Electrum vs Exodus
Electrum has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 8.5 against 6.8, and Privacy 8.6 against 7.0.
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 →
Exodus
Closed-source multi-coin desktop and mobile wallet with built-in third-party swaps and purchases
Privacy
7.0/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.8/ 10
Fair
No ID mentioned KYC 1 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Electrum | Exodus | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wallets | Wallets |
| KYC policy | ID never required | No ID mentioned |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | BTC | BTC, ETH, SOL, USDT, USDC |
| Pay with | Not published | Crypto, Card, Bank transfer |
| Fees | Not published | Terms: Exodus charges no fee for the software; network and third-party provider fees apply |
| Founded | 2011 | 2015 |
| Jurisdiction | Germany | United States |
| Not available in | Not published | Comprehensively US-sanctioned countries and regions (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk) |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Electrum
Accepts LightningOpen source
Both
No registrationNo email neededNo phone neededNon-custodial5+ years operatingLegal entity disclosed
Only Exodus
Closed sourceThird-party liquidity
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Electrum or Exodus safer?
Electrum has the higher Safety grade: Electrum 8.5, Exodus 6.8, out of 10.
Does Electrum or Exodus require KYC?
Electrum is KYC level 0 (ID never required). Exodus is KYC level 1 (no ID mentioned).
Which has more incidents on record?
Electrum has 0 and Exodus has 0 documented incidents in the registry.