[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide:api-keys-and-third-party-trading-tools::en":3,"guides-all::en":10},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"topic":7,"updated_at":8,"body":9},"api-keys-and-third-party-trading-tools","API Keys and Third-Party Trading Tools","Bots, trackers and tax tools all ask for exchange API keys. What each permission actually grants, and the one you should almost never hand over.","exchange-safety","2026-08-17T16:27:44+00:00","\u003Cp>Portfolio trackers, trading bots, copy-trading services and tax tools all want to connect to your exchange account, and the usual mechanism is an API key: a credential you generate inside the exchange that lets software act on the account without your password. Using one is reasonable. It is also a standing grant of access that outlives most of the assumptions people make about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Permissions are separate rights\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Exchanges generally split API access into distinct permissions — read, trade and withdraw is the common division, though the names and the granularity vary by venue. Read exposes balances and history. Trade can place and cancel orders. Withdraw can move assets off the exchange. They are independent of one another: a key can read without trading, and trade without withdrawing.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>The rule that follows\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Almost nothing needs withdrawal permission. A tracker needs read. A tax tool needs read. A bot needs read and trade. If a service asks for withdrawal rights, ask what specifically it does with them, and treat the absence of a clear answer as the answer. Where the exchange offers it, restrict the key to the IP addresses the service publishes, which makes a stolen key useless from anywhere else, and set an expiry if that option exists.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>What a key survives\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Changing your account password does not disable a key that has already been issued, and on many venues neither does adding two-factor authentication. A key stays valid until it is deleted or expires. That property is what turns an abandoned integration into an open door: the service you tried once two years ago may still hold working access, and that service's own security is now part of yours.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Housekeeping that actually helps\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Generate one key per service rather than reusing a single key everywhere, keep a note of what each is for, and delete keys when you stop using the tool instead of leaving them dormant. Exchanges show the creation date and often the last-used time for every key — an unfamiliar key, or a familiar one showing activity when you are not trading, is worth acting on immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>The limits of the whole arrangement\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>A read-only key still discloses your full balance and trading history to whoever holds it, which is exactly the information useful to anyone targeting you. A trade-only key cannot withdraw, but it can still cost you money: an attacker holding trade rights can push your balance into a thin market against their own orders. Least privilege reduces the damage. It does not remove it.\u003C\u002Fp>",[11,17,18,23,27,32,36,40,44,49,53,57,61,65,69,73,77,81,85,89,93,97,101,105,109,113,117,121,125],{"slug":12,"title":13,"excerpt":14,"topic":15,"updated_at":16},"an-etf-share-or-the-coin-itself","An ETF Share or the Coin Itself","Both track the same price and they are not the same asset. What each one actually makes you own, the three-way choice most people mistake for a two-way one, and which risk you are picking up.","market-literacy","2026-08-18T03:30:02+00:00",{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},{"slug":19,"title":20,"excerpt":21,"topic":22,"updated_at":16},"bridging-crypto-between-chains","Bridging Crypto Between Chains Without Losing It","A bridge is a custody decision dressed up as a transfer. What the three designs actually do with your coin, why bridges are the most attacked component in crypto, and the checks that survive all of them.","wallet-security",{"slug":24,"title":25,"excerpt":26,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"checking-a-crypto-address-before-you-send","How to Check a Crypto Address Before You Send","A crypto transfer cannot be recalled, and the most common way people lose money is sending to an address that was never the one they meant. Here is the check that catches it.",{"slug":28,"title":29,"excerpt":30,"topic":31,"updated_at":8},"crypto-tax-guide","The Crypto Records to Keep Before Tax Time","What you owe is set where you live, and this page does not touch it. What travels between jurisdictions is the record-keeping — and the fact that exchanges are not archives.","tax",{"slug":33,"title":34,"excerpt":35,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"custodial-vs-non-custodial-wallets-explained","Custodial vs Non-Custodial Wallets Explained","The single biggest decision in how you hold crypto: who controls the keys, and what that means for security and responsibility.",{"slug":37,"title":38,"excerpt":39,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},"exchange-safety-checklist","How to Evaluate a Crypto Exchange's Safety","Before you deposit a dollar, run any exchange through this checklist — proof-of-reserves, custody model, licensing, and security track record.",{"slug":41,"title":42,"excerpt":43,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"hardware-wallets-explained","Hardware Wallets Explained","What a hardware wallet actually protects you from, what it does not, and how to buy and set one up without undoing the point of owning it.",{"slug":45,"title":46,"excerpt":47,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-crypto-withdrawals-work","How Crypto Withdrawals Work","Networks, addresses, confirmations and fees — what actually happens when you withdraw crypto, and the mistakes that make it unrecoverable.","crypto-basics",{"slug":50,"title":51,"excerpt":52,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-to-buy-bitcoin","How to Buy Bitcoin for the First Time","The purchase takes ten minutes. What takes longer are the four decisions around it: where the coin will live, which venue may legally sell to you, and what the quote really costs.",{"slug":54,"title":55,"excerpt":56,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-check-a-token-before-you-buy","How to Check a Token Before You Buy","Six checks you can run yourself on any token, with a block explorer and the contract. None of them require trusting the project's own description.",{"slug":58,"title":59,"excerpt":60,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},"how-to-check-an-exchange-licence-claim","How to Check an Exchange Licence Claim","A licence badge in a footer is a claim, not evidence. Four steps to verify it against the register, and what the answer does and does not cover.",{"slug":62,"title":63,"excerpt":64,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-read-a-crypto-whitepaper","How to Read a Crypto Whitepaper","A whitepaper has no standard, no reviewer and no obligation to stay true. What to read first, what to verify elsewhere, and which sections to skip.",{"slug":66,"title":67,"excerpt":68,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-to-spot-a-crypto-scam","How to Spot a Crypto Scam","The patterns behind almost every crypto scam are older than crypto. Learn the five that keep working, and the checks that defuse them.",{"slug":70,"title":71,"excerpt":72,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-trade-futures","How to Trade Crypto Futures, Starting With the Risk","A perpetual costs you money whether you are right or wrong, and the venue picks the moment your position closes. The numbers to know before the entry, not after it.",{"slug":74,"title":75,"excerpt":76,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"market-cap-and-supply-explained","Market Cap and Supply, Explained","Why a coin's unit price tells you nothing, what market cap actually measures, and the supply figures that quietly change the answer.",{"slug":78,"title":79,"excerpt":80,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},"proof-of-reserves-explained","Proof of Reserves Explained","What a proof-of-reserves report actually proves, what it quietly leaves out, and how to read one without mistaking it for a full audit.",{"slug":82,"title":83,"excerpt":84,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"reading-a-block-explorer","How to Read a Block Explorer","A block explorer is the public record every claim about a transaction can be checked against. What the fields mean, and the three things worth verifying yourself.",{"slug":86,"title":87,"excerpt":88,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"seed-phrase-security","How to Store a Seed Phrase Safely","Your recovery phrase is the account. Here is how to back it up so a fire, a flood, a thief or a phishing site cannot take your crypto with it.",{"slug":90,"title":91,"excerpt":92,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"token-approvals-and-how-to-revoke-them","Token Approvals and How to Revoke Them","Most wallet drains are not stolen keys. They are permissions the owner granted once and forgot. Here is what an approval is and how to take it back.",{"slug":94,"title":95,"excerpt":96,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},"two-factor-authentication-for-crypto-accounts","Two-Factor Authentication for Crypto Accounts","Not all second factors are equal. Why SMS codes are the weakest option, what a security key does that an app cannot, and what to fix first.",{"slug":98,"title":99,"excerpt":100,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"understanding-crypto-exchange-fees","Understanding Crypto Exchange Fees","Trading fees are the smallest part of what an exchange charges you. Here is where the rest of the cost hides, and how to measure it.",{"slug":102,"title":103,"excerpt":104,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"what-a-smart-contract-audit-proves","What a Smart Contract Audit Does and Does Not Prove","An audit is a review with a scope and a date, not a guarantee. How to read one, and the four things a badge on a website never tells you.",{"slug":106,"title":107,"excerpt":108,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"what-backs-a-stablecoin","What Actually Backs a Stablecoin","A stablecoin is only as stable as whatever stands behind it. The three designs, what an attestation does and does not prove, and the question that matters most.",{"slug":110,"title":111,"excerpt":112,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},"what-happens-when-a-crypto-exchange-fails","What Happens When a Crypto Exchange Fails","If an exchange freezes withdrawals or files for bankruptcy, what actually happens to your balance — and what you can do before that day.",{"slug":114,"title":115,"excerpt":116,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"what-staking-actually-involves","What Staking Actually Involves","Staking is not a savings account. What you commit, what can reduce it, and the difference between doing it yourself and letting a platform do it.",{"slug":118,"title":119,"excerpt":120,"topic":22,"updated_at":8},"what-to-do-if-your-wallet-is-drained","What to Do If Your Wallet Is Drained","The first hour matters, and instinct gives the wrong advice. What can still be saved, what cannot, and why recovery services make it worse.",{"slug":122,"title":123,"excerpt":124,"topic":7,"updated_at":16},"when-an-exchange-freezes-your-withdrawal","When an Exchange Freezes Your Withdrawal","Most frozen withdrawals are a compliance review, not a collapse. How to tell which one you are in, what shortens a hold, and the signals that mean stop waiting.",{"slug":126,"title":127,"excerpt":128,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"why-a-transaction-is-stuck","Why a Transaction Is Stuck, and What to Do","A pending transaction has not failed and has not happened. Why fees, ordering and nonces leave transactions waiting, and which fixes are real."]