Is private keys enough to call wallet non custodial?

[Riyabitt]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

Having private keys is enough because with private keys, you are your own custodian aka self custodian so the wallet gives you private keys is non custodial wallet or self custodial wallet.

Custodial wallets mean there is no private key given to you, and you don't control your bitcoin without private keys.
Custodial vs Non-Custodial (Self-Custodial) wallets.

Good wallets to use are non custodial wallets but there is another technical factor: open source or not (close source).
With an open source wallet, community can check the source code, reproduce that wallet, and detect backdoors or bugs.

What are best Bitcoin wallets.
Recommended Bitcoin wallets.
Secure your wallets.
Crypto wallet security checklist.
The dos and don'ts of bitcoin key management.
Check wallet scrutiny.

[hosemary]

Trustwallet is a non-custodial wallet, but this doesn't mean it's trustworthy.
Since Trustwallet is a close-source wallet, there is no way to know how the keys are generated.

Non custodial wallets mean there is no private key given to you, and you don't control your bitcoin without private keys.

You probably meant to say "Custodial wallets" here.
In a non-custodial wallet, you have full control over your private keys.

[Obim34]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

Trust Wallet is a non-custodial wallet, since you alone take control over your private key. However, when searching for a wallet that assures you of an extreme level of privacy/security for your assets, Trust Wallet doesn't make the first list.

A lot of new features added to the wallet aren't focused on improving user privacy/security, instead they aim to generate higher revenue for the owners.

[Charles-Tim]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

Yes, if you have the private key, that is a noncustodial wallet. But as it has been mentioned above, not all noncustodial wallets are trustworthy. Trustwallet is not a reputed wallet due to several reasons.

The wallet also have prediction markets and leverage trading options which is not worthy to be on a noncustodial wallet. If it is just only buy and sell options like on spot market with no leverage trading, that is better, but the wallet has up to 5x leverage trading. One of the worst wallets that I have ever seen before.

[Frankolala]

It's not all wallets that are noncustodial wallets are open source and using a closed source wallet like Trust wallet imposes a big risk on you because you can lose your funds since a backdoor can be created and you wouldn't know. This is why it's good to use noncustodial, open source wallet where you can verify the code and know that no backdoor can be created. Trust wallet is not a good wallet to use for storing your bitcoin irrespective of having private keys.

[hosemary]

Trust Wallet is a non-custodial wallet, since you alone take control over your private key.

It's true that Trustwallet is a non-custodial wallet and it gives you control over your private keys, but there is no proof that you are the only owner of those private keys.
Trustwallet is a close-source wallet, and as I said in my previous post we don't know how the keys are generated.

[Riyabitt]

Trustwallet is a non-custodial wallet, but this doesn't mean it's trustworthy.
Since Trustwallet is a close-source wallet, there is no way to know how the keys are generated.

Non custodial wallets mean there is no private key given to you, and you don't control your bitcoin without private keys.

You probably meant to say "Custodial wallets" here.
In a non-custodial wallet, you have full control over your private keys.

Since there are non custodial wallet like the trust wallet that is not trustworthy, it is better for this to be preached just the way the custodial wallet is being talked about. If anything happens in the future with non-custodial wallet like Trustwallet that is not trustworthy, it can affect the reputation of other non-custodial wallet. This can make people not to trust self-custody.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Trustwallet is a non-custodial wallet, but this doesn't mean it's trustworthy.
Since Trustwallet is a close-source wallet, there is no way to know how the keys are generated.

With walletscrutiny.com, it's possible to see Trust wallet as no source
https://walletscrutiny.com/?platform=allPlatforms&page=0&query-string=Trust
https://walletscrutiny.com/mobile/com.wallet.crypto.trustapp/

Is the source code publicly available?

The answer is "no". We marked it as "No source for current release found".

Non custodial wallets mean there is no private key given to you, and you don't control your bitcoin without private keys.

You probably meant to say "Custodial wallets" here.

You're right.

In a non-custodial wallet, you have full control over your private keys.

I knew it, just thought what to write between custodial and non custodial, and I did not check after finish my typing.

[hadesdex]

Holding the private keys is the definition, but it is the minimum, not the whole picture. A wallet is genuinely non-custodial when it cannot move your coins without your signature and nothing else: no server-side freeze, no admin key over your funds. How the keys are generated matters too. If the app is closed source, you are trusting that the seed was generated on your device and never logged anywhere, which is why reproducible-build checks like the walletscrutiny link above matter.

The exchange button is a separate question. In most wallets with buy and sell built in, that feature is a third-party integration, and the swap leg often runs through a custodial, KYC-required API even though the wallet keys are yours. Non-custodial keys do not make the exchange feature non-custodial. Check who actually holds the coins mid-swap before calling the whole thing self-custody.

For context: I am on the team building HadesDex, a swap interface with no KYC and no accounts. The wallet stays self-custodial and funds settle wallet-to-wallet. That separation, your keys and your wallet with the swap never taking custody, is exactly the line I would draw when judging these built-in features.

[Upgrade00]

Since there are non custodial wallet like the trust wallet that is not trustworthy, it is better for this to be preached just the way the custodial wallet is being talked about. If anything happens in the future with non-custodial wallet like Trustwallet that is not trustworthy, it can affect the reputation of other non-custodial wallet.

It is talked about often here.

Closed source wallets that could nullify self custody are discouraged, especially trustwallet. Holding your keys is talked about a lot cause it is the most important factor when choosing a wallet, you want to be able to access it anytime and from any compatible software. Next is to ensure it is open source with no possibility of a backdoor during generation that gives anyone else access

[Ambatman]

No having a private key isn't the only thing that should be considered.
It has to be shown that the keys are only known and can be accessed by you
That the wallet provider don't have a copy
Hence why closed source wallet imo are not necessarily non custodial
Even if they do generate private keys.
Don't trust verify
Same with hardware wallets like ledger whose firmware isn't really open sourced.

[Lontor]

OP there are two important things to look out for when trying to choose a crypto wallet.

1. Non- Custodial or Custodial, which I believe you already know the difference, Non-custodial gives you access to your private keys or your recovery seed, which you can't share with anybody.

2. Open source or Closed source, open source wallets are more opened to the public, their source codes can't hide anything, it's completely transparent, but closed source wallet can't be reviewed this way.

A good example of closed source wallet is that Trust wallet.
A good example of a open source wallet is Unstoppable and Electrum wallet.

[taufik123]

Trust Wallet is a non-custodial wallet, since you alone take control over your private key.

It's true that Trustwallet is a non-custodial wallet and it gives you control over your private keys, but there is no proof that you are the only owner of those private keys.
Trustwallet is a close-source wallet, and as I said in my previous post we don't know how the keys are generated.

It's pretty obvious that Trustwallet is completely closed source, and while we can generate random Private Keys,
there's no guarantee that the generated Private Key will be deleted or stored on Trustwallet's servers, no one knows.

It's different if we say an Open Source wallet like Electrum, which everyone can really see
how the wallet and private keys are generated and what updates happen in great detail on the GitHub repository.

[letteredhub]

A good example of closed source wallet is that Trust wallet.
A good example of a open source wallet is Unstoppable and Electrum wallet.

Trust wallet isn't a close source wallet as I know it but open source, although it's not completely open source wallet just like electrum wallet, and it's claimed privacy is questionable. If you had read the replies above you would see that  users have already mentioned that the generation of trust wallet keys, which is not clear how it's generated just like an actual complete open source wallets should be.

[Proty]

It is the private key that shows if a wallet is non custodial, however the fact that a wallet has buy or sell options doesn't mean it is custodial. For instance in trust wallet you can be able to sell or buy but the trust wallet has nothing to do with holding users private keys or has control of their funds. Therefore,  a wallet should be considered as noncustodial if the user have control of their funds or private keys and having buy or sell features doesn't makes it to be custodial.

[Z_MBFM]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

Wallets that you need to access with a private key or seed phrase are non-custodial wallets. But not all wallets are trustworthy. Trust Wallet has been leading the market for a long time, but it is not considered a good wallet either. If someone wants to keep a large amount of funds, then Trust Wallet will never be a reliable wallet for him. Having a private key means you have complete control over that wallet. There is no centralized control.

[Cookdata]

It is the private key that shows if a wallet is non custodial, however the fact that a wallet has buy or sell options doesn't mean it is custodial. For instance in trust wallet you can be able to sell or buy but the trust wallet has nothing to do with holding users private keys or has control of their funds. Therefore,  a wallet should be considered as noncustodial if the user have control of their funds or private keys and having buy or sell features doesn't makes it to be custodial.

A wallet can still be open source, give you a seed phrase and offer you settings to back up your seed phrase and private key to the cloud. Such wallets are questionable and are not to be trusted. A wallet that is non-custodial shouldn't meddle with all of these, the purpose is to let you manage your seed phrase, and you should be able to back up the wallet offline.

For confidence, a wallet should be open source, the main wallet component should be public so that people can build and test the same wallet from source.

[JeromeTash]

Trust wallet isn't a close source wallet as I know it but open source, although it's not completely open source wallet just like electrum wallet, and it's claimed privacy is questionable.

The source code is either open or closed. There is no in-between. You can say that the wallet is open source, but it is not completely open source  
The confusion people have is because trustwallet started out as an open-source wallet, but then it got acquired by Binance, and a few months later, they closed the source code from the public with the excuse that they were combating malware and clones.

So when you see old articles and guides, they still state that the wallet is open source.

[JiiBs]

I want to know because their are some non custodial wallet they have features like exchange. In trust wallet they have the buy and sell options. Does private keys completely makes a wallet as non custodial or their is more to this.

The entire idea about non custodial wallets is about you having to control the keys to your wallet. The pathways to its generation isn’t much of your problem here so long as, you are sure it’s not just the company having to throw some combinations at you.

Being open source is just some way the company that produced the wallet having to expose its code to the public for verification and updates while,
Closed source is just the company having to keep their codes to themselves, secrete.

The case of trust wallet having a buy and sell option, it’s more about the wallet having some level of control over how you handle fiat transactions since, you can actually buy cryptocurrencies directly to your trust wallet. I’ve never had to try selling though but, their was this one time I attempted buying and their was a whole lot of windows opening, trailing a procedure to an actual bank and I just had to quit the way.