This could be a dumb question pls go easy on me

[Widdop37]

I want to understand something about crypto wallets

Open source or not, humans are the ones that created this wallets so what if one day crypto has insane value like BTC over 200k and ETH over 50k can't this tempt the wallet devs themselves to start stealing people's assets? Or we just create wallet address without them knowing what users keys or recovery seeds look like?

[OmegaStarScream]

Yes, when using an open-source wallet, you can see and verify that the whole wallet creation process is done locally and that nothing is sent to the developers servers.

The same cannot be said about closed source wallets though. There's no way to verify what's done behind the scenes.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Open source or not, humans are the ones that created this wallets so what if one day crypto has insane value like BTC over 200k and ETH over 50k can't this tempt the wallet devs themselves to start stealing people's assets?

Sure, but provided the wallet is open source, then if they try to push an update which would allow them to start stealing coins then other members of the development team or community will see these changes and either revert them or warn everyone not to upgrade.

Or we just create wallet address without them knowing what users keys or recovery seeds look like?

That's the whole point of a good crypto wallet - you and you alone know the seed phrase and the private keys. Not some third party custodian and not the wallet developers. If you are using a wallet in which someone else is responsible for your private keys, or you cannot verify that only you have access to your seed phrase or private keys, then you should move your coins to a better wallet ASAP.

[Upgrade00]

Open source or not, humans are the ones that created this wallets so what if one day crypto has insane value like BTC over 200k and ETH over 50k can't this tempt the wallet devs themselves to start stealing people's assets?

The current value of Bitcoin and ETH is enough to attract devs to steal funds of customers, and we've seen that with many ce realized exchanges.
It's wise to avoid closed source softwares entirely as you are depending on the devs trustworthiness; in crypto, you verify, not trust.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Yes, when using an open-source wallet, you can see and verify that the whole wallet creation process is done locally and that nothing is sent to the developers servers.

The same cannot be said about closed source wallets though. There's no way to verify what's done behind the scenes.

If thats the same even with closed source, then what danger or risk could be rise from this type? Some preferred the open source while neglecting the third party app from closed sourced. Aside from the reason that dev could cook anything suspicious about it. Im interested to know though.

[Cookdata]

I want to understand something about crypto wallets

Open source or not, humans are the ones that created this wallets so what if one day crypto has insane value like BTC over 200k and ETH over 50k can't this tempt the wallet devs themselves to start stealing people's assets? Or we just create wallet address without them knowing what users keys or recovery seeds look like?

The Idea behind any open source software is that anyone with such a programing language can recheck every line of code and verify them should incase if there are some manipulations in the architecture that aren't open to the public. That is why you see their codes publicly display on the Github repository, even you can check those codes if you are a dev or programmer.

Your seed/recovery seed is independent of the developers, you have nothing to fear in an open-source but you should make sure that your software is up to date because there are times when bugs are reported and updates are carefully carried out on the latest release.

[Stalker22]

I want to understand something about crypto wallets

Open source or not, humans are the ones that created this wallets so what if one day crypto has insane value like BTC over 200k and ETH over 50k can't this tempt the wallet devs themselves to start stealing people's assets? Or we just create wallet address without them knowing what users keys or recovery seeds look like?

There is a huge advantage of open source software here as most, if not all, open source wallets that are already available on the market have been thoroughly tested and vetted by many independent coders and developers around the world. There are likely to be fewer bugs and vulnerabilities in open source software since anyone can look for backdoors or other malicious code.

When it comes to closed source software, you have no choice but to trust the developer and the company - unless someone manages to decompile the software to reveal what is going on under the hood.

Therefore, open source is commonly considered to provide more advantages to users, especially in terms of security, reliability, and trust compared to proprietary (closed source) software.

[FirmWars]

That's why open-source wallets are called Open Source, they are 100% transparent but that doesn't mean they can't be hacked or your funds can't be stolen if not handled with care, open source devs can't see what your wallet holds they will be nailed in no time if such happened, unlike closed source wallet that keeps every thing private.

[Widdop37]

Yes, when using an open-source wallet, you can see and verify that the whole wallet creation process is done locally and that nothing is sent to the developers servers.

The same cannot be said about closed source wallets though. There's no way to verify what's done behind the scenes.

Thanks for the knowledge shared, then I have no problem using those open-source wallets all I have to do is keep my private keys safe, once again thanks for sharing this knowledge.

[crwth]

As long as people are verifying the source code is well then you could be assured of how much could be beneficial when using that certain software. It is best practised to use wallets that you only you are in control especially if you are going to put large balances with it. There are guides in the Beginner section as well with this.

[mk4]

Thanks for the knowledge shared, then I have no problem using those open-source wallets all I have to do is keep my private keys safe, once again thanks for sharing this knowledge.

Quick reminder that open-source doesn't automatically mean that it's secure; it just means that we can see if the software has something malicious in it or not. e.g. a very new wallet software can be open-source but since it's new there may be a lot of security flaws in it. Hence why you should always use reputable wallet software.

[sunsilk]

$40k-$50k worth of bitcoin is already a lot, even a few users of their wallets is already a lot to them if they really have programmed their wallet to see who their users are and how much they have.

But it's not like that.

These known wallets have gone through critics and experts technically scrutinized them and that's why we're into usage of those wallets that we know has been checked. Although in terms of security and being hacked, it's still in the hands of the user on how careful you are.

[PhoenixZephyrus]

The main benefits of open source is the vast community. The larger the community, the better. Open source means that you can see all updates, changes pushed, and at the scale that bitcoin has reached, there are a huge number of people out there vetting the code. Any malicious changes being pushed would be caught pretty fast, reverted - or there would be widespread posts that would warn users to not upgrade.

Closed source isn't transparent, you can't see/verify any part of the program and thus you dont know how it exactly works, if the wallet does/doesn't transmit your data to other servers etc - you base everything on trust and that is where the problem lies. In open source, even though you don't verify the code yourself (as I know most people don't), any changes to the code that aren't well-intentioned would be noticed and patched immediately by the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people working on improving the code.

[MetaMii]

Open source wallets devs can't hide anything or apply any updates without the community knowing about it that's why we called such wallets open source, you will see every detail through GitHub or other.

[iamsheikhadil]

You should learn the basics of wallets, like, there are custodial wallets in which you completely own your private keys and the seed phrase that can be used to recover, and no one except you has access to it, even the wallet software dev doesn't have access, while exchanges wallets aren't yours since you don't own the keys and yeah, exchanges can run away with your money but given the insane amount of profit they can earn by building a good reputation, I don't think exchanges will run away for some quick profits lmao

[The Cryptovator]

Usually, an open-source wallet couldn't use a black hole, because your or another developer would find it. Except open source non-custodial wallets, you have to trust the wallet party. If you don't trust then don't use them. Better to use a Hardware wallet to avoid any trouble. Fund won't steal without authorization from the device, because you are generating the seed phrase where the company doesn't have access.

By the way, this isn't a dump question at all. It does mean you want to learn perfect things.

[Stalker22]

Thanks for the knowledge shared, then I have no problem using those open-source wallets all I have to do is keep my private keys safe, once again thanks for sharing this knowledge.

As mk4 said, open-source doesn't automatically mean trustworthy and secure. The idea is that an open-source wallet can be reviewed by hundreds or even thousands of programmers around the world. Developers can easily inspect the code and assess its quality. However, they will not be able to examine every piece of source code that is published. The reality is that many open-source programs will never get properly reviewed or tested. And because of all the open-source code out there, it can happen that the code is not 100% clean.

Because of the nature of open-source, and the sheer volume of it, mistakes can sometimes go unnoticed. This would be the case for any open-source project, but for open-source wallets, this issue is much more pronounced and can potentially lead to a huge financial loss.

I am not saying you should be skeptical of a open-source wallet in general. What I am saying, is that when in doubt, go with a well-established open-source wallet (like the official Bitcoin core wallet) or one of the open-source options that have been well-reviewed and heavily tested.

[bitiman22]

Greetings

What are the most trusted open source wallets?

Thanks

[o_e_l_e_o]

Ledger Nano

Not open source.

Youncan simply use google search bar to know this info because most the informative info about Bitcoin is already available in the public web.

Sure, but plenty of wallets lie about being open source (such as Trust wallet), or used to be open source so there are lots of sites and information stating that they are open source when in fact they are closed source (Coinomi). Because of this, a simple web search will often be misleading or inaccurate.

A good website to find open source wallets is: https://walletscrutiny.com/

Although as has been noted above, open source doesn't automatically mean safe.

[Rikimaruu]

Greetings

What are the most trusted open source wallets?

Thanks

Electrum
Mycellium
Trezor
Ledger Nano
Bitcoin core for hardcore user

Youncan simply use google search bar to know this info because most the informative info about Bitcoin is already available in the public web.

So they are not even much in numbers, the open-source wallets I can find are only BTC and ETH supported, no multiple coins and chains support like coinomi, trust wallet or atomic wallet, what a shame, there should be more open source wallet now.