
Our wallet review process
We examine wallets starting at the code level and continue all the way up to the finished app that lives on your device. Provided below is an outline of each of these steps along with security tips for you and general test results.
Released
1st October 2021
Custody
Work In Progress
Also This product was removed from the platform.
As part of our Methodology, we ask: Is the product self-custodial?
However, we did not run this test because we failed at a preceding test.
Read more
Source code
Application build
Build cannot be done because the source code is not publicly available.Passed 0 of 8 tests
We answered the following questions in this order:
We did not yet perform any tests.
The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Few users" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Few users".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Few users" and the following would apply:
We focus on products that have the biggest impact if things go wrong and this one probably doesn’t have many users according to data publicly available.
The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Fake" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Fake".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Fake" and the following would apply:
The bigger wallets often get imitated by scammers that abuse the reputation of the product by imitating its name, logo or both.
Imitating a competitor is a huge red flag and we urge you to not put any money into this product!
The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Not a wallet" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Not a wallet".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Not a wallet" and the following would apply:
If it’s called “wallet” but is actually only a portfolio tracker, we don’t look any deeper, assuming it is not meant to control funds. What has no funds, can’t lose your coins. It might still leak your financial history!
If you can buy Bitcoins with this app but only into another wallet, it’s not a wallet itself.
The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "A wallet but not for Bitcoin" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "A wallet but not for Bitcoin".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "A wallet but not for Bitcoin" and the following would apply:
At this point we only look into wallets that at least also support BTC.
The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Can't send or receive bitcoins" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Can't send or receive bitcoins".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Can't send or receive bitcoins" and the following would apply:
If it is for holding BTC but you can’t actually send or receive them with this product then it doesn’t function like a wallet for BTC but you might still be using it to hold your bitcoins with the intention to convert back to fiat when you “cash out”.
All products in this category are custodial and thus funds are at the mercy of the provider.
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.The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Custodial: The provider holds the keys" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Custodial: The provider holds the keys".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Custodial: The provider holds the keys" and the following would apply:
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 answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "No source for current release found" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "No source for current release found".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "No source for current release found" and the following would apply:
A wallet that claims to not give the provider the means to steal the users’ funds might actually be lying. In the spirit of “Don’t trust - verify!” you don’t want to take the provider at his word, but trust that people hunting for fame and bug bounties could actually find flaws and back-doors in the wallet so the provider doesn’t dare to put these in.
Back-doors and flaws are frequently found in closed source products but some remain hidden for years. And even in open source security software there might be catastrophic flaws undiscovered for years.
An evil wallet provider would certainly prefer not to publish the code, as hiding it makes audits orders of magnitude harder.
For your security, you thus want the code to be available for review.
If the wallet provider doesn’t share up to date code, our analysis stops there as the wallet could steal your funds at any time, and there is no protection except the provider’s word.
“Up to date” strictly means that any instance of the product being updated without the source code being updated counts as closed source. This puts the burden on the provider to always first release the source code before releasing the product’s update. This paragraph is a clarification to our rules following a little poll.
We are not concerned about the license as long as it allows us to perform our analysis. For a security audit, it is not necessary that the provider allows others to use their code for a competing wallet. You should still prefer actual open source licenses as a competing wallet won’t use the code without giving it careful scrutiny.
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.Application build test result
Updated Review 2023-04-19
We tried to register again in reference to our first attempt. We encountered the same error.
The most recent descriptive announcement dated June 24, 2022 from the official telegram group:
Hello dear Online Cold Wallet users!
We are aware that we have received a lot of questions lately, and we apologize for the silence and unanswered questions for a while. We had to focus on our work, keep developing our ideas to develop our project.
As stated in our roadmap, we have come a long way since the start of our project. These are, in order:
- APP Beta Testing
- ICO Sale
- Alpha Test
- Crowdfunding Integration
While we are getting to this stage, we have not lacked in any way and we have not delayed any feature that we have committed in the roadmap. That’s why we are happy and joyful!
As stated in the Crowdfunding Integration field, physical wallet sales and distributions were supposed to occur in the 2022 Q2 phase. However, due to our recent meetings with VISA and MASTERCARD companies, we have decided to take this process to the Q3 stage. The biggest reason for this is that it offers great advantages to us and our users in case of joint agreement with these companies.
Some of our investors say that they are complaining about the insufficient buyer portfolio. However, as stated in our roadmap, the creation date of the Global user base is stated as 2022 Q3 and since we stand behind our word, this has been placed on our site since the first day.
But we want to return to the advantages of VISA and MASTERCARD. What advantages do these offer our users?
If users incur losses caused by the company (OnlineColdWallet/Crypteirum), losses will be covered by an insurance of 100 million dollars.
With the USD, EUR, GBP, CNY and JPY you have loaded on your OnlineColdWallet card, you will be able to shop in European/Asian countries like a credit card (150 countries).
You will have a contracted card with Visa and MasterCard.
With your OnlineColdWallet card, you will be able to transfer cash to exchanges with master/visa support.
You will be able to send the crypto money in your OnlineColdWallet card to the stock market in a single transaction.
OCW will be integrated into your physical card, so you will be able to send OCW to the companies that we will deal with in the future and convert it to cash in a single transaction without waiting for the buyer’s order.
Thanks for your understanding, Online Cold Wallet official announcement.
Previous Review 2023-02-28
App Description from Google Play
The Smart, Secure, Choice for Your Digital Asset Management. 1000+ Currencies & Digital Assets Supported.
This is an app paired with the Online Cold Wallet Card
Analysis
This is a copy of the hardware wallet review which was quite extensive:
They have a token sale $OCW
The token has a bearing on the number of functions the app and the card can have. We’ve copied it from here:
OCW ClassX
- App + OCW synchronization
- Custom wallet
- Cold asset storage
- 2 different networks, single wallet, BSC20-ERC20
- NFC Contactless payment infrastructure
- NFC encryption APP activation
100 OCW - Stake to earn
OCW G+
- App + OCW synchronization
- Custom wallet
- Cold asset storage
- 3 different networks, single wallet, BSC20, ERC20, and Polygon
250 OCW - Stake to earn
OCW Exclusive
- App + OCW synchronization
- Custom wallet
- 6 different networks, single wallet, BSC20, ERC20, Polygon, Huobi Eco chain, Phontom, and Fuster
- NFC contactless payment infrastructure
- NFC encryption app activation
- My inheritors option
- Whitelist for OCW platform IDO/IFO events (the right to participate in all pre-sales)
- 6 different networks + all new networks to be added
500 OCW - Stake to earn
More details
In the Whitepaper, under ‘Main Features’ it describes its “Hardware Cold Wallet”
The computers with private keys connected to the internet or the wallets on smartphones will make users’ funds vulnerable to numerous attack types. A hardware wallet is like an unbreakable safe with a small gap. Even if someone accesses your hardware wallet, the PIN code will provide you with additional safety.
We were not able to find a technical specification sheet.
Its GitHub page only shows one repository titled “Docs”. This merely features their Gitbook entries for common procedures such as how to withdraw, how to create a wallet, etc.
Analysis
We tried to register to the service provided by the app and through the website.
We received the same error on both platforms:
“You cannot register due to maintenance work. Please try again later.”
From their Gitbook entry on “How to create a wallet”
After logging in to your account with your user information, go to the wallet.
Then go to the wallet creation page for the address you will withdraw by clicking on add wallet.
Wallet Name: This is the field that acts as a reminder if you are going to add more than one withdrawal address, for example, my X Wallet.
Wallet Address: Your private wallet address where you will withdraw crypto.
We were not able to find documentation on how the card or a the app handles the private keys.
Since we were also not able to register due to the error, we were not able to find backup options.
We reached out to @ocwallet on twitter to ask these questions.
We were also not able to find the option to buy the card, but instead we found, “Buy Tokens”.
Verdict
For now, we are not able to find a conclusion for the product. We will await further information from the provider.
Tests performed by Daniel Andrei R. Garcia
Do your own research
In addition to reading our analysis, it is important to do your own checks. Before transferring any bitcoin to your wallet, look up reviews for the wallet you want to use. They should be easy to find. If they aren't, that itself is a reason to be extra careful.