👂Suggestions/Tips

These are some suggestions that will help you as you navigate through the DeFi space.

Multiple Wallets/Accounts

There is no limit to how many wallets or addresses you can have. The challenge is remembering all of them. I would suggest using a password manager to keep things organized and store addresses and which wallet they are associated with.

If you feel comfortable (though its not safe long term!) with writing your seed phrase down, write it very clearly and carefully. It is easy to mess this up and it is the only way to access your funds!

Use a separate seed phrase for the wallet app you use than the seed phrase you use for a hardware wallet.

Your wallet app should only be considered a 'hot wallet' with low amount of funds for daily use. You should never store large amounts on your wallet account addresses.

You should NEVER enter your hardware wallet seed phrase ANYWHERE other than your hardware wallet. Doing so basically makes it pointless to have a separate and secure device in the first place.

You can fund your 'hot wallet' addresses with small amounts from your hardware wallet. This is much more secure.

If you use multiple addresses to send/receive tokens, this can help limit how much information you are revealing during a transaction. As the addresses are public, every past and future transaction is visible to whoever or whatever protocol you interact with when sending/receiving tokens.

2FA/MFA

This cannot be emphasized enough and is a very common point of failure that has led to stolen funds. Have 2 Factor Authentication or Multifactor Authentication (often your password + a separate device with a randomly generated code) for everything. Your bank, your phone, your emails, your accounts, you name it. Anything that can have it, should have it.

Also, whatever you do, DO NOT use SMS on your phone as 2FA. Phone accounts are still being socially compromised and is one of the easiest ways to get your accounts hijacked. It happens daily.

Gas fee prices

Watch the price of gas fees. These can eat you alive and there are times where it is just not worth paying to move funds around. Be aware that there are often many transactions on the way to funding a project and it may be best to wait for a time when fees are lower. Check out the FAQ for more on Gas Fees.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all rapidly growing and changing space that is DeFi. I heard it said, the best approach is to take the time to understand what you are getting involved in. Sometimes complexity can mean well thought out and programmed, but it can also mean you don't understand enough to recognized the risks associated with a project and not being able to make a good decision about it.

Found a project? Join their community.

DeFi is just as much about being part of a community as it is about a new era of finance. Join a Slack, Telegram, Discord, Forum. Find out who is behind a project, see how active it is, take part in the project. Getting the most from a project isn't about depositing as much funds in and hoping it makes you rich. Sometimes just being involved in the conversation can be more rewarding when you find out a way to be part of an airdrop or earn funds through adding contributions.