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NF35 - Buy Crypto Securely

Latest release: 2.1.3 ( 30th August 2021 ) 🔍 Last analysed 2nd January 2023 . Custodial: The provider holds the keys Not functioning anymore
1 thousand
10th June 2021

As the provider of this product holds the keys, verifiability of the product is not relevant to the security of the funds!

As part of our Methodology, we ask:

Custodial!

Is the product self-custodial?

If the answer is "no", we mark it as "Custodial: The provider holds the keys".

A custodial service is a service where the funds are held by a third party like the provider. The custodial service can at any point steal all the funds of all the users at their discretion. Our investigations stop there.

Some services might claim their setup is super secure, that they don’t actually have access to the funds, or that the access is shared between multiple parties. For our evaluation of it being a wallet, these details are irrelevant. They might be a trustworthy Bitcoin bank and they might be a better fit for certain users than being your own bank but our investigation still stops there as we are only interested in wallets.

Products that claim to be non-custodial but feature custodial accounts without very clearly marking those as custodial are also considered “custodial” as a whole to avoid misguiding users that follow our assessment.

This verdict means that the provider might or might not publish source code and maybe it is even possible to reproduce the build from the source code but as it is custodial, the provider already has control over the funds, so it is not a wallet where you would be in exclusive control of your funds.

We have to acknowledge that a huge majority of Bitcoiners are currently using custodial Bitcoin banks. If you do, please:

  • Do your own research if the provider is trust-worthy!
  • Check if you know at least enough about them so you can sue them when you have to!
  • Check if the provider is under a jurisdiction that will allow them to release your funds when you need them?
  • Check if the provider is taking security measures proportional to the amount of funds secured? If they have a million users and don’t use cold storage, that hot wallet is a million times more valuable for hackers to attack. A million times more effort will be taken by hackers to infiltrate their security systems.
The product cannot be independently verified. If the provider puts your funds at risk on purpose or by accident, you will probably not know about the issue before people start losing money. If the provider is more criminally inclined he might have collected all the backups of all the wallets, ready to be emptied at the press of a button. The product might have a formidable track record but out of distress or change in management turns out to be evil from some point on, with nobody outside ever knowing before it is too late.

But we also ask:

Defunct!

Is the product still supported by the still existing provider?

If the answer is "no", we mark it as "Not functioning anymore".

Discontinued products or worse, products of providers that are not active anymore, are problematic, especially if they were not formerly reproducible and well audited to be self-custodial following open standards. If the provider hasn’t answered inquiries for a year but their server is still running or similar circumstances might get this verdict, too.

Do your own research!

Try out searching for "lost bitcoins", "stole my money" or "scammers" together with the wallet's name, even if you think the wallet is generally trustworthy. For all the bigger wallets you will find accusations. Make sure you understand why they were made and if you are comfortable with the provider's reaction.

If you find something we should include, you can create an issue or edit this analysis yourself and create a merge request for your changes.

The Analysis 

⚠️ Warning: Several users have reported that this app will eventually prevent users from withdrawing their funds. The word "scam" was used several times both in its Google Play Page and in its YouTube comments.

App Description

It describes itself as a cryptocurrency trading platform with support for BTC, ETH, DOGE, BCH, ETC, LTC, LINK, DOT, TRX, USDT, and more.

Google Play Critical reviews

There’s a substantial amount of 1-star reviews alleging that the app does not allow users to withdraw.

Antu Gerasi
★☆☆☆☆ November 21, 2021
This app was scammer. You only can withdraw your money only once. When you try to withdraw it again, your money will freeze and never be yours. Then, they will close your account and when you try to login again, your username or phone or email will INVALID. Totally scammer

Nikeesh Prasad
★☆☆☆☆ September 7, 2021

This is a fraud app and website. Do not invest your money here. You will never be able to recover any money. Initially they will allow you to withdraw but eventually, when you have invested big money, they will ask you to pay 20% fees on your investment just to withdraw. They will freeze all your money. PLEASE DO NOT GET SCAMMED! STAY AWAY FROM THIS APP!

The App

The app supports BTC and can send and receive. We were not able to find an option for backup seed phrases.

Verdict

Without an option to backup the Bitcoin wallet and a passing mention of using “Cold Purse” as:

Relying on the “cold” equipment to ensure the security of the private key of digital currency, the use of two-dimensional code communication to keep the private key away from the network, thus avoiding the risk of being stolen by hackers.

They may be alluding to cold storage.

We would also have to factor in several users complaining that the app prevents them from withdrawing after a substantial amount has been deposited. This service is custodial making the app not verifiable. It would be wise to exercise utmost due diligence when using this app.

(dg)