Cryptocurrencies often gets stored on an exchange simply because it’s convenient. But in practice, that’s not storage — it’s trusting your funds to an exchange that controls the private keys. Sometimes that works for years. Sometimes it lasts until the first incident. Even large exchanges can be hacked: in February 2025, the FBI officially linked …

If you are deciding where to store USDT, start with how often you actually use the funds. An exchange is convenient for trading and regular swaps, a mobile self-custody wallet works well for smaller day-to-day balances, and a hardware wallet makes more sense for long-term storage of the main amount. The second decision is just …