Can I exchange BTC from CoinBase?

Question

I have read the articles in the BitCoin website and I thought of implementing the BitCoin payment method in my website.

I registered at a payment processor website called "CoinBase". Unfortunately my country is not supported for the Buy & Sell feature. I am thinking of accepting payments and later using some sort of exchange website to cash out. If I do start accepting BTC should I store them in the CoinBase wallet or use something like BitCoin Core? I am asking this because I heard that some BitCoin services steal the BitCoins from their customers and run off. Other than that, storing them online is probably more comfortable. Could I get some suggestions on good exchange websites?

Thanks in advanced.

Answer 1

It's generally a good idea to hold bitcoin in a wallet you control vs exchanges like Coinbase. I wouldn't use Bitcoin Core however as that is primarily a consensus server at this point. Quite a pain to run. Check out other standalone wallets like Airbitz (disclaimer: co-founder) or Mycelium, Electrum, etc.

Answer 2

Transfer the money to a wallet you control from time to time so you don't let too much of your money lay around on some service on the internet. There are videos explaining how to use a wallet software on YouTube.

There are very good reasons financial institutes have to get special licenses and are regulated so they can't speculate however they desire. It's rather unlikely that a big service like CoinBase will run off with your money. However, it can go bankrupt and take your money or a big part of it down with you.

After transferring the money to a wallet you control (for example using Electrum as shown in the video), you subsequently control the money as opposed to the payment processor controlling it before you do so.

Plan to pay about 1% of the money exchanged in fees when using a bitcoin-to-fiat exchange because 1% is the usual fee for quite some time now.