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Aqua vs Electrum

Comparing
two wallets
Decided by
Editorial rating
Last reviewed
2026-08-25
Aqua3.6

A self-custodial Bitcoin, Liquid and Tether USDt wallet built for people who need cheap dollars on a phone, not only bitcoin.

Electrum4.4Bitcoin-only

The oldest bitcoin wallet still in active development, and the one whose users are hunted by a fake-update scam running since December 2018.

Verdict: Electrum

Electrum rates higher on our rubric: 4.4 against 3.6 for Aqua.

Criterion
Editorial rating
Aqua
3.6
Electrum
4.4

Aqua and Electrum, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

Aqua and Electrum compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
FactAquaElectrum
Editorial rating3.64.4 (favoured on this row)
StatusAvailableAvailable
Made byJAN3Electrum Technologies GmbH
PriceFree downloadFree download
Who holds the keysself-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Androidself-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own machine, with transactions checked by SPV
Bitcoin-onlyNoYes
Runs oniOS, AndroidAndroid, Windows, macOS, Linux
ScreenNot statedNot stated
ConnectivityOn-chain bitcoin, the Liquid Network, and Lightning through submarine swaps rather than channels of its ownConnects to public Electrum servers or one you run yourself, verifying your transactions by SPV
Released2024, by JAN3November 2011, written by Thomas Voegtlin
Countries on the maker's listNo published listNo published list
Last reviewed2026-08-252026-08-25

Pros and cons, side by side

Aqua

What works

  • Self-custodial, with the seed kept in the phone's own secure storage and no documents required to open a wallet
  • Bitcoin, Liquid and Tether USDt in one app, which is the point for anyone who is paid or saves in dollars
  • Aqua's own figures put a $100 USDt transfer at three cents over Liquid against eight dollars over Ethereum
  • Network fees on USDt can be paid in USDt, so there is no separate gas token to hold
  • Replace-by-fee support, so a stuck transaction can be bumped instead of waited out
  • Client source published on GitHub, and Aqua says it collects no personal data or transaction logs

What to watch

  • Not bitcoin only: a large part of the app is about stablecoins
  • Liquid balances are secured by the Liquid federation rather than by bitcoin's own mining
  • Lightning runs through third-party submarine swaps rather than channels Aqua manages
  • USDt transfers over Tron or Ethereum depend on SideShift's liquidity, as Aqua's own FAQ says
  • In-app bitcoin purchases are run by outside providers, so the country rules and the support queue are theirs
  • A prepaid card and lending are advertised as coming rather than shipped

Electrum

What works

  • Continuously maintained since November 2011, which nothing else on this list can claim
  • Lightweight: it checks your transactions by SPV instead of downloading the whole chain
  • Reproducible builds, signed by several independent builders, with signatures published next to every download
  • Hardware wallet support for Ledger, Trezor and KeepKey, plus multisig and watch-only cold storage
  • MIT licensed, and anyone can run the server software it talks to, so no company controls the network
  • An official Android build on both Google Play and F-Droid

What to watch

  • Users are the target of a fake-update scam that ZDNet traced to more than 22 million dollars of thefts by October 2020
  • The interface assumes you already know what a change address and a derivation path are
  • Windows builds are often flagged by antivirus heuristics, which the project says it cannot do anything about
  • No iOS version, and no built-in way to buy bitcoin
  • Two-factor signing runs through a third party, Trustedcoin, rather than the wallet alone

Frequently asked questions

Is Aqua or Electrum better?

Electrum rates higher on our rubric: 4.4 against 3.6 for Aqua. The rating follows the product rubric published on our about page; the rows above set custody, price and platforms side by side so you can check it.

Are Aqua and Electrum free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Aqua is self-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Android; Electrum is self-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own machine, with transactions checked by SPV.

Is Aqua or Electrum bitcoin-only?

Electrum is bitcoin-only; Aqua supports other assets too. Multi-asset: bitcoin on chain, Liquid bitcoin, and Tether USDt on Liquid and several other chains

The full reviews: Aqua and Electrum, each with its sources, and every wallet we review.

More comparisons

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