Wallet of Satoshi vanishes from Apple and Google’s US app stores

[AirtelBuzz]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

On Nov. 24, several users and crypto community participants shared on X (Twitter) their attempts to search for the WoS app, which turned up no results or redirected users to competing wallet apps.
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[Coyster]

Though i've not used this Lightning wallet application before, but the reason why people in the United States can no longer download it on Apple store and Google playstore is because Wallet Of Satoshi is no longer offering their services to customers in the United States of America, if you read the link you shared in your post you'll find that infornation.

Regulatory policies is becoming a very serious drawback for Bitcoin/cryptocurrency services in the United States, Binance also recently left the U.S. market and so many other services would follow suit as well.

[348Judah]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

Wallet of Satoshi is just by the way of name, don't make it sound like as if the inventor of bitcoin is the one responsible for such wallet because of the name it was been called, this wallet would have been recommended here if it has the very useful demands from the crypto community and bitcoin network, but people don't see the need for using such base on what they requires, this same wallet was banned in US, you may not be able to see it on their play store list because of such reasons.

[hd49728]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States

Honestly I never know about that wallet but first I have to admit that I did not use Lightning Network and maybe because of this, I don't know about Wallet of Satoshi.

Assume I don't know about the wallet, its name is something I don't like, Wallet of Satoshi, sorry what?

Lightning Network is an off chain solution and it is not what Satoshi Nakamoto built initially for Bitcoin so Wallet of Satoshi is like using Satoshi Nakamoto reputation to make noise for that wallet. If the wallet is good, it can use its own name and don't have to rely on Satoshi Nakamoto in its name.

[Charles-Tim]

Wallet of Satoshi is just by the way of name, don't make it sound like as if the inventor of bitcoin is the one responsible for such wallet because of the name it was been called, this wallet would have been recommended here if it has the very useful demands from the crypto community and bitcoin network, but people don't see the need for using such base on what they requires, this same wallet was banned in US, you may not be able to see it on their play store list because of such reasons.

Never mind this, OP did not make it sound like the wallet was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, but it is called Wallet of Satoshi.

Assume I don't know about the wallet, its name is something I don't like, Wallet of Satoshi, sorry what?

Wallet that can be used to keep satoshi (bitcoin). The smallest unit of bitcoin is also called satoshi. I do not see anything bad about the name so far you understand more about bitcoin.

Lightning Network is an off chain solution and it is not what Satoshi Nakamoto built initially for Bitcoin so Wallet of Satoshi is like using Satoshi Nakamoto reputation to make noise for that wallet. If the wallet is good, it can use its own name and don't have to rely on Satoshi Nakamoto in its name.

Satoshi Nakamoto did not created a lot of things about bitcoin, but bitcoin developers continue to create more BIPs to help improve what are about bitcoin.

[Amphenomenon]

Regulatory policies is becoming a very serious drawback for Bitcoin/cryptocurrency services in the United States, Binance also recently left the U.S. market and so many other services would follow suit as well.

The regulatory policies has really indeed become but this is what we are to expect especially from the mess CEX has been creating this past years (including this).
This will definitely make investors especially in the US to be weary of bitcoin and crypto currency investment but, those who has trust or is able to see early that this is not the end of bitcoin and crypto currency will go for the use of DEX and non-custodial wallet and this will limit the dependency of CEX by investors and after all this is the reason bitcoin was created.

[un_rank]

Wallet that can be used to keep satoshi (bitcoin). The smallest unit of bitcoin is also called satoshi. I do not see anything bad about the name so far you under more about bitcoin.

Not to derail the conversation, but the creators would have had it in mind that the name of this wallet will raise eyebrows and bring them some traffic through posts like this on forums and social media.
Wallet of sats will have conveyed the message with no ambiguity about what the origin of the wallet.

- Jay -

[stompix]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

Disappeared....
They removed it themselves:
https://twitter.com/walletofsatoshi/status/1727937085741678679

They don't offer just a LN wallet, they offer the possibility of buying Bitcoin also, so if you're offering that in the US you need to comply with the rules, and it seems it wasn't something they were able to.

This will definitely make investors especially in the US to be weary of bitcoin and crypto currency investment

No it's not, the big sums come anyhow form people who don't care about the technical aspects and don't even want to own the real coins, that's why everyone wants get their ETF approved.

[Kelward]

Though i've not used this Lightning wallet application before, but the reason why people in the United States can no longer download it on Apple store and Google playstore is because Wallet Of Satoshi is no longer offering their services to customers in the United States of America, if you read the link you shared in your post you'll find that infornation.

Regulatory policies is becoming a very serious drawback for Bitcoin/cryptocurrency services in the United States, Binance also recently left the U.S. market and so many other services would follow suit as well.

Thanks for making this clarification, so people will not think that they have vanished from the crypto space. Although this is the first time that I'm hearing of this app, I guess they used the name, Satoshi, for marketing purpose, so people can easily identify with them because of the name.

Crypto regulation seems like a big issue in the united states, I guess they're putting unfriendly measures in place that will not be favorable to crypto users and exchanges. Similar practices are obtainable in some countries, where governments puts unfriendly regulations and other stiff measures to checkmate the crypto market, in some countries it's outright ban.

[ZAINmalik75]

Before reading the post and looking at the title, I thought there was some specific wallet related to Satoshi Nakamoto, but that wallet just vanished. I don't know if it's possible for a wallet to vanish, but I know there are some wallets that can vanish after 15 minutes or, at most, after 24 hours. But I did not think that wallets would vanish after 14 years. But after reading your post, I realised you were talking about a wallet named Wallet of Satoshi.

The name is so confusing that although I never heard about it, I never used it, so I can't say anything about it. But I wonder if it would be of great importance to US citizens, as in the news they talk mainly about the US. It's closure should not be a problem if it's a non-custodial wallet because the seed phrase can be used to recover the assets anywhere on any wallet.

This raises the question: if a wallet is custodial and it vanishes like this, then what will the people who had funds on it do?That's why we should be afraid of these custodial wallets and try to keep our funds in non-custodial wallets. US is narrowing down the laws and regulations on different wallets and exchanges, and this really has made many small or big businesses leave their territories.

[nelson4lov]

This raises the question: if a wallet is custodial and it vanishes like this, then what will the people who had funds on it do?That's why we should be afraid of these custodial wallets and try to keep our funds in non-custodial wallets. US is narrowing down the laws and regulations on different wallets and exchanges, and this really has made many small or big businesses leave their territories.

The situation with bankrupt exchanges like FTX and insolvent orgs like Celsius network answers your question. Users simply don't have any other option than to wait for the outcomes of the proceedings if any or simply come to realization that their funds held in such custodial platforms are gone. US government is going to go after any entity or service that gives too much power to users whether custodial or not. Take the tornado cash shutdown for example. It was even rumored that Uniswap and some DeFi platforms might start indulging their users in KYC/AML paperwork in order to continue operating smoothly.

At the end of the day, if it's not your key, it's not your Bitcoin.

[Antotena]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

On Nov. 24, several users and crypto community participants shared on X (Twitter) their attempts to search for the WoS app, which turned up no results or redirected users to competing wallet apps.
source

Wallet of Satoshi is a regular name chosen by the developers just for better packaging for the community and nothing special about it, you need to make that clear for everyone so they don't get confused with the information you are trying to tell people in your thread or perhaps you edit it a little for good presentation.

There is no official reason why but they said they are quiting the US market but why will a company that has much customers from the US all of a sudden decide to quit one day. It's nothing but regulations issues, we saw how Binance were trying to lobby their way into US market, they actually did but what happened later? They pay more than what they earned from US and that is to say that United States is not friendly for crypto and it's good they live now before they come for them.

[Coyster]

but I know there are some wallets that can vanish after 15 minutes or, at most, after 24 hours. But I did not think that wallets would vanish after 14 years. But after reading your post, I realised you were talking about a wallet named Wallet of Satoshi.

My friend, what are you talking about, wallets do not "vanish" or "disappear". Wallet of Satoshi is still available for download to citizens of countries that they still offer their services to, but is it no longer available for citizens of the United States because of non compliance from the wallet to U.S. regulatory policies.

The name is so confusing that although I never heard about it, I never used it, so I can't say anything about it. But I wonder if it would be of great importance to US citizens, as in the news they talk mainly about the US. It's closure should not be a problem if it's a non-custodial wallet because the seed phrase can be used to recover the assets anywhere on any wallet.

Wallet of Satoshi is a custodial wallet and the only "backup" you have is your email. The news is about their U.S. customers, they can only withdraw their money out of the wallet, but they can not use their services anymore.

[Winterfrost]

Though i've not used this Lightning wallet application before, but the reason why people in the United States can no longer download it on Apple store and Google playstore is because Wallet Of Satoshi is no longer offering their services to customers in the United States of America, if you read the link you shared in your post you'll find that infornation.

Regulatory policies is becoming a very serious drawback for Bitcoin/cryptocurrency services in the United States, Binance also recently left the U.S. market and so many other services would follow suit as well.

Thanks for making this clarification, so people will not think that they have vanished from the crypto space. Although this is the first time that I'm hearing of this app, I guess they used the name, Satoshi, for marketing purpose, so people can easily identify with them because of the name.

Crypto regulation seems like a big issue in the united states, I guess they're putting unfriendly measures in place that will not be favorable to crypto users and exchanges. Similar practices are obtainable in some countries, where governments puts unfriendly regulations and other stiff measures to checkmate the crypto market, in some countries it's outright ban.

Since Satoshi vanished, a lot of things related to his profile became frozen for a while. So it's fine if the app is no longer used in the US, people will definitely have an alternative. Very soon, it won't be something exclusive to the US anymore; other countries might set their own policies following what the US government has done. I won't be surprised if that happens because the US is considered a world power country, and decisions made there often have an impact on other countries within some period of time. It will gradually start until it is implemented.

[DaveF]

A bit late on this comment but it's a closed source custodial wallet that does not have any standard way of recovering your coins if you have an issue. It's all dependent on the developers and service of this wallet. Loosing that ability to download and use it is a GOOD thing since nobody should be using closed source custodial wallets.

Period. Full stop. Done.

Not your keys, not your coins.

There are plenty of open source alternatives out there.

Full disclosure, I did use them for testing and validating some things but never kept any real money (under $20) in it since they could cut and run at any time.

-Dave

[LoyceV]

A bit late on this comment but it's a closed source custodial wallet that does not have any standard way of recovering your coins if you have an issue. It's all dependent on the developers and service of this wallet. Loosing that ability to download and use it is a GOOD thing since nobody should be using closed source custodial wallets.

I disagree! Custodial LN wallets are very convenient to send and receive small amounts without opening your own LN channels (with high on-chain transaction fees).
People keep large amounts of money on exchanges, many of them are unregulated or hiding in the Cayman Islands. A small amount of money on a custodial wallet is worth the risk for micro transactions.

Period. Full stop. Done.

Not your keys, not your coins.

That's all true. But there's a difference between $10 for coffee and $1000 for hodling.

There are plenty of open source alternatives out there.

Open source doesn't matter if the wallet is custodial. There aren't that many options left since BlueWallet stopped offering custodial LN.

Full disclosure, I did use them for testing and validating some things but never kept any real money (under $20) in it since they could cut and run at any time.

Agreed. Don't risk more than you're willing to lose.

Stricter regulatory requirements for wallets mean custodial LN wallets will be the next thing to get banned in more and more countries. On-chain channel opening doesn't have the capacity for large-scale adoption, so what does that leave us with? LN stored in centralized exchanges? Exchanges with their own wallet dedicated to LN-payments only? National wallets (kinda like what El Salvador uses), approved by your own government?

[pawanjain]

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

Wallet of Satoshi is just by the way of name, don't make it sound like as if the inventor of bitcoin is the one responsible for such wallet because of the name it was been called, this wallet would have been recommended here if it has the very useful demands from the crypto community and bitcoin network, but people don't see the need for using such base on what they requires, this same wallet was banned in US, you may not be able to see it on their play store list because of such reasons.

I have never heard of this wallet before. Even I was in doubt when I heard the name "Wallet of Satoshi".
Seems like a clever trick from the developers to lure beginners to use this wallet.
No wonder it got removed from the App store.

[DaveF]

A bit late on this comment but it's a closed source custodial wallet that does not have any standard way of recovering your coins if you have an issue. It's all dependent on the developers and service of this wallet. Loosing that ability to download and use it is a GOOD thing since nobody should be using closed source custodial wallets.

I disagree! Custodial LN wallets are very convenient to send and receive small amounts without opening your own LN channels (with high on-chain transaction fees).
People keep large amounts of money on exchanges, many of them are unregulated or hiding in the Cayman Islands. A small amount of money on a custodial wallet is worth the risk for micro transactions.

Period. Full stop. Done.

Not your keys, not your coins.

That's all true. But there's a difference between $10 for coffee and $1000 for hodling.

There are plenty of open source alternatives out there.

Open source doesn't matter if the wallet is custodial. There aren't that many options left since BlueWallet stopped offering custodial LN.

Full disclosure, I did use them for testing and validating some things but never kept any real money (under $20) in it since they could cut and run at any time.

Agreed. Don't risk more than you're willing to lose.

Stricter regulatory requirements for wallets mean custodial LN wallets will be the next thing to get banned in more and more countries. On-chain channel opening doesn't have the capacity for large-scale adoption, so what does that leave us with? LN stored in centralized exchanges? Exchanges with their own wallet dedicated to LN-payments only? National wallets (kinda like what El Salvador uses), approved by your own government?

https://muun.com/
Open source BTC and lightning and you can recover your BTC with their tools if they disappear one day.

Still not perfect but better then WoS

There is no one size fits all, but there are still this will fit better then that things.

Also more of a warning here, a few weeks ago they stopped offering their apps in the US, nothing stops them from tomorrow cutting access to US IPs or other other parts of the world.

-Dave

[Coyster]

I have never heard of this wallet before. Even I was in doubt when I heard the name "Wallet of Satoshi".
Seems like a clever trick from the developers to lure beginners to use this wallet.
No wonder it got removed from the App store.

Wallet of Satoshi is a LN wallet application, and i don't know if their choice of name is anything you say it is, but there is nothing wrong in attracting customers to your service, as long as the service isn't a scam. Mind you that the wallet wasn't completely removed from App store and Google play store, it was removed for U.S. customers because the wallet application no longer offers their service to customers in the United States, due to regulatory requirements and nothing else.

Also more of a warning here, a few weeks ago they stopped offering their apps in the US, nothing stops them from tomorrow cutting access to US IPs or other other parts of the world.

True, and it is essentially not peculiar to just WOS. Any custodial wallet can stop operating at anytime, we can all see how centralized exchanges collapse, so such wallets aren't supposed to be used for hodling funds of a substantial amount, but they are not bad for small amounts and to make micro payments when needed.

[Kelward]

Wallet that can be used to keep satoshi (bitcoin). The smallest unit of bitcoin is also called satoshi. I do not see anything bad about the name so far you under more about bitcoin.

Not to derail the conversation, but the creators would have had it in mind that the name of this wallet will raise eyebrows and bring them some traffic through posts like this on forums and social media.
Wallet of sats will have conveyed the message with no ambiguity about what the origin of the wallet.

- Jay -

Wallet of Satoshi or wallet of Sats, these are just names, and I doubt that the vanishing of the wallet in discussion from the US, as OP said, has any thing to do with it's name. I'm sure that it'll have to do with some regulation dispute with the US. Developers can choose any name for their projects, even celebrity names, so far they don't get sued, some people will identify with their brands because of the name. I've been hearing of the exits of some crypto related services in the US, i saw a thread recently about Kucoin, leaving the US, these exits will not be favorable to crypto users in that country. I hope the government and crypto business finds a level playing grounds to avoid more exodus.