Electrum vs Phoenix
The two are level on both grades. The differences are in the details below.
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 →
Phoenix
Self-custodial mobile Lightning wallet from ACINQ with automatic channels and swaps
Privacy
8.6/ 10
Excellent
Safety
8.5/ 10
Excellent
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Electrum | Phoenix | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Fees | Not published | Sending via Lightning 0.4% + 4 sat; receiving with existing liquidity free; receiving with insufficient liquidity or requesting liquidity 1% + mining fees; channel creation 1,000 sat; on-chain sends pay user-chosen mining fees. |
| Limits | Not published | By default incoming payments are rejected if the fee exceeds 5,000 sat or 50% of the amount (adjustable). |
| Founded | 2011 | 2019 |
| Jurisdiction | Germany | France |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Electrum
Nothing distinct
Both
No registrationNo email neededNo phone neededAccepts LightningOpen sourceNon-custodial5+ years operatingLegal entity disclosed
Only Phoenix
Nothing distinct
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Electrum or Phoenix safer?
They have the same Safety grade, 8.5 out of 10.
Does Electrum or Phoenix require KYC?
Electrum is KYC level 0 (ID never required). Phoenix is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Electrum has 0 and Phoenix has 0 documented incidents in the registry.