First time transferring to hardware wallet and overwhelmed
I have had crypto on Coinbase since 2021 but have always kept everything on the exchange. I finally bought a hardware wallet due to tons of people saying to take my crypto off the exchange because "if you do not own your own keys, then you do not....."
I'm just learning about gas fees and I am surprised by the prices. I have a few questions below:
- Do I have to pay USD out of pocket for gas fees or do I just use Ethereum for each transaction?
- If I use Eth for all gas fees, then do I have to keep enough Eth on both coinbase and my hardware wallet to send back and forth?
- I am going to be transferring Ethereum and Shiba (hold laughter) to my hardware wallet. Will Shiba be a huge gas fee due to it being a ERC20?
- Would it even make sense for me to send crypto to the hardware wallet for only 1 year and then send it back to Coinbase exchange in Feb 2025 for a potential sell? If I only plan to have in hardware wallet for one year, then should I maybe just leave it on the exchange and hope it stays safe?