Got paid in USDT for the first time and now it's just sitting there

Following on from a thread of mine from a while back — I took the last two payouts in USDT instead of a wire and that part worked perfectly, so thank you again to whoever told me to just email the network and ask.

Now a slightly stupid problem. There's about $2,100 sitting on an exchange and I don't know what the normal next step is. Cash it out? Leave it there? Spend from it? Everyone here talks like this part is obvious and I'd rather not guess with real money.

Sorry, I know this is basic.

first thing, get it off the exchange. it isn't yours while it sits there, that's not a slogan, it's the entire lesson of the last three of them.

self custody, then decide. tron or solana, either is cents and either settles before you've closed the tab.

Split it by what it's for instead of making one decision for all of it.

Working capital — ad spend, hosting, tools — wants to stay in stablecoin and get spent from a card. The Crypto Cards & Prepaid board covers which ones actually work for that and what the top-up really costs; it's the part of this with numbers attached rather than opinions.

What you want to keep is a slower, separate decision. Don't make both tonight.

Two thousand dollars is not a portfolio. Spend it on the thing that made it.

The conversion date matters more than anyone here will tell you; whatever you decide, export the transaction history from the exchange now rather than in eighteen months, when you need it and the account has been closed.

Moved it off the exchange the same evening, which I honestly would not have thought to do. Reading the card threads before I pick anything to spend from.

sable_ — fair.

Thank you all again.