I was under the impression that just your USD FIAT CASH was FDIC insured on Coinbase.
This is true as digital currencies are not legl tenders, but there is also insurance for digital currencies stored in coinbase (hot wallet) and lost as a result of a breach in their security.
I understand that the online platforms are prone to cyber attacks but doesn’t the FDIC insurance make that a non issue? The frozen accounts thing is concerning. I wonder the reason?
A breach is not the only risk when storing on an exchange, your funds are not under your control as such, you only spend them when the exchange allows you too. They can be frozen at any time *pending any investigation.
Also, there is a privacy concern, as exchanges require you to pass KYC to transact in certain amounts. Coinbase in particular has bee known to submit user details to government agencies. This removes the pseudo anonymity in Bitcoin.
it seems much riskier to try to secure my bitcoins on my own. I feel my house burning down or some other accident destroying my wallet is much more likely than losing it on Coinbase.
Your Bitcoin's are in your address and not stores on your 'wallet', so you can always recover it if anything happens to your device, as long as you backup your seeds and private keys.