Electrum vs Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live)
Electrum has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 8.5 against 6.9, and Privacy 8.6 against 8.2.
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 →
Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live)
Open-source companion app for Ledger hardware wallets, renamed from Ledger Live
Privacy
8.2/ 10
Strong
Safety
6.9/ 10
Fair
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Electrum | Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wallets | Wallets |
| KYC policy | ID never required | ID never required |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | BTC | BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, USDT, USDC |
| Pay with | Not published | Crypto, Card, Bank transfer |
| Founded | 2011 | Not published |
| Jurisdiction | Germany | France |
| Not available in | Not published | Ledger may restrict access in certain countries; users must not be on sanctions lists |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Electrum
Accepts Lightning5+ years operating
Both
No registrationNo email neededNo phone neededOpen sourceNon-custodialLegal entity disclosed
Only Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live)
Third-party liquidity
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Electrum or Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) safer?
Electrum has the higher Safety grade: Electrum 8.5, Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) 6.9, out of 10.
Does Electrum or Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) require KYC?
Electrum is KYC level 0 (ID never required). Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Electrum has 0 and Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) has 0 documented incidents in the registry.