Dogecoin Creator Warns 'Being Your Own Bank' Comes With Its Own Set Of Risks For Crypto Users

Dogecoin DOGE/USD  co-creator Billy Markus has a word of warning to cryptocurrency holders who plan on being their own bankers.

What Happened: Markus was responding to a tweet that highlighted the dangers associated with cryptocurrency exchanges and storing funds on their platforms.

See Also: How To Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

Markus questioned, “I do wonder if more people lost their crypto leaving it on exchanges that went defunct or losing their keys / encrypting it and forgetting their password.”

The DOGE co-creator said he knew “quite a few people who had a lot of [Dogecoin] but can’t access it due to their own mistakes.”

Using an abbreviated multiplayer gaming reference “Good Luck, Have Fun,” Markus wrote, “'Be your own bank' glhf”

However, Markus clarified that he was not advocating that people leave their coins on an exchange either.

“People lose their crypto in many ways. Recommending people use wallets also comes with a ‘and be responsible and safe/backup your keys / etc.’ warnings.”

Why It Matters: Earlier this year, Dogecoin supporter and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk and advocated against storing cryptocurrencies in wallets without private key ownership.

See Also: Bitcoin Investor Lost $100K In Botched Up Wallet Migration: How You Can Avoid Similar Fate

“Any crypto wallet that won’t give you your private keys should be avoided at all costs,” Musk said in February. 

However, some investors have been burned in efforts of being their own bank.

Stefan Thomas, a computer programmer, who held thousands of Bitcoin BTC/USD on a hard disk and forgot its password said earlier this year, “This whole idea of being your own bank — let me put it this way: Do you make your own shoes?”

“The reason we have banks is that we don’t want to deal with all those things that banks do,” said Thomas.

Price Action: DOGE traded 4.16% lower at $0.23 over 24 hours at press time. BTC traded 1.34% lower at $47,277.40 in a similar period.

Read Next: Apple 'Betrayed' My Trust, Says iPhone User Who Lost $1M To Scam Bitcoin App

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