When I First Got into Crypto Currency there were many altcoins I wanted to buy but did not have a wallet for them to be stored in without a bunch of leg work.
Spending Hours to find set up and authenticate a wallet for a coin with $100 in it seemed like a lot of when I would have to set up many wallets.
To solve this problem I have used wallets such as Exoduswallet. I have found this very helpful to be able to store many different coins that were on the exchange in one wallet.
Coins Supported in Exodus Wallet:
-Bitcoin
-Ethereum
-Dash
-Lightcoin
-Golem
-Augur
-Dogecoin
-Decred
Step.....1
Google search: Exodus Wallet
Step.....2
Download to Mac,lunux, or PC (currently no moble version is avalible)
Step.....3
Send a small amount to activate to your account then create your 12-word seed.
Why is it important to have ownership of your public keys?
Example:
I had some gift cards to a local movie theater that went out of business and the gift cards became worthless overnight. The last thing we want to have happen is for your cryptocurrency to become worthless overnight because you don't own the public and private keys, the exchange does. Don't think for a second that you do its a false sense of security. Coinbase has locked people from accessing their BTC and ETH accounts. When you make your purchases of Coinbase make sure to put them in a safe place such as a Hardware wallet they are a little pricey but they are worth the piece of mind. You will not have to worry about funds being locked up.
Moral of the story get your Coins off of the exchanges that have been sitting on the exchanges for months and put them in cold storage. You will thank me @Crypt0 said in one of his videos that may exchanges have lost or stolen money don;t let it be you.
If you have been involved with cryptocurrency for a while it would be wise to as asking yourself what are your risks and how can you mitigate or lessen those risks.