This is a transcription/expansion of a thread posted to Twitter regarding some personal red flags when choosing a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet. These are personal preferences/disqualifiers — in no way does this post constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Opinions are my own, and are precisely that (opinions). In subsequent posts, I’m hoping to be able to break down individually why each of these 15 points matter to me when selecting a wallet.
As always, “Don’t trust, verify” applies. Do Your Own Research (DYOR), and determine what your own disqualifying factors or personal standards for wallets are.
- If your wallet is custodial, I’m not interested.
2. If your wallet supports shitcoins, I’m not interested.
3. If your wallet doesn’t support Segwit, I’m not interested.
4. If your wallet features KYC/AML checkpoints, I’m not interested.
5. If your wallet is closed-source, I’m not interested.
6. If your wallet uses BIP70, I’m not interested.
7. If your wallet isn’t designed for practical, everyday use, I’m not interested.
8. If your wallet re-uses addresses or encourages address re-use, I’m not interested.
9. If your wallet provides you with no control over your utxo management/coin selection, I’m not interested.
10. If your wallet features a draconian T&Cs/ToS, I’m not interested.
11. If your wallet uses a mnemonic seed and doesn’t feature a mandatory BIP39 Password/Passphrase for added security, I’m not interested.
12. If your wallet doesn’t have a feature for sweeping private keys, I’m not interested.
13. If your wallet uses fingerprints or any other biometrics, I’m not interested.
14. If your wallet has prioritized LN support over first producing a functional and feature-rich on-chain wallet, I’m not interested.
15. If your wallet has a clunky UI that doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2013, I’m not interested.
The sad result of these disqualifiers is that there are very few wallets that I find interesting/worth using. These disqualifiers are also a big part of why @SamouraiWallet is pretty much the only wallet I have interest in and am paying close attention to at the moment.
