Wallet of Satoshi vs Wasabi Wallet

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

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.

Wasabi Wallet3.6Bitcoin-onlyWarning

Still a working bitcoin wallet, but the coinjoin coordinator that made its name was switched off by zkSNACKs on June 1, 2024.

Verdict: Wasabi Wallet

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

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

Wallet of Satoshi and Wasabi 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.

Wallet of Satoshi and Wasabi Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Wallet of Satoshi	Wasabi Wallet
Editorial rating	2.7	3.6 (favoured on this row)
Status	Caution: see the review	Caution: see the review
Made by	Living Room of Satoshi Pty Ltd	zkSNACKs
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do	self-custodial, keys generated and stored on your own computer, never held by zkSNACKs
Bitcoin-only	Yes	Yes
Runs on	iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, Linux
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Not stated	All traffic over Tor by default, compact block filters instead of a server that learns your addresses, and hardware signing through HWI for Trezor, Coldcard, Ledger, Blockstream Jade and BitBox02
Released	The custodial service left the US on November 23, 2023 and the European Union at the turn of 2026	2018; the download page serves version 2.8.1 for Windows, macOS and Linux
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

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

Wasabi Wallet

What works

Bitcoin only and open source under an MIT license, with a public repository that is still actively developed
Self-custodial: keys are generated and stored on your own computer, and zkSNACKs never held funds
Every connection runs over Tor by default, and compact block filters mean no server learns which addresses are yours
Hardware wallet signing through HWI for Trezor, Coldcard, Ledger, Blockstream Jade and BitBox02
Full coin control, transaction labeling and privacy suggestions that name who will learn about a payment
Coinjoin is still in the software: you add a third-party coordinator in place of the one zkSNACKs ran

What to watch

zkSNACKs switched off its coinjoin coordinator on June 1, 2024, so the feature Wasabi was known for no longer works out of the box
Choosing and vetting a third-party coordinator is now your problem, and each sets its own fees and terms
Desktop only: Wasabi's own site states it is not available on mobile
Trezor Suite coinjoin and BTCPay Server integrations that used the same coordinator broke on the same day
Silent payments are send-only: Wasabi cannot yet generate or receive to a silent payment address

Frequently asked questions

Is Wallet of Satoshi or Wasabi Wallet better?

Wasabi Wallet 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 Wallet of Satoshi and Wasabi Wallet free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Wallet of Satoshi is custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do; Wasabi Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated and stored on your own computer, never held by zkSNACKs.

Is Wallet of Satoshi or Wasabi Wallet bitcoin-only?

Both are bitcoin-only: neither supports another coin, which is a deliberate design choice for a smaller codebase.

Does Wallet of Satoshi or Wasabi Wallet 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. Wasabi Wallet: zkSNACKs announced on May 2, 2024, days after US prosecutors charged the founders of Samourai Wallet, that it would discontinue the coinjoin coordination service behind Wasabi's headline privacy feature, and switched it off on June 1, 2024. The wallet is still developed and still works as a self-custodial, bitcoin-only desktop wallet, and coinjoin remains in the software, but you now have to find and trust a third-party coordinator to use it.

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

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