A wallet as a container of money or exchange?

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

For long run keeping then container of money i.e if it means holding in a non custodial wallet  and for easy convertion of holdings then CEX. It all depends on your goals.
If this isn't what you meant you could try and elaborate but a wallet should be as private and have only your access like your normal Pocket wallet.

Inasmuch as self custodial wallets are considered to be the safest when it comes to bitcoin storage, let's also consider what what happens when someone loses his private key, that means only one thing, all your funds are gone and can never be retrieved.
But a reputable exchange on the other hand could also offer strong security measures to protect your funds, and are also very easy to use too.

Plus, some of these exchanges also have insurances to cover for any losses, just incase something eventually goes wrong and you end up incurring some losses. And being government regulated adds some sort of an extra layer of security on it, even though it wouldn't be the best option for those who value anonymity and privacy, it's still worth considering when looking at safety even though you might argue this.

[UNIVERSE]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

Personal wallet, the non-custodial wallet becomes much better than custodial wallet managed by third-party, for example as any exchange.
Yes, if you look at how more suitable it is, yes indeed in this case it will definitely also depend on its use too. If you use it for active trading, I personally would choose custodial or on the exchange to save on transfer fees.

However, if it is used for holding, it will definitely be more of a non-custodial wallet, especially if it is for the long term. That would be much safer. We have access to the wallet and only we can access and manage it. So, as long as we are careful and alert to all cyber crime and human errors, then it would be much better to have a non-custodial wallet, or what you think is a wallet like container of your assets.

[Z-tight]

Inasmuch as self custodial wallets are considered to be the safest when it comes to bitcoin storage, let's also consider what what happens when someone loses his private key, that means only one thing, all your funds are gone and can never be retrieved.
But a reputable exchange on the other hand could also offer strong security measures to protect your funds, and are also very easy to use too.

This is what a lot of people thought, before they lost all their money in a collapsed centralized exchange, if you are using BTC, you have a responsibility to protect your seed phrase and your funds, and if you are serious about it, you won't lose it. Many reputable exchanges have collapsed in the past, so how do you trust one with your funds, it is a stupid thing to do.

Plus, some of these exchanges also have insurances to cover for any losses, just incase something eventually goes wrong and you end up incurring some losses.

Mt.Gox's creditors are yet to get anything back, not that they are even waiting to get 100%, but they haven't even gotten anything at all. That's all i can say about what you just said.

[Cantsay]

Regarding security, can you find free wallets and on which sites, enough to not be stolen during transactions, for example?

The fact that you’re asking this type of question means you need to do more reading about wallet and know the difference between wallet and exchanges, which one to go for and also what to look out for when choosing a wallet or an exchange. The dos and donts, etc.

[Tribalchief]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

I have always prefer a wallet for storage especially when it has to do with long term hodling of cryptocurrency. Due to the security fixtures of wallets and the authoritative power over ones personal funds, then you should look no further to anything outside this.

But in a case where you happen to be a crypto trader or someone who swaps crypto often for profitable reasons, then storing your trading assets on exchanges should be a better option so as to help reduce regular transaction charges. Though using this method has it's own disadvantage. There is a general term in crypto that says: "not your keys, not your coin". In such case, you would want to consider checking your trading assets regularly.

[Z-tight]

I have always prefer a wallet for storage especially when it has to do with long term hodling of cryptocurrency.

Take note that you should not use just any wallet, especially when you want to store BTC's for the long term and if the coin is worth a lot of money. For long term storage, your wallet should be a cold storage set up, that is either a hardware wallet or airgapped wallet, in addition to the fact that any wallet you use should be open source and self custodial.

[bayu7adi]

Of course, private wallets have better advantages at the moment, because perhaps this is my personal opinion, that the private key that we control sounds more secure than entrusting the private key to someone else (exchanger). However, this also depends on our goal of saving money, whether we want to hold it for a long time, or just focus on daily trading. Considering that blockchain networks always require transaction fees, and bitcoin transaction fees are quite fluctuating, so choosing a wallet really depends on conditions and needs.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

Your decision will have to depends on any of the condition am going to mention here.

1. if you're considering making a long time investment in bitcoin and wanted to safely hold your asset in a more secured means, then make use of a non custodial wallet.

2. If you're more interested on making trades, on a short time basis or daily, then you may consider the use of an exchange and never forget that they are centralized, your information is not safe with them, they can be attacked and your wallet private keys are with them as well because they are custodial means.

[bisdak40]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

For me the best option would be a non-custodial wallet as you have control over your money on when to convert to fiat and if you are into holding long term then non-custodial wallet is the way to go.

[joniboini]

But a reputable exchange on the other hand could also offer strong security measures to protect your funds, and are also very easy to use too.
Plus, some of these exchanges also have insurances to cover for any losses, just incase something eventually goes wrong and you end up incurring some losses.

Have you ever read about an exchange that managed to recover stolen funds or do something similar and get better soon after that? I can only remember Binance, and even that the amount of funds lost is small, while in other cases most of them are lost or take a very long time to recover (sometimes get reduced too). I dunno, I wouldn't call these "strong security measures".

Just look at this list (while I can't guarantee the accuracy of the numbers, you should be able to read the case further if you want to research them)[1].

[1] https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-exchange-hacks/

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

For me the best option would be a non-custodial wallet as you have control over your money on when to convert to fiat and if you are into holding long term then non-custodial wallet is the way to go.

It's true that Non custodial or self custody wallets have proven to be quite viable options when considering full autonomy and control over one's assets.
With the availability or presence of a self custodial wallet, you've possess absolute responsibility as well as ownership over your private keys, that simply means that you have total control when it comes to managing your assets without relying on or needing the help of any third-party custodian like exchanges.

But a reputable exchange on the other hand could also offer strong security measures to protect your funds, and are also very easy to use too.
Plus, some of these exchanges also have insurances to cover for any losses, just incase something eventually goes wrong and you end up incurring some losses.

Have you ever read about an exchange that managed to recover stolen funds or do something similar and get better soon after that? I can only remember Binance, and even that the amount of funds lost is small, while in other cases most of them are lost or take a very long time to recover (sometimes get reduced too). I dunno, I wouldn't call these "strong security measures".

Just look at this list (while I can't guarantee the accuracy of the numbers, you should be able to read the case further if you want to research them)[1].

[1] https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/crypto-exchange-hacks/

You're right, I'm not saying all exchanges possess the same quality or all of them can be trusted, if you check well, you'll see that I'm referring to only reputable exchanges and not all exchanges in general so don't get me wrong.
I'm fully much aware that there are so many exchanges that have crashed with people's funds which haven't been able to be recovered till today and that's why I said trusted and reputable exchanges.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Reserved

[taufik123]

-snip-
You're right, I'm not saying all exchanges possess the same quality or all of them can be trusted, if you check well, you'll see that I'm referring to only reputable exchanges and not all exchanges in general so don't get me wrong.
I'm fully much aware that there are so many exchanges that have crashed with people's funds which haven't been able to be recovered till today and that's why I said trusted and reputable exchanges.

Exchanges with a good reputation and have security that continues to be improved can indeed be an option,
but not to be used as a storage of main assets.
It can only be an option to trade safely on some of the assets traded.

Reputable tier 1 exchanges also include fund security reserves for users, such as Binance-owned SAFU and some other tier 1 exchanges.
But will it be completely safe? Certainly not because security holes will definitely exist and it is always updated.

Learn from the events of FTX and other major exchanges that have been hacked or manipulated,
and do not put all the money into centralized exchanges.

[TomPluz]

I come to the question when I have to make such an important decision, should I choose the first or the second option, which is better and safer for you people? How long do you leave it on that option?

Better and safer will always be choosing a non-custodial wallet rather than relying on an exchange (no matter how good, big or solid an exchange is) in storing your digital assets. This topic is always discussed whenever cryptocurrency is involved and newbies should understand the key concept of "not your keys, not your coins" well in connection with this subject matter. As far exchanges is concerned, they are good for "exchanging" or converting your assets into cash like using a P2P option...and that is why it is called as an "exchange" and not a storage. Right now, we already have good non-custodial wallets around and you just have to take a choice. Now, the next question should be: What can be the best non-custodial wallets one can choose from? Just look for that matter within this forum and I an sure you can be guided accordingly.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

~cut~

Exchanges do not offer 100% security, that I'm very much aware of, reputable or not, especially when it's a Centralized Exchange. They may have a level of security, but it doesn't mean that it's 100% secure.
And yeah, you're absolutely right that it's not advisable to HODL your assets on exchanges regardless the security promised by the exchange, one should always apply extreme caution when dealing with matters that concerns finance.