Bitkey vs Electrum
Electrum has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 8.5 against 7.5, and Privacy 8.6 against 6.8.
Bitkey
Bitcoin-only 2-of-3 multisig wallet with app, hardware and server recovery key, from Block
Privacy
6.8/ 10
Fair
Safety
7.5/ 10
Strong
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
Electrum
Long-established open-source Bitcoin wallet with Lightning support
Privacy
8.6/ 10
Excellent
Safety
8.5/ 10
Excellent
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Bitkey | Electrum | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wallets | Wallets |
| KYC policy | No ID mentioned | ID never required |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | Email required | No account needed |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | BTC | BTC |
| Fees | Hardware device $250 per the site | Not published |
| Founded | Not published | 2011 |
| Jurisdiction | United States / Netherlands | Germany |
| Not available in | Only available countries listed by Block; prohibited activity in Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea, Donetsk or Luhansk regions | Not published |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Bitkey
Nothing distinct
Both
No phone neededOpen sourceNon-custodialLegal entity disclosed
Only Electrum
No registrationNo email neededAccepts Lightning5+ years operating
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Bitkey or Electrum safer?
Electrum has the higher Safety grade: Bitkey 7.5, Electrum 8.5, out of 10.
Does Bitkey or Electrum require KYC?
Bitkey is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned). Electrum is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Bitkey has 0 and Electrum has 0 documented incidents in the registry.