They're Not Your Friend, They're a Tool
So I was scrolling through r/CryptoMarkets this morning and saw a thread that blew up because it spoke a hard truth: 'Every CEX is fine until it isn't.' The original poster went off about how 'industry leaders' always seem to hit 'Maintenance Mode' the second the market goes nuts—which is exactly when you need to trade or get your funds out.
His point? Stop being 'loyal' to a single exchange. Treat them like what they are: exit ramps and execution tools. Nothing more. He laid out a dead-simple checklist for which exchanges even deserve his business, focusing on whether you can reach a real human for support and prioritizing boring predictability over flashy hype.
The community on the thread totally got it. The consensus was clear: thinking your favorite exchange is invincible is a rookie mistake. One user made a great point that even though US traders have fewer options, they still practice hardcore risk management, never keeping more than 10-20% of their funds on an exchange like Kraken Pro. They know the risk is always there. And of course, the message that came through loudest was the golden rule: get your big funds into cold storage.
My Take: This Isn't FUD, It's Survival
Let's be brutally honest—the original poster is 100% right. This isn't FUD, it's just smart operational security. We've all seen it. A massive green candle pumps, you try to log in to take profit, and suddenly you're staring at a login error or a 'system upgrade' notice. It's not a coincidence.
Thinking you're safe because you use a 'big name' like Coinbase or Binance is dangerous. They're just as guilty of pulling the plug when things get wild. Your exchange is not your bank. It's not your vault. It's a service, and services can—and do—fail.
The solution is to adopt this 'Plan B' mindset. Your real crypto portfolio lives on a hardware wallet. The funds you keep on an exchange should only be what you're actively trading. And spreading that risk across two or three different, vetted exchanges? That's not paranoia, that's just being a professional. If one goes down, you have another way to get in or out of the market. Don't learn this lesson the hard way like the folks from Celsius or FTX.
What's Your Escape Plan?
You have to have an escape plan for when—not if—your primary exchange flakes out on you. So what's your setup? Do you have a CEX rotation or are you still keeping all your eggs in one basket? Let me know your strategy in the comments below.
