<p>You are correct.</p>
<p>Leaving your money in the hands of a third party such as an exchange means two things</p>
<ul>
<li>so far as the Bitcoin network is concerned, you own no money at all.</li>
<li>when that business fails, your money is usually lost. You might get some back if there is a police investigation and/or some bankruptcy process - but you shouldn't rely on this.</li>
</ul>
<p>Transferring the Bitcoin amount to the sole control of your own Bitcoin wallet means that your money is safe, so long as</p>
<ul>
<li>you keep a copy of the private key(s) or seed-phrase somewhere safe, or make regular backups and remember any password.</li>
<li>your computer isn't hacked or infected.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-07T16:17:28.007Z
I am actually interested what happened in the early days... I suppose I can read separate stories of BitInstant and Mtgox
deeper-understanding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-07T15:59:22.010Z
2021-02-07T15:59:22.010Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>I just want to get some history perspective of Bitcoin.  Say in the early days when Bitcoin was $1 or $10, if I decided, &quot;ok, I may invest in US$3000 at the software startup I work for, but that US$3000 is likely to go to $0, so I will just invest $1000 in Bitcoin anyway, assuming it could be lost but not a big deal&quot;.</p>
<p>So what places was available for me to buy Bitcoin at that time?  If I bought it from BitInstant, Mtgox (I am not familiar and will need somebody who knows the history to answer this), then would that mean that $1000 could become $3 million, except it was all lost or stolen along the way during the BitInstant and Mtgox time?</p>
<p>But if I bought it and immediately transfer to my own wallet, <strong>and didn't forget the password</strong>, then it would have been ok?</p>

<exchanges><mtgox><lost-bitcoins><bitinstant>
If I bought bitcoin in the early days in some exchange for $10, would it have been lost if I kept it in the exchange?
deeper-understanding
# If I bought bitcoin in the early days in some exchange for $10, would it have been lost if I kept it in the exchange?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-07)

I just want to get some history perspective of Bitcoin. Say in the early days when Bitcoin was $1 or $10, if I decided, "ok, I may invest in US$3000 at the software startup I work for, but that US$3000 is likely to go to $0, so I will just invest $1000 in Bitcoin anyway, assuming it could be lost but not a big deal".

So what places was available for me to buy Bitcoin at that time? If I bought it from BitInstant, Mtgox (I am not familiar and will need somebody who knows the history to answer this), then would that mean that $1000 could become $3 million, except it was all lost or stolen along the way during the BitInstant and Mtgox time?

But if I bought it and immediately transfer to my own wallet, **and didn't forget the password**, then it would have been ok?

**Tags:** exchanges, mtgox, lost-bitcoins, bitinstant


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-07. Score: 1

You are correct.

Leaving your money in the hands of a third party such as an exchange means two things

* so far as the Bitcoin network is concerned, you own no money at all.
* when that business fails, your money is usually lost. You might get some back if there is a police investigation and/or some bankruptcy process - but you shouldn't rely on this.

Transferring the Bitcoin amount to the sole control of your own Bitcoin wallet means that your money is safe, so long as

* you keep a copy of the private key(s) or seed-phrase somewhere safe, or make regular backups and remember any password.
* your computer isn't hacked or infected.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I am actually interested what happened in the early days... I suppose I can read separate stories of BitInstant and Mtgox  

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