Safeguarding your funds and your privacy is our top priority. Bitvavo takes extensive security measures to ensure that your account is as safe as possible. Although these measures ensure that your account is well protected, there are some additional steps you should consider as a user to protect your account. In this post we will describe the most common methods in order for you to ensure the protection of your Bitvavo account.
Use unique and complex password
As a general rule you should create various strong passwords for each service you use on the internet. A strong password consists of at least 8 characters, including uppercase and lowercase letters and symbols. You should not use dictionary words.
We recommend using a completely random password because this is impossible to guess. You can come up with a strong password yourself, you can use a password generator or a password manager.
Check if you are on the right website
Before logging in to your Bitvavo account, you should ensure that you are logged in on the right website. To ensure that this is the case, you should check the address bar and make sure that you are on 'account.bitvavo.com' and see the lock (which confirms that your connection is encrypted with SSL).
We recommend creating a bookmark and access Bitvavo through it to ensure that you always access the right address.
Use an anti-phishing code
Phising is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information, such as username and password, by impersonating Bitvavo or its employees. In order to reduce phising risk, we recommend to set an anti-phising code. After having your anti-phising code set, your anti-phising code will be included in every Bitvavo email you receive.
Our employees will never ask you for your anti-phishing code, password or two-factor authentication (2FA) information.
Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to enable your anti-phishing code
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication, also known as 2-steps verification, is a security layer in addition to your username and password. With two-factor authentication enabled on your account, you will have to provide your password (first factor, something you know) and your two-factor authentication code (second factor, something you have physical access to) when signing in to your account. Two-factor authentication codes are associated with a specific device, such as your phone or computer. A potential intruder would be unable to access your Bitvavo account, unless this person also has access to your two-factor device.
This feature and how you can enable two-factor authentication on your Bitvavo account will be described in more detail in one of our upcoming blog posts.
Whitelist wallet adresses
The withdrawal address whitelist is another security feature offered by Bitvavo. If the withdrawal whitelist function is not enabled, your account is able to make withdrawals to any address. When this feature is enabled, your account will only be able to make withdrawals to the addresses that are whitelisted.
In other terms, whichever addresses that you whitelist will be the only ones able to receive funds from your Bitvavo account. This is very useful if you wish to limit the ability of withdrawing funds from your account. By setting your bank account as the only whitelisted withdrawal address, you (or others with access to your account) won't be able to withdraw digital assets. This feature is also highly recommended for users using our API with withdrawal permissions.
This feature and how you can enable it on your Bitvavo account will be described in more detail in one of our upcoming blog posts.
Use a hardware wallet
The main benefit of cryptocurrencies is that you do not need to trust third parties such as banks or exchanges, such as Bitvavo. We always recommend to store your bought cryptocurrencies on your own hardware wallet. Only in this way you could ensure that only you are in complete control over what happens to your cryptocurrencies, and be your own bank.
More on hardware wallets and how you can store your cryptocurrencies on a hardware wallet will be described in more detail in one of our upcoming blog posts.
Contact us for questions
This was the first blog post in a serie of articles regarding how your Bitvavo account is protected and which measures you could take to make your account even more secure. In the upcoming weeks the above-mentioned measures will be described in more detail and new measures will be introduced.
If you have any questions regarding the security of your Bitvavo account, don't hesitate to contact our support team which is available 7 days a week to answer all your questions.
