Aqua vs Wallet of Satoshi

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.

Wallet of Satoshi2.7Bitcoin-onlyWarning

The easiest Lightning wallet to start with, and a custodial one: the company holds your coins, and it has stopped offering that in the US and the EU.

Verdict: Aqua

Aqua rates higher on our rubric: 3.6 against 2.7 for Wallet of Satoshi.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Aqua: 3.6
Wallet of Satoshi: 2.7

Aqua and Wallet of Satoshi, 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 Wallet of Satoshi compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Aqua	Wallet of Satoshi
Editorial rating	3.6 (favoured on this row)	2.7
Status	Available	Caution: see the review
Made by	JAN3	Living Room of Satoshi Pty Ltd
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	custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do
Bitcoin-only	No	Yes
Runs on	iOS, Android	iOS, Android
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	The custodial service left the US on November 23, 2023 and the European Union at the turn of 2026
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

Wallet of Satoshi

What works

The fastest way onto Lightning there is: no channels, no liquidity management and no node to run
Free Lightning address that reads like an email, so anyone can pay you without scanning a code
Pays Lightning invoices and on-chain bitcoin addresses from the same box, detecting which you pasted
A self-custodial mode is offered everywhere, including in regions where the custodial one is not
No breach of its custodial infrastructure has been publicly reported

What to watch

Custodial in its default mode, so the company can freeze, lose or stop serving your balance
Left the US market on November 23, 2023 and has not announced a return
Withdrew the custodial service across the European Union at the turn of 2026, pushing EU users into self-custody
No published country list, so which mode you get is decided by the app rather than by a page you can read first
In-app buying runs through third-party partners whose country coverage changes without the wallet saying anything

Frequently asked questions

Is Aqua or Wallet of Satoshi better?

Aqua rates higher on our rubric: 3.6 against 2.7 for Wallet of Satoshi. 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 Wallet of Satoshi 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; Wallet of Satoshi is custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do.

Is Aqua or Wallet of Satoshi bitcoin-only?

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

Does Aqua or Wallet of Satoshi carry a warning?

Wallet of Satoshi: Wallet of Satoshi pulled its app from US app stores and stopped serving US customers on November 23, 2023, then withdrew its custodial Lightning service across the European Union at the turn of 2026, as the MiCA transition periods and the DAC8 reporting rules closed in on custodial providers. EU users are offered the self-custodial mode instead. Wherever the custodial mode is still available, the company holds the keys, which is the risk to weigh before you put money in it.

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

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