Aqua vs Guarda Wallet

Comparing: two wallets
Decided by: Editorial rating
Last reviewed: 2026-08-25

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

Guarda Wallet3.0

A capable multi-platform wallet whose 2020 domain hijack exposed the real weakness: a login flow built on uploading your backup.

Verdict: Aqua

Aqua rates higher on our rubric: 3.6 against 3.0 for Guarda Wallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Aqua: 3.6
Guarda Wallet: 3.0

Aqua and Guarda Wallet, 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 Guarda Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Aqua	Guarda Wallet
Editorial rating	3.6 (favoured on this row)	3.0
Status	Available	Available
Made by	JAN3	Guarda
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Android	self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose
Bitcoin-only	No	No
Runs on	iOS, Android	iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser extension
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	On-chain bitcoin, the Liquid Network, and Lightning through submarine swaps rather than channels of its own	Not stated
Released	2024, by JAN3	2017
Countries on the maker's list	No published list	No published list
Last reviewed	2026-08-25	2026-08-25

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

Guarda Wallet

What works

Guarda's CEO published a dated, detailed account of the 2020 attack, including the registrar's own logs
Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, a web app and a Chrome extension
Keys are generated locally and encrypted under your own password, and Guarda never holds them
Staking on 14 networks, multisig support and 24/7 live support, per Guarda's own site
Buying built in with cards and Apple Pay across a wide asset range

What to watch

The web and extension flow involves uploading your backup file, which is precisely what the 2020 phishing page was built to collect
The 2020 breakdown came through a domain registrar account, a dependency Guarda does not control and cannot audit
Third party perpetual futures and prediction markets now sit inside the wallet, which is more moving parts than holding bitcoin needs
The user, token and blockchain counts are Guarda's own figures, published on its own homepage
A hot wallet with no hardware signing of its own

Frequently asked questions

Is Aqua or Guarda Wallet better?

Aqua rates higher on our rubric: 3.6 against 3.0 for Guarda Wallet. 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 Guarda Wallet 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; Guarda Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose.

Is Aqua or Guarda Wallet bitcoin-only?

Neither: both support assets beyond bitcoin. Aqua: Multi-asset: bitcoin on chain, Liquid bitcoin, and Tether USDt on Liquid and several other chains. Guarda Wallet: Bitcoin plus more than 70 blockchains, by Guarda's own count.

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

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