As we stroll previous January third, the day Bitcoin was successfully born, an outdated custom within the Bitcoin business handed us by, the “not your keys, not your cash” day, which was celebrated extensively for a number of years in a row again in 2014. Whereas the information cycle this 12 months was dominated by geopolitics and plenty of Bitcoiners are coming into the business through ETFs, Bitcoin self-custody nonetheless stays a core worth proposition of Bitcoin and one which deserves a deep dive into the very best choices accessible to customers thus far.
To that finish, right here’s the highest cellular, desktop, {hardware}, seed backup, and multi-signature wallets for Bitcoin-specific customers available in the market right now, so far as I’m involved.
Opinions expressed on this article are completely the writer’s and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Journal.
Cell Bitcoin Pockets Apps
The primary self-custody pockets everybody ought to strive might be on a cellular system. The consolation and pace of sending Bitcoin out of your cellphone the world over, be it to a relative overseas or to donate to a particular trigger, is unparalleled with Bitcoin. The primary approach persons are probably to make use of the digital forex can be by way of a cellular pockets. Not all cellular wallets are made equal; nevertheless, most software program wallets are closed supply and include a bunch of crypto cash, which suggests they don’t specialise in any of them, usually an indication of mediocre person experiences to return. Beneath is a listing of the very best Bitcoin-only or Bitcoin-savvy wallets {that a} discerning person ought to take into account.
Phoenix Pockets
Main the cost of the Bitcoin-only cellular world is arguably Phoenix Pockets. On the prime of their recreation from a UI and back-end perspective, Acinq continues to ship the very best optimized expertise for Bitcoiners involved with self-custody. On the on-chain entrance, they help full self-custody, with on-chain funds at a good payment charge, letting customers make funds to all normal Bitcoin handle sorts. Customers may also fund the pockets to an on-chain handle, which is able to automagically load up that steadiness right into a lightning channel.
Whereas Phoenix just isn’t the very best on-chain pockets by any means, it’s, for many functions, adequate. The place Phoenix shines, nevertheless, is on the lightning funds facet. It helps a variety of requirements and has top-of-the-line built-in and funded nodes on the community, giving customers most reliability. The lightning association with Phoenix is one in every of blended self-custody, the place the person has all of the related key materials, with some dependency on Phoenix and minimal belief.
The pockets will be side-loaded into Android through an APK, for these so inclined, and its again finish will be run utilizing phoenixd for app builders and node runners.
Phoenix requires a minimal of about 10,000 satoshis to be spent the primary time the pockets is about up, to cowl on-chain charges for Lightning channels and to purchase capability on the Lightning Community. This friction level will be awkward when organising new customers with Lightning. Making it a complicated but highly effective and easy-to-use Bitcoin pockets. Phoenix has a wide range of open supply instruments and software program accessible on-line.
Blockstream Pockets
Blockstream Pockets, dropped at you by Blockstream Company of Adam Again fame, is a dependable Bitcoin pockets with well-rounded help for Bitcoin on-chain transactions, in addition to native help for the Liquid Community. Liquid has gained recognition lately for supporting the same person expertise as on-chain Bitcoin with comparable speeds to the Lightning Community, and a safety mannequin that’s most likely adequate, leveraging a multinational federation.
Blockstream Pockets can maintain USDT on prime of Liquid, although it doesn’t embody a built-in swap interface, introducing important frictions and exposing customers to third-party charges for swapping out and in of the networks and into extra in style USDT base chains. Nonetheless, liquid gives customers outstanding privateness, because it encrypts quantities on the base layer just like a few of the hottest privateness cash, giving customers a few of the finest privateness accessible in Bitcoin in alternate for a few of the different UI ache factors we simply mentioned.
Blockstream Pockets is open supply and stays one of many prime selections for Bitcoin self-custody right now.
Bull Bitcoin Pockets
A brand new entrant into the pockets area, Francis Pouliot’s Bull Bitcoin Cell pockets has left a powerful impression amongst self-custody advocates, with its purist but pragmatic design philosophy. The pockets is totally open supply and on an MIT license. It contains the Bull Bitcoin alternate as an elective service, accessible in Canada, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, Puerto Rico (bitcoin jungle pockets), letting customers purchase bitcoin, automate purchases in greenback price common format, promote bitcoin for native fiat, and even make funds to 3rd events. The person sends bitcoin, and the recipient will get the native fiat.
Whereas the Bull Bitcoin Cell pockets is designed for brand new customers to have all of the cost instruments they should use Bitcoin as cash, the pockets additionally helps a wide range of superior options underneath the hood.
It’s one of many first to implement the async Payjoin protocol, which gives customers with nice privateness on-chain when utilizing suitable wallets. This Payjoin function is backwards suitable and invisible to the person, so it introduces no friction, simply privateness advantages.
The pockets leverages the Liquid community to carry small quantities of bitcoin at relaxation, whereas natively supporting the Boltz protocol for swapping out into the Lightning Community, letting customers make Lightning funds with out subject, in addition to obtain Lightning funds with minimal belief, since Boltz makes use of non-custodial atomic swaps, delivering the worth to customers on a Liquid handle.
The pockets additionally has full Bitcoin on-chain help, with NFC faucet to pay for {hardware} wallets just like the Coldcard Q, that are designed for deep self-custody, high-value transactions. All and all, Bull Bitcoin Cell stands to be one of the crucial promising Bitcoin wallets for 2026, making design choices that handle the on a regular basis wants of the lively Bitcoin person.
Zeus Pockets
Zeus Pockets is a lightning funds app that has made unbelievable progress in taking Lightning Community self-custody to the restrict. Bitcoin’s layer to cost community could be very quick and has important privateness advantages in comparison with the bottom on-chain cost rails of Bitcoin, however the downsides are seen when customers try and take self-custody, as management over funds relies upon much more on operating a lightning node. Zeus makes operating a lightning node on a cell phone simple and largely automated.
Initially created as an interface for managing self-hosted house lightning nodes, it now helps a deep vary of instruments for superior customers alongside a full onboarding interface for brand new customers, providing a superior onboarding expertise to even Phoenix Pockets. The one draw back is that it may be a bit gradual to open and sync up, and ultimately does begin to demand customers transfer up the training curve, for the correct particular person it is likely to be a terrific alternative. Zeus Pockets can be open supply.
Cake Pockets
Cake Pockets has turn out to be an more and more essential participant within the Bitcoin and crypto privateness area, because it has led the cost, bringing superior privateness applied sciences to the cellular platform. They help a wide range of privateness initiatives just like the Payjoin basis and have been the primary main pockets to combine its protocol in addition to the Silent Funds normal. Cake helps cash apart from Bitcoin, comparable to Monero, Ethereum, and varied different tokens, together with stablecoins. Cake Pockets can be open supply.
Desktop Wallets
Sparrow Pockets
On the Desktop entrance, Sparrow Pockets has emerged because the Swiss Military Knife of Bitcoin wallets. Simple to put in, able to connecting to native nodes in addition to with out them, with entry to the total vary of bitcoin handle sorts, multisig, {hardware} pockets help, and so on. Sparrow has, by most requirements, reached the type of “professional” stage of function richness and optimistic renown that the Electrum pockets has loved for greater than a decade. It’s, after all, totally open supply.
Electrum
Electrum pockets continues to be a staple of Bitcoin self-custody wallets, able to connecting to most {hardware} wallets, with an interface so secure and easy that it very a lot outlined person expectations of a desktop pockets, just like the Bitcoin core QT, however a lot simpler to run and use. Electrum even has a lightning pockets mode, which works surprisingly properly, defying the concept it’s a feat for superior customers.
Electrum tries to default to its personal 12-word normal, which isn’t suitable with most wallets, a technical determination that, in my view, has added pointless friction to the onboarding and restoration processes, however it’s one that may be opted out of. It is usually totally open supply and will be run with its back-end companion, electrumX server, which indexes the total Bitcoin blockchain, making it simple to seek for person balances, with very robust privateness.
{Hardware} Wallets
Coldcard Q
The Coldcard Q made a powerful impression within the self-custody world in 2025 with its counter-tendency design choices. Not like many {hardware} wallets within the business, it refuses so as to add Bluetooth help. NVK, the co-founder and CEO, considers it too dangerous, given the vary and the black field code it will depend on. As an alternative, to serve the rising person expertise calls for of the market, the Q comes with a high-quality laser scanner for QR codes and NFC antennas, masking each the enter of bitcoin transaction information into the system and output, to ship transactions onto the community. This stream is especially helpful when signing pre-signed transactions within the development, for instance, of a multisig, and must be simple to combine with Payjoin privateness schemes LINK.
Choosing its onerous cypherpunk aesthetic, the system has a clear shell that lets the person confirm the {hardware} inside, whereas bringing again the nostalgic Blackberry-style keyboard with comfy buttons, leaving contact screens within the mud. The system display screen rocks an orangy golden font over deep black, the Bitcoin model of the Matrix code coloration scheme. Lastly, the system takes three AA batteries, letting it function with out energy cables, completely unplugged from any machines and de-risking it from battery malfunctions, bricking the units as has been noticed in some {hardware} wallets with built-in batteries.
All in all, the Coldcard Q is undoubtedly the gold normal of Bitcoin {hardware} pockets safety, with all of the downsides that its purity entails, comparable to Bitcoin solely help, not even stablecoins are allowed in.
The firmware, {hardware}, and most, if not all, associated software program are supply accessible underneath varied licenses.
Trezor Secure 7
For these extra crypto sensible, Trezor continues to make wonderful {hardware} pockets merchandise, guided by its over 10 years of expertise within the business; they arguably created the business, in reality, launching the primary {hardware} pockets, the Trezor One, which nonetheless holds out properly sufficient right now. Nonetheless, they’ve just lately launched a brand new model of their {hardware}, the Trezor Secure 7, with a wider display screen and a wide range of wireless-related person expertise upgrades for the skilled and lively crypto person. Trezor firmware, {hardware} designs, and a wide range of its software program instruments are open supply underneath varied licenses.
Multi-Signature Bitcoin Wallets
Casa Pockets
Casa Pockets, the multi-signature Bitcoin and Ethereum Pockets firm led by Jameson Lopp, continues to be the spearhead of person expertise and self-custody for these so inclined. The app permits customers to leverage two basic fashions of self-custody: 2 of three keys wanted to signal and three of 5. With some variability and superior settings that allow customers select their very own path. They help most {hardware} wallets for key administration and supply their restoration key resolution by default on each plans, a key pillar of their inheritance resolution providing for superior subscriptions.
Lately, they added Ethereum help, a controversial however realist transfer which unlocked stablecoin storage within the multisig safety mannequin for crypto whales. The corporate stays defensive of its person information and collects the minimal quantity required legally, letting customers pay for his or her subscriptions with Bitcoin, which vary from $250 a 12 months as much as $2100, relying on the mannequin and providers wanted. In addition they supply customized help to people who’ve non-standard menace fashions, are well-known, or are high-net-worth people with very particular calls for.
Casa additionally presents help and technical steerage at varied ranges, relying on the person plan, and is thought to reply shortly to help emails typically. Jameson Lopp has a deep vary of articles masking Bitcoin and crypto safety finest practices, which will be discovered at Lopp.internet.
Nunchuck Pockets
Nunchuck Pockets is one other multi-signature centered Bitcoin app that has gained important renown within the business lately. They have been born and solid within the fires of COVID drama up in Canada, studying essential classes from the censorship that happened and getting a entrance seat to how Western governments can go rogue. The app lets customers arrange a variety of various multi-signature accounts with a variety of {hardware} pockets help, together with a few of the most superior Bitcoin good contracting instruments accessible right now, particularly within the type of miniscript help.
Nunchuck additionally presents an inheritance resolution through a subscription service, holding a restoration key for emergencies and technical help. Their app is primarily a cellular pockets, thought-about by some “The Sparrow of Cell”, given its deep superior tooling, although the interface retains issues easy sufficient. Nunchuck Pockets can be open supply.
Seed Backup
CryptoSteel
Final however not least, there’s a wide range of 12-word backup corporations which have emerged over time to supply Bitcoin hodlers climate and tamper-proof storage options to these delicate magic phrases, which may give somebody entry to their holdings. Cryptosteel is likely one of the most famous corporations on this area of interest and presents a variety of metal backup instruments that allow customers shield their backup phrases from occasions like flooding or fires, and opens up new avenues for hiding and storing this important restoration info.
