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.
Custody
Self-custodial: The user holds the keys
As part of our Methodology, we ask: Is the product self-custodial?
The answer is "yes". The user has control of their own keys.
Read more
Released
26th October 2015
Application build
We could not verify that the provided code matches the binary!
See the last Issue we created.
Passed 9 of 10 tests
We answered the following questions in this order:
We stopped asking questions after we encountered a failed answer.
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.The answer is "yes".
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Failed to build from source provided!" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Failed to build from source provided!".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Failed to build from source provided!" and the following would apply:
Published code doesn’t help much if the app fails to compile.
We try to compile the published source code using the published build instructions into a binary. If that fails, we might try to work around issues but if we consistently fail to build the app, we give it this verdict and open an issue in the issue tracker of the provider to hopefully verify their app later.
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 "Not reproducible from source provided" and the following would apply:
The answer is "no". We marked it as "Not reproducible from source provided".
We did not ask this question because we failed at a previous question.
If the answer was "no", we would mark it as "Not reproducible from source provided" and the following would apply:
Published code doesn’t help much if it is not what the published binary was built from. That is why we try to reproduce the binary. We
- obtain the binary from the provider
- compile the published source code using the published build instructions into a binary
- compare the two binaries
- we might spend some time working around issues that are easy to work around
If this fails, we might search if other revisions match or if we can deduct the source of the mismatch but generally consider it on the provider to provide the correct source code and build instructions to reproduce the build, so we usually open a ticket in their code repository.
In any case, the result is a discrepancy between the binary we can create and the binary we can find for download and any discrepancy might leak your backup to the server on purpose or by accident.
As we cannot verify that the source provided is the source the binary was compiled from, this category is only slightly better than closed source but for now we have hope projects come around and fix verifiability issues.
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
Split APK Semi-Auto Builds 2024-08-09
We started with creating a Dockerfile that can build multiple artifacts. We began by extracting the official apks from our phone by executing our apkextractor_sync.sh script.
We upload this manually to the server.
Still in our manual build folder, we create a com.shapeshift.droid_shapeshift.sh script and its partner Dockerfile
App specific script that builds the split apks
com.shapeshift.droid_shapeshift.sh:
#!/bin/bash
# Set script to exit on any error
set -e
# Define directories
SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )"
SPLITS_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/fromBuildSplits"
UNZIPPED_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/unzipped-fromBuildSplits"
OFFICIAL_APKS_DIR="/var/shared/apk/com.shapeshift.droid_shapeshift/328-splits/official"
OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR="/tmp/shapeshift-build/fromOfficial"
BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR="/tmp/shapeshift-build/fromBuild"
# Ensure required directories exist
mkdir -p "${SPLITS_DIR}"
mkdir -p "${UNZIPPED_DIR}"
mkdir -p "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}"
mkdir -p "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/apks"
mkdir -p "${BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR}"
# Build Docker image with no cache
echo "Building Docker image..."
docker build --no-cache -t shapeshift-build .
# Check if container already exists and remove it
if [ "$(docker ps -aq -f name=shapeshift-container)" ]; then
echo "Removing existing container..."
docker rm -f shapeshift-container
fi
# Run Docker container
echo "Running Docker container..."
docker run -d --name shapeshift-container shapeshift-build tail -f /dev/null
# Copy artifacts from container
echo "Copying artifacts from container..."
docker cp shapeshift-container:/app/android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/splits "${SPLITS_DIR}"
# Stop and remove the container
docker stop shapeshift-container
docker rm shapeshift-container
# Process split APKs from the container
echo "Processing split APKs from the build..."
cd "${SPLITS_DIR}/splits"
for apk in base-*.apk; do
if [[ -f "$apk" ]]; then
# Extract name without 'base-' prefix and '.apk' suffix
name=$(echo "$apk" | sed 's/^base-//; s/\.apk$//')
# Normalize name
case "$name" in
"armeabi_v7a") folder="armeabi_v7a" ;;
"en") folder="en" ;;
"master") folder="base" ;;
"xhdpi") folder="xhdpi" ;;
*) folder="$name" ;; # For any unexpected APKs
esac
# Create folder and unzip
mkdir -p "${BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}"
unzip -q "$apk" -d "${BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}"
echo "Unzipped $apk to ${folder}/"
fi
done
# Copy official APKs and normalize their names
echo "Copying and normalizing official APKs..."
cd "${OFFICIAL_APKS_DIR}"
for apk in base.apk split_config.*.apk; do
if [[ -f "$apk" ]]; then
# Normalize name
name=$(echo "$apk" | sed 's/^split_config\.//; s/\.apk$//')
folder="${name}"
# Create folder and unzip
mkdir -p "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}"
unzip -q "$apk" -d "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}"
echo "Unzipped $apk to ${folder}/"
# Move APK to 'apks' folder
mv "$apk" "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/apks/${name}.apk"
fi
done
# Echo a message that diff is now being run
echo -e "\e[96mRunning diff...\e[0m"
# Run diff for like vs like folders
for folder in armeabi_v7a en base xhdpi; do
if [ -d "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}" ] && [ -d "${BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}" ]; then
echo "Comparing ${folder}..."
diff -r "${OFFICIAL_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}/" "${BUILD_NORMALIZED_DIR}/${folder}/"
fi
done
echo "Comparison complete!"
Dockerfile
# Use Node.js 18 as the base image
FROM node:18.20.4
# Install necessary tools
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
openjdk-17-jdk \
build-essential \
wget \
unzip \
git \
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
# Set environment variables for Android SDK
ENV ANDROID_HOME /usr/lib/android-sdk
ENV PATH ${PATH}:${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:${ANDROID_HOME}/platform-tools
# Install Android command-line tools
RUN mkdir -p ${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools && \
cd ${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools && \
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-6858069_latest.zip -O tools.zip && \
unzip tools.zip -d ${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools && \
mv ${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools/cmdline-tools ${ANDROID_HOME}/cmdline-tools/latest && \
rm tools.zip
# Install SDK packages
RUN yes | sdkmanager --sdk_root=${ANDROID_HOME} \
"platforms;android-30" \
"build-tools;30.0.3" \
"platform-tools"
# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app
# Clone the repository
RUN git clone https://github.com/shapeshift/mobile-app.git .
# Checkout the specific commit
RUN git checkout 5836f656f240ce1494a2c9625365c18ae3d47bec
# Enable corepack and install Yarn
RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare yarn@3.6.4 --activate
# Copy .env.template to .env
RUN cp .env.template .env
# Set environment variables (replace these with actual values if known)
ENV BEARD_URI=placeholder_value
ENV CAFE_URI=placeholder_value
ENV DEVELOP_URI=placeholder_value
ENV GOME_URI=placeholder_value
# Install project dependencies
RUN yarn install
# Set up local.properties
RUN echo "sdk.dir=$ANDROID_HOME" > android/local.properties
# Build the Android App Bundle (AAB)
RUN cd android && ./gradlew bundleRelease
# Install bundletool
RUN wget https://github.com/google/bundletool/releases/download/1.10.0/bundletool-all-1.10.0.jar -O bundletool.jar
# Copy device-spec.json to the container (you'll need to provide this file)
COPY device-spec.json /app/android/device-spec.json
# Generate split APKs from the AAB using bundletool
RUN java -jar bundletool.jar build-apks --bundle=android/app/build/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab --output=android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apks --device-spec=android/device-spec.json
# Extract the APKs from the .apks file
RUN unzip android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apks -d android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/
# Set the default command
CMD ["bash"]
Diff Results between the split apks
$ diff -r fromOfficial/base fromBuild/base
Binary files fromOfficial/base/AndroidManifest.xml and fromBuild/base/AndroidManifest.xml differ
Only in fromOfficial/base/assets: dexopt
Binary files fromOfficial/base/assets/index.android.bundle and fromBuild/base/assets/index.android.bundle differ
Only in fromOfficial/base/META-INF: BNDLTOOL.RSA
Only in fromOfficial/base/META-INF: BNDLTOOL.SF
Only in fromOfficial/base/META-INF: MANIFEST.MF
Binary files fromOfficial/base/res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher_round.png and fromBuild/base/res/mipmap-mdpi-v4/ic_launcher_round.png differ
Binary files fromOfficial/base/res/mipmap-xhdpi-v4/ic_launcher_round.png and fromBuild/base/res/mipmap-xhdpi-v4/ic_launcher_round.png differ
Binary files fromOfficial/base/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher_foreground.png and fromBuild/base/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher_foreground.png differ
Binary files fromOfficial/base/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png and fromBuild/base/res/mipmap-xxxhdpi-v4/ic_launcher.png differ
Only in fromBuild/base/res/xml: locales_config.xml
Binary files fromOfficial/base/res/xml/splits0.xml and fromBuild/base/res/xml/splits0.xml differ
Binary files fromOfficial/base/resources.arsc and fromBuild/base/resources.arsc differ
Only in fromOfficial/base: stamp-cert-sha256
danny@lw10:/tmp/shapeshift-build$ diff -r fromOfficial/xhdpi fromBuild/xhdpi
Binary files fromOfficial/xhdpi/AndroidManifest.xml and fromBuild/xhdpi/AndroidManifest.xml differ
Only in fromOfficial/xhdpi: META-INF
Binary files fromOfficial/xhdpi/res/drawable-xhdpi-v4/splashscreen_image.png and fromBuild/xhdpi/res/drawable-xhdpi-v4/splashscreen_image.png differ
Binary files fromOfficial/xhdpi/resources.arsc and fromBuild/xhdpi/resources.arsc differ
Only in fromOfficial/xhdpi: stamp-cert-sha256
danny@lw10:/tmp/shapeshift-build$ diff -r fromOfficial/en fromBuild/en
Binary files fromOfficial/en/AndroidManifest.xml and fromBuild/en/AndroidManifest.xml differ
Only in fromOfficial/en: META-INF
Binary files fromOfficial/en/resources.arsc and fromBuild/en/resources.arsc differ
Only in fromOfficial/en: stamp-cert-sha256
danny@lw10:/tmp/shapeshift-build$ diff -r fromOfficial/armeabi_v7a fromBuild/armeabi_v7a
Binary files fromOfficial/armeabi_v7a/AndroidManifest.xml and fromBuild/armeabi_v7a/AndroidManifest.xml differ
Binary files fromOfficial/armeabi_v7a/lib/armeabi-v7a/libexpo-modules-core.so and fromBuild/armeabi_v7a/lib/armeabi-v7a/libexpo-modules-core.so differ
Only in fromOfficial/armeabi_v7a: META-INF
Only in fromOfficial/armeabi_v7a: stamp-cert-sha256
After a successful build, we document the steps we’ve undertaken and publish an interim merge request. During the initial stages of our analysis, we try to reach out to the developers and inform them of our methodology and the resulting diffs. Differences in build variables, environment or some other cause, may result in a huge diff. For this reason, we filed a GitHub issue in their repository. If developer outreach is successful, we can collaborate with the goal in making the build reproducible.
We previously built from a single apk yesterday where the diffs were quite extensive. Our findings remain consistent when we built the split apks and ran a diff against the normalized and unzipped artifacts.
With the diffs across all split apks, that go beyond signing, version 3.1.0 of Shapeshift Android app is non-verifiable.
Update 2024-07-15
An announcement was made on October 19, 2022 regarding ShapeShift’s app:
“In addition to the numerous improvements and new features, the new mobile app is fully open-source and the only backend is blockchain data一which we are actively working to decentralize with FOXChain. ShapeShift DAO is dedicated to building the best interface to the decentralized universe, and with new wallets, chains, and protocols being added each week, the vision is coming together. However, for this vision to fully come to fruition, the interface can’t just exist on the web; it must be available on mobile too.” - Willy Ogorzaly
- We confirmed the app has a Bitcoin wallet that can send/receive.
- It provided the 12-word seed phrases
- We confirmed the existence of its GitHub repository for the mobile app.
- This app is due for verification.
Review 2021-05-23
ShapeShift is best known for their non-custodial exchange but this app appears to be a wallet:
STORE YOUR CRYPTO IN A SECURE WALLET
Setup a ShapeShift multi-chain wallet in seconds to store your crypto.
… and non-custodial:
ShapeShift makes self-custody easy, never holding your coins, so you have complete control over your assets.
but is their code public?
On the referenced website there is no link back to the app on App Store or Play Store but there is this site where they suggest having an invite-only mobile app. When you provide them with your email (Seriously?) they … forward you to this site where there are actually download links for both mobile apps.
As we couldn’t find any source code we assume the app is closed source and therefore not verifiable.
Tests performed by Leo Wandersleb, 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.
<img src="https://walletscrutiny.com/images/social/android/com.shapeshift.droid_shapeshift.png">
