Guarda vs Phoenix
Phoenix has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 8.5 against 5.4, and Privacy 8.6 against 3.7.
Guarda
Closed-source multi-chain wallet with Monero support whose terms reserve the right to verify users
Privacy
3.7/ 10
Poor
Safety
5.4/ 10
Caution
ID on risk flag KYC 3 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
| Guarda | Phoenix | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wallets | Wallets |
| KYC policy | ID on risk flag | ID never required |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | BTC, XMR, ETH, SOL, USDT, TON | BTC |
| Pay with | Crypto, Monero, Card, Bank transfer, PayPal | Not published |
| 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 | 2017 | 2019 |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands / Portugal | France |
| Not available in | Jurisdictions sanctioned under EU legislation or on FATF lists, and any jurisdiction the company chooses to prohibit | Not published |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Guarda
Accepts MoneroClosed sourceThird-party liquidityMay request ID
Both
No registrationNon-custodialLegal entity disclosed
Only Phoenix
No email neededNo phone neededAccepts LightningOpen source5+ years operating
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Guarda or Phoenix safer?
Phoenix has the higher Safety grade: Guarda 5.4, Phoenix 8.5, out of 10.
Does Guarda or Phoenix require KYC?
Guarda is KYC level 3 (ID on risk flag). Phoenix is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Guarda has 0 and Phoenix has 0 documented incidents in the registry.