Did you know that Bitcoin is not anonymous? Yes, your public address can be used to link your transactions with your real identity. This is obviously, not ideal because if it happens, an attacker will stop at nothing to hack your account. And at this point, you already know that crypto is the target of all manner of scams, fraud, and theft attempts. What this means is you cannot leave any stone unturned when it comes to protecting your crypto funds.
One of the best ways to do that is to use an anonymous wallet. Anonymous wallets keep your info away from your transactions. They also obscure the movement of your money, so snooping parties are thrown off.
That said, which anonymous wallets are out there? We did a breakdown of five of the best, so you know which option is best for you.
#1. Samourai Wallet (Mobile, Bitcoin-only)
Samourai is a wallet that keeps your transactions private, your identity under wraps, and your crypto secure. And if the statement on their website is anything to go by, the team behind the wallet is pretty serious about what they’re doing. The group introduces themselves as: “…privacy activists who have dedicated their lives to creating the software that Silicon Valley will never build, the regulators will never allow, and VC’s will never invest in. We build the software that Bitcoin deserves.”
Samourai utilizes the following features to keep you off the trail:
Stonewall: A feature that thwarts address clustering efforts that would deanonymize you
PayNym: Having your public address online makes you vulnerable to tracking attempts. PayNyms prevent this from ever happening by keeping the public address between just the two involved parties (sender and receiver)
Scrambled PIN: PIN access is randomized every time you’re accessing the wallet. Also, the PIN is never visually presented. This way, screen recording spyware, and similar attempts are effectively thwarted.
Stealth Mode: A cool feature that removes the Samourai Wallet from your phone’s launcher, home screen, and app list. Instead, to reveal the wallet, you need to dial a secret PIN code.
#2. Wasabi Wallet (Desktop, Bitcoin-only)
Wasabi is a BTC wallet that is ‘unfairly private.’ The wallet implements CoinJoin and Tor to protect your privacy and anonymize your transactions.
Conjoin is an anonymization strategy that ‘mixes’ multiple users’ transactions so that it’s hard for third parties to identify which transaction belongs to which user. It’s impossible, even for the CoinJoin coordinator, to track each transaction.
All transactions go through Tor, providing an extra layer of privacy and anonymity. Currently, Wasabi is only available for desktop macOS, Windows, Ubuntu, and Linux systems.
#3. Unstoppable (Android and iOS, Multiple currencies)
Unstoppable is a mobile wallet that enables you to interact with local currencies in a safe, independent, and private manner. You don’t need an account, email, phone number, KYC, or third-party service to start using Unstoppable. It also utilizes ‘input/output randomize’ so no one can track incoming and outgoing transactions. This throws off any third party monitoring your transactions either when you’re transacting or in the future. Unstoppable also employs ‘no address reuse’ so that there’s no single trail of your transaction history.
The wallet currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), all ERC20 tokens, Binance Chain (BNB), and BEP2 tokens, Dash (DASH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
An Unstoppable wallet also educates users on crypto essentials so that users can get acquainted with the basics of the industry. On the app, users also get daily insights into what’s happening in the crypto market. You can also trade/exchange Ethereum and ERC20 tokens right on the app.
Unstoppable also uses secure storage mechanisms provided by Android so that no one can access your funds should your phone get stolen or lost.
#4. Electrum on Tails OS
Electrum is one of the most trusted crypto wallets. Using Electrum integrated with the Tails operating system can guarantee users full anonymity. The Tails OS runs your activity through Tor, making it impossible for third parties to track your transactions.
If you’re wondering what Tails is, it’s a software explicitly designed to anonymize user online presence. “Tails is a live system that aims to preserve your privacy and anonymity. It helps you to use the internet anonymously and circumvent censorship almost anywhere you go and on any computer but leaving no trace unless you ask it explicitly. It is a complete operating system designed to be used from a USB stick or a DVD independently of the computer’s original operating system. It is a free software and based on Debian GNU/Linux.”
Like many other anonymity wallets, you don’t need to enter any personal information during setup. Electrum also supports a ‘no address reuse’ feature so that no one can track your transaction history by using just one address. The wallet also supports plugins for third-party wallets and multi-signature services.
If you plan to or are using a hardware wallet, you can use it in conjunction with Electrum. The wallet supports third-party plugins for popular hardware wallets as well as multi-signature services. This wallet is best suited for the more tech-savvy users who have no difficulty using alternative operating systems. If I would rather stick to a wallet with everything in-house, then you might need to skip this option.
#5. BitLox (Hardware, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold)
BitLox is a hardware wallet that, on top of anonymization, comes with a host of features that users will find highly desirable. The wallet supports hidden wallets – which is hidden wallet data that is indistinguishable from random bytes in such a way that only you know that data is there.
Bitcoin comes in three sets: BitLox Advanced, BitLox Ultimate, and BitLox Extreme Privacy. BitLox Advanced, made from aerospace alloys, is the simplest of them all. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple when it comes to ensuring user funds’ security. The option comes with 100 different wallets, with each capable creating an infinite number of addresses.
The Ultimate option only differs from the Advanced option in the material that makes it: titanium. The Extreme Privacy option is fortified with military-grade USB fault and comes with the Tails OS so that your activity it’s completely anonymous.
Other amazing features of BitLox include multi-language support, several layers of PIN protection when you’re logging in and for every single transaction, and the deletion of all user data in case the emergency PIN is required. This means even if your wallet lands in the wrong hands, they can’t use your PIN, mnemonic phrase, and so on to access your funds.