Atomic Wallet vs Guarda Wallet

Comparing: two wallets
Decided by: Editorial rating
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

Do not keep bitcoin here: over 5,500 wallets were emptied in June 2023 and the cause was never published.

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

Verdict: Guarda Wallet

Guarda Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 3.0 against 1.2 for Atomic Wallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Atomic Wallet: 1.2
Guarda Wallet: 3.0

Atomic Wallet 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.

Atomic Wallet and Guarda Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Atomic Wallet	Guarda Wallet
Editorial rating	1.2	3.0 (favoured on this row)
Status	Caution: see the review	Available
Made by	Atomic Wallet	Guarda
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted with your password	self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose
Bitcoin-only	No	No
Runs on	iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux	iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser extension
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Not stated	Not stated
Released	2017	2017
Countries on the maker's list	No published list	No published list
Last reviewed	2026-08-26	2026-08-25

Pros and cons, side by side

Atomic Wallet

What works

Keys are held on your device, so a working install still lets you move your own coins out
Desktop builds are published for Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora, with a hashsum check for the download
One app covers bitcoin and more than a thousand other assets, which is why so many people kept so much in it

What to watch

More than 5,500 wallets were drained on June 2 and 3, 2023, for over $100 million by Elliptic's count
Atomic has never published a confirmed technical cause, offering four possibilities and picking none
No compensation has been paid to the people who lost money
Its first public statements put the damage at under 0.1% and then under 1% of users, which the on-chain evidence contradicted
The first class action was thrown out in 2024 on jurisdiction rather than on the facts, and a second is now pending in California
The homepage says nothing about the incident and still runs testimonials from a man who died in 2021

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 Atomic Wallet or Guarda Wallet better?

Guarda Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 3.0 against 1.2 for Atomic 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 Atomic Wallet and Guarda Wallet free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Atomic Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted with your password; Guarda Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose.

Is Atomic Wallet or Guarda Wallet bitcoin-only?

Neither: both support assets beyond bitcoin. Atomic Wallet: Bitcoin plus more than 1,000 other coins and tokens, by Atomic's own count. Guarda Wallet: Bitcoin plus more than 70 blockchains, by Guarda's own count.

Does Atomic Wallet or Guarda Wallet carry a warning?

Atomic Wallet: On June 2 and 3, 2023, more than 5,500 Atomic Wallet users had their balances emptied in a single coordinated event. Elliptic put the total above $100 million and attributed it to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Atomic Wallet has never published a confirmed technical cause and no compensation has been paid. The first US class action was dismissed in September 2024 for lack of personal jurisdiction rather than on the facts, and a second was filed in California in June 2025. The company's own homepage carries no mention of any of it.

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

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