Take Control Of Your Money Before Someone Else Does<br>Get It Off The Exchanges<br>Secure Your Cryptocurrency On A Hardware Wallet

Contents Take Control Of Your Cryptocurrency Before Someone Else Does
Get It Off The Exchanges
Secure Your Cryptocurrency On A Hardware Wallet

You have control (ownership) of your cryptocurrency when you hold the private keys to your funds.
If an exchange is holding your private keys then they control your funds, not you.

A Ledger Nano S or similar hardware wallet securely stores your private keys and ensures that only you can access your cryptocurrency.
A hardware wallet used correctly ensures that no criminal, or government agency can hack your cryptocurrency accounts even if you are using a computer which has been infected with malware.
Only purchase a Ledger Nano device from the Ledger company in France using the following website.
https://shop.ledger.com/products/ledger-nano-s
They will send you the device via DHL (an international shipping company)
If you purchase the device from someone else then you may be getting a hacked device.

Do not leave your cryptocurrency on an exchange like Coinbase or Kraken.
If you do then they have the private keys, not you.
If the exchange takes your money then you can't get it back.
If the exchange closes then you can't get your money back.
If the government closes the exchange or makes cryptocurrency illegal in your country as they have in China and India then you can't get your money back.
If someone hacks your account on the exchange then you can't get your money back.
If you lose a lawsuit then a judge can confiscate your exchange accounts and give it to your adversary just like a bank account.
Most of all, the exchange may be lending your money to industries that you do not agree with just like a bank does.
Get your cryptocurrency off the exchanges and take full control of your own money by using a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S

Do not store the private keys for your cryptocurrency on your computer.
Your computer has already been hacked.
Store your private keys on a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S
This way your computer cannot move your cryptocurrency without first getting permission from you.
This gives you a chance to verify on the hardware wallet that the funds are going to the correct address, that you are sending the correct amount, and that the transaction fees are correct.

If someone steals your hardware wallet and tries to guess your pin number, all data on the deveice will be erased after three wrong tries.
So if you select a completely random 8 digit pin number then the thief has only 3 chances in one hundred million of guessing your pin number.
This means you don't have to worry if your hardware wallet is lost or stolen - your funds are still safe.

Cryptocurrency is a way to decentralize financial power.
The idea is to give citizens full control of their own money and empower them to use this control collectively.
Cryptocurrency is transparent - everyone knows what you have and where you spend it - so it is not very useful to criminals or corrupt politicians.
This is money controlled by individuals and which can't be hidden.
Imagine what we can all do together.
The US Dollar is the currency that criminals use most. According to the book Moneyland by Oliver Bullough as much as 30% of all money in Russia is stolen from it's citizens in a bribe pyramid, and this money is laundered mostly in England and the United States through off shore banks and shell companies. Banks will tell you, through the politicians they own, that criminals use cryptocurrency. Only the stupid ones do that and they get caught. Even money spent on privacy blockchains are easily traceable. This is why almost all criminals, dictators, oligarchs, and drug lords use banks and shell companies to launder, hide, and spend their money.

If blockchain money is transparent then you may be wondering why it is called cryptocurrency. That's because public/private key cryptography is used to ensure that only the owner of his/her/their funds can spend them. In other words, cryptography is used to secure the blockchains not to hide funds. A better name would be public currency.

Cryptocurrency is money that people, organizations, and governments cannot take from you without permission.
Of course criminals and governments can force a very few of us to hand over our private keys against our will, but because there is no central point of control over cryptocurrency it is impossible to do this on a mass scale without rounding everyone up and putting them in camps. But with regular dollars for instance, the government takes your money without even telling you. They do this by printing more money. This gives the government more money to spend without formally raising taxes but it diminishes the value of the dollars you manage to save. They effectively take your money without your permission and they don't even tell you they are doing it. This is the money they spend on wars and imprisoning millions of black people which are expenditures too unpopular to pass through the legislature. Governments cannot do this if citizens hold their wealth in a decentralized cryptocurrency. Inflation of US Dollars in 2021 was between 7 and 20 percent depending on what things you need to buy. If you buy bread and milk then your US Dollars saved only lost about 7 percent of their value last year. But if you buy property then your savings in US Dollars lost about 20 percent in 2021. Nobody, on the other hand, can inflate Cardano ADA. That's because the supply is fixed. There will never be any more ADA created. Governments can't just print more of it as they do with US Dollars. So governments can't not take your ADA through inflation as they do when they print US Dollars.

If you love freedom and democracy, then order a Ledger Nano S or a Ledger Nano X right away.
I am not affiliated with the Ledger company in any way - I just think they make an essential product to secure freedom and human rights.
Here is some information to think about while you are waiting for your Ledger Nano S or X to arrive.

Always leave your cryptocurrency in a wallet controlled by your Ledger Nano S or Nano X.
This protects your account from hackers.
If your family depends on your cryptocurrency then you must assume that your computer has already been hacked.
If used correctly, the Ledger Nano S protects your accounts even if the computer you are using to access your funds has been hacked.

If you are not familiar with cryptocurrency already it may take some time to set this all up.
Here is some information to help you get started.

Go to the following website and follow the instructions.
https://www.ledger.com/start/

Then just play around with the device to get familiar with it.
You are not working with cryptocurrency yet and you can't hurt the device by playing with it.

When you start working with cryptocurrency please keep the following in mind.
You are responsible for your own security and for following the correct procedures when making transactions.
There is no one to help you if you get hacked or if you send money to the wrong address.
So when you move money with the device, move only a small amount first and see what happens.
If the cryptocurrency arrives in the intended account then you can send larger amounts.
Better to send funds in several smaller transactions than one large transaction.

I own Ethereum, Cardano, and IOTA.
I am not a financial advisor and I cannot guarantee results.
The only thing I can guarantee this that the prices will swing wildly in both directions.
In my experience however, I noticed that the prices eventually will go higher than the original purchase price.
So do not purchase more than you can afford to lose.
This way you will not become afraid and sell your coins for less than you paid.

That said. Cardano is the only cryptocurrency I would recommend buying right now.
This is because Cardano transaction fees are very low,
Because Cardano uses 10,000 times less energy than Bitcoin,
Because Cardano pays 5% interest when you stake it, whereas your US Dollars saved lose between 7 to 20 percent a year due to inflation.
Because you still hold the private keys when you stake it which is not the case with other cryptocurrencies that offer staking,
Because Cardano is the most decentralized of all major cryptocurrencies,
Because the Cardano technology is based on peer reviewed papers and mathmatical proofs,
Because Cardano code is open source,
Because Cardano has smart contracts which are used for land deeds, securing supply chains, loans, identity, voting, multisignature wallets, insurance, controlling machines and much much more.
Because Cardano has decentralized identity management (you own your own identity and manage it as you please),
Because community governance and voting is built into the Cardano blockchain,
And because the Cardano community is actively working to bring decentralized finacial services to all the people in the world that cannot get centralized banking services
(most of the people on planet do not have access to banking services).
These are the reasons I purchase Cardano but that is no guarantee that the prices will go up (The market swings wildly).

Getting Started with Your Nano Device.
When you first turn on your device it will ask you to select a pin code.
Do not use any number that can be guessed.
Pick a completely random pin code (8 digits long) so that no one will guess it.
If you write down the pin code on paper - never store the pin code and the device together.
If someone finds both the device and the pin code together then they can take your funds.
You must assume that all your electronic devices have already been hacked.
So never store the pin code on your computer, phone, camera or any other electronic device.
Never let anyone see your pin code, not tech support, not even your closest friends and relatives.
Don't worry if you forget the pin code.
If you forget the pin code then you can just re-enter the 24 words and then pick a new pin code.
More on the 24 words later.
If someone finds your device and enters the pin code incorrectly 3 times then the device will erase all the data on it.
This is not a problem as long as you still have the 24 words for the device and the 25th word for each account.
More on the 25th word later.
You can use these to set up a new device to control your accounts if your original device is stolen.

24 words are generated by the device when you set it up as a new device.
Write down these 24 words. Never let anyone see your 24 words, not tech support, not even your closest relatives.
Safely store at least 2 copies of your 24 words in separate private and secure locations.
If you lose the device it's no big deal assuming the pin code used to turn on the device is random and cannot be guessed.
But if you lose the 24 words then you lose all your funds should the device become stolen.
If someone finds your 24 words then they can set up a new device to move the funds out of your accounts.
Setting up a 25th word for each account offers pretty good protection in case the 24 words are stolen.
Be sure to set a 25th temporary passphrase to create new accounts.
You will find that option on the device menu under Settings>Security>Passphrase>Set up passphrase>Set temporary>Enter passphrase
You can have as many accounts as you want.
Each account uses its own unique 25th temporary passphrase.
After you turn on the device, just enter the unique 25th word to access the account for that passphrase.
The following articles explain:
https://www.ledger.com/academy/passphrase-an-advanced-security-feature
https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005214529-Advanced-passphrase-security?docs=true
Never keep the 25th word for each account with the other 24 words.
This way if someone finds the 24 words they will still need to guess the 25th word for each account.
Do not store the 25th word with the original 24 words.
The following video explains about the 25th word:
The video is a bit outdated so procedures may have changed a bit but the general idea is explained very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3xIsdtmgck
Never forget the 25th word that you use to access each account.
If you lose this 25th word you will lose all your funds for that account.
Make 2 copies of the 25th word for each account and store them in separate secure private locations.
Never let anyone see your 25th word, not tech support, not even your closest relatives.

You will need to install the Ledger Live application on your computer.
You can find this application at https://www.ledger.com/start
You will use this to update the firmware on your Nano S if required and then to install the Cardano application on your Nano S device as well.
Remember: Keep your 24 words, your 25th word, and your pin number a secret. Never share these with anyone, not with tech support, even with your closest relatives.

The following videos show you how to work with Cardano cryptocurrency using the Nano Ledger S.
This one shows you how to install ccvault: https://youtu.be/ANP0ItDT5pg
This one shows you how to pair ccvault with your Ledger Nano S or X: https://youtu.be/2TfjPB2WcXk
This one shows you how to delegate your ADA to a stake pool to earn interest: https://youtu.be/RL4eQy0beC8

In summary, my message is very simple.
Read this before you make a transaction and you will be fine.

Move only small amounts at a time. Watch what happens and then move larger amounts if required.
Never reveal your 24 words, your 25th word, or your pin number to anyone.
Never store your 24 words, your 25th word, or your pin number on any electronic device or show them to a camera.
Cameras and microphones are in all your electronic devices and could be anywhere around you.
So hold your device close to your chest when entering secret words and pin codes and be careful what you say.
Use a completely random pin number for your Nano S - Don't use a pin number that is easy to guess.
Assume all your electronic devices have been hacked and that you are being observed at all times by your devices and by cameras around you.
Be sure to store your 24 words and your 25th word in different secure locations - never store these together.
Storing these separately is your protection against any one of these being found.
Never store your pin number in the same place as your Nano S or X device.

When making a transaction, verify that what Nano is showing you agrees with what is on the computer screen and that this is what you intend.
This is important!
If your computer has been hacked, then when making a transaction, it may tell you it will send your money to your intended recipient but tell the Nano S or X to send your money to some other recipient.
Your Nano S or X is your final check against this kind of attack.
This is the very reason you purchased a Ledger Nano.
So look carefully at your Nano S or X and be sure that the transaction is for the correct address, and for the correct amount, and that the transaction fee is what you would expect.
This is your last chance to make this check before sending the transaction.

When you set up any new account with a new cryptocurrency you must put a small amount into the account and then move some of it out again.
This is the only way you can be sure you have control of the account.
Do not fail to make this test or there will be tears.

When you set up a device with a new set of 24 words you must put a very small amount into the account and then move some of it out again.
Now you know the device works.
Then you must wipe the device and reenter the 24 words.
Then you must put another small amount into the very same account and then move some of it out again.
This is the only way you can be sure you have written down the 24 words correctly.
Do not fail to make this test or there will be tears.

Resist the urge to invest in crypto-fads pumped up by celebrities.
These are going to crash after the celebrities and their friends have taken your money.
Invest in good technology and never invest in hype.

Do not panic when the market dips and only sell when the price is high.

Memorizing Your 24 Word Recovery Phrase

The Ledger Nano S has an app called recovery check. This allows you to enter your recovery phrase and check that you have the correct words. It is good to memorize your 24 words using the memory palace technique and practice recalling them using the recovery check application on the Nano S periodically. Anyone who learns to read or write should learn the memory palace technique and memorize their recovery words. This way, if citizens are forced to run from their country with nothing then they will at least have all their money as soon as they can acquire a new hardware wallet in their new country. As Cardano gets more advanced then this same recovery phrase can be used as a passport, voting registration, and repository for property deeds. The memory palace technique has been practiced by many ancient peoples and is still practiced by native peoples that do not use writing. People that use writing are not taught this skill. The memory palace technique is the missing key for the cryptocurrency security problem. At some point modern peoples will have to start teaching the memory palace technique in schools and everybody will have to learn it. Then and only then will people truly have custody of their own money and a real seat at the bargaining table along with banks, governments, and corporations.

This is NOT A SUBSTITUE for keeping your words in a secure place like a safety deposit box if you trust your government and your banking system or perhaps on an airgapped computer with a clonable encrypted drive.

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