individual users’ cryptocurrency wallets at risk.

Implementing rigorous security measures, staying up to date with the latest trends, and constantly monitoring your wallet for suspicious activity are some of the important steps digital asset owners should take to protect their cryptocurrencies.

1. Choose your cryptocurrency portfolio wisely

Choosing the right cryptocurrency wallet is one of the most important steps in ensuring the security of your digital assets, says Jeff Owens, CEO and co-founder of Haven1, a layer 1 blockchain developed to solve security concerns of Web3 and liquidity, he told Techopedia. .

According to Owens, cold/hardware wallets are one of the most secure options users can choose because they allow you to store your private keys offline, just like Ledger. Additionally, these types of wallets come with PIN protection and recovery seed phrases, but they can be a little difficult to use for beginners.

However, other experts point out that each type of wallet offers a different balance between convenience and security, so users can choose the wallet that best suits their security needs and features.

Experts added that users who hold large amounts of cryptocurrency can consider cold storage wallets as they are not connected to the internet and are not vulnerable to hacker attacks.

2. Pay special attention to passwords and private keys

Experts point out that setting a strong password is likely the first step in securing a user’s cryptocurrency wallet.

According to Haven1’s Owens, one of the biggest mistakes cryptocurrency holders make when securing their wallets is weak passwords and lack of two-factor authentication (2FA).

Additionally, users should also pay close attention to where they store their private keys.

According to Alvin Kan, COO of Bitget Wallet, storing private keys offline for as long as possible via a hardware or paper wallet can prevent hackers from accessing them over the Internet.

3. Store your passwords offline

The more information a user stores online, the easier it is for hackers to access it. Therefore, going back to the days of paper and pen could ensure the security of your digital assets in your cryptocurrency wallet.

Bitget Wallet’s Kan added that the process of backing up hardware wallets often includes handling a recovery phase. For additional security measures, it is recommended to write your recovery phrase on paper and store it offline.

4. Update your software regularly

Not updating your hardware wallet firmware is another issue that can leave some users vulnerable to hacker attacks.

Updates often include bug fixes and stronger security measures, making them an essential part of protecting your cryptocurrency wallet.

5. Be careful with every transaction

According to a report from Chainaosis, fraud revenue fell in 2023, but authorization phishing scams rose to prominence last year. In authorization phishing, scammers trick users into signing malicious blockchain transactions that give them access to the victim’s wallet.

The report highlights that in 2023, fraudsters stole $374.6 million from cryptocurrency wallets through authorization phishing.

Additionally, Bitget Wallet’s Kan said that users should be especially careful with links and file downloads and always double-check website domains to avoid phishing sites disguised as official websites.

The Future of Crypto Wallet Security

The integration of advanced encryption, biometric authentication and smart contracts are some of the first steps in an emerging trend to protect digital assets stored in wallets.

Lian said integrating biometric authentication into user authentication can provide users with a more secure and personalized way to access their wallet. At the same time, automating security protocols using smart contracts reduces the risk of human error and further improves security measures.

Kan explained that Bitget Wallet has already implemented several new security measures, such as splitting private keys into multiple parts and MPC and AA wallets, which automatically execute transactions through smart contracts to provide users with a level of additional security.

He added that secure multi-party computation (SMPC) is another emerging trend that increases the security of cryptocurrency wallets by allowing multiple parties to compute functions collaboratively while keeping their inputs private.

“In the context of crypto wallets, SMPC can facilitate secure distributed key generation and management functions without exposing individual keys to risk,” he explained.

The development of decentralized identity (DID) solutions also aims to secure the authentication process by allowing users to verify their identity without revealing personal information. Integrating DIDs with cryptocurrency wallets can help prevent identity theft and fraud.

Conclusion

Despite the recent decline in cryptocurrency-related crimes, protecting cryptocurrency wallets remains crucial to the security of digital assets. New scams and hacking techniques constantly threaten individual users.

Important steps to improve security include choosing the right wallet type, using strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, storing private keys offline, and regularly updating your password. your software.

Additionally, as the industry evolves, new advancements in cryptocurrency wallet security offer more robust options to protect your investment, including the introduction of biometric authentication, Secure Multi-Party Computing (SMPC) and decentralized identity solutions.