Bitcoin Wallet Audit: Electrum • BlueWallet • BULL • Blockstream Green

Snapshot date: 2026-02-26 • Scoring scale: 0–100 per criterion • Composite is weight‑averaged

Executive summary

This report compares four Bitcoin wallets using two combined lenses: Bitcoin‑only / FOSS / privacy maximalism and sovereignty‑first (anti‑capture) systems design.

Evidence is embedded directly throughout the page via inline links (official docs, repos, issue trackers, and third‑party audits such as WalletScrutiny).

Final ranking (composite score)

Rank Wallet Composite Primary posture
#1Electrum
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
93.35Sovereign core baseline (Bitcoin-only, minimal capture surface)
#2BULL Wallet (Bull Bitcoin Mobile)
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
82.65Privacy-heavy bridge tool (Liquid + fiat rails present)
#3BlueWallet
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
79.95Protocol-rich privacy wallet with supply-chain/telemetry drag
#4Blockstream Green / Blockstream App
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
71.85Corporate multi-asset portal (Liquid + stablecoin + server-key legacy)

Headline takeaways

  • Electrum ranks first due to Bitcoin-only scope (FAQ), strong Tor/self-hosting pathways (Tor docs), and minimal embedded capture surface (project site).
  • BULL Wallet ranks second as a feature-dense, privacy-forward mobile wallet that explicitly spans Bitcoin + Liquid and atomic swaps (Play Store description), with async Payjoin emphasis (announcement).
  • BlueWallet ranks third: PayJoin and coin control are advertised on its feature page (features), while telemetry and distribution concerns appear in public issues (Firebase issue) and F‑Droid status (F‑Droid thread).
  • Blockstream Green ranks fourth: multi‑asset Liquid + USDt support is explicit in distribution descriptions (Play Store / F‑Droid) and server‑key multisig heritage is described by Blockstream (blog).

Scoring framework

Each wallet receives a 0–100 score on the criteria below. The composite is a weighted average (weights sum to 100%). Criteria separate: distribution verifiability, telemetry, asset purity, key sovereignty, node/network sovereignty, privacy protocols, and capture gravity.

ID Criterion Weight What it measures
C1FOSS + reproducibility + distribution15%License freedom, public source, independent builds where possible (F‑Droid / signed releases), and distribution transparency (e.g., WalletScrutiny).
C2Telemetry & trackers10%Known telemetry/analytics SDKs and reproducible evidence of phone‑home behavior (e.g., Firebase logging reports).
C3Bitcoin purity vs synthetic multi‑asset15%Bitcoin‑only scope vs Liquid/stablecoin/token expansion; Lightning is treated as Bitcoin-layer.
C4Key sovereignty20%Whether spend authority remains local (no mandatory remote cosigner; recovery schemes do not smuggle in custody).
C5Node sovereignty & network surface15%Ability to rely on self‑hosted backends, Tor/.onion routing, and avoidance of descriptor‑level privacy leaks by default.
C6On‑chain privacy arsenal15%On-chain privacy tooling: coin control, labeling, RBF/CPFP; PayJoin, payment codes, Silent Payments, etc.
C7KYC gravity & corporate capture10%Degree of KYC gravity and corporate capture: embedded exchange rails, multi‑asset marketing, server-key dependency patterns.
Why these weights?

Key sovereignty (C4) and long-horizon capture resistance (C1/C3/C5) dominate weighting. Telemetry (C2) and protocol privacy (C6) are weighted slightly lower because privacy protocols can be neutralized by network topology or analytics leakage, while telemetry can sometimes be mitigated by distribution hygiene.

Scores matrix

Composite = Σ(score × weight) / 100. Exact composites are shown to two decimals.

Wallet Composite C1C2C3C4C5C6C7
Electrum
OfficialRepoWalletScrutinyF‑Droid
93.35
909510098888598
BULL Wallet (Bull Bitcoin Mobile)
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
82.65
78807595859360
BlueWallet
OfficialRepoWalletScrutiny
79.95
604510092729580
Blockstream Green / Blockstream App
OfficialRepoWalletScrutinyF‑Droid
71.85
85804582787550
Interpretation notes (hyper-adversarial)
  • Distribution-layer scores are conservative; WalletScrutiny links are included per wallet to keep the “source-to-device” chain explicit.
  • Network privacy (Tor/self-hosted backends) is scored separately from protocol privacy (PayJoin/payment codes/Silent).
  • Multi‑asset posture is scored under C3 and re-appears under C7 when marketed as a portal to tokenized/stable assets.

Deep dives (evidence-linked)

Each wallet section includes: (1) primary links, (2) criterion breakdown, and (3) evidence bullets with inline references.

WeightsC1 15 • C2 10 • C3 15 • C4 20 • C5 15 • C6 15 • C7 10
Composite93.35

Criterion breakdown

ID Criterion Weight Score Evidence (inline links)
C1FOSS + reproducibility + distribution15%90
C2Telemetry & trackers10%95
C3Bitcoin purity vs synthetic multi‑asset15%100
C4Key sovereignty20%98
C5Node sovereignty & network surface15%88
C6On‑chain privacy arsenal15%85
C7KYC gravity & corporate capture10%98
Final posture statement

Electrum functions as the sovereignty-first baseline: Bitcoin-only scope, long-lived FOSS codebase, and explicit Tor/self-hosting pathways. Deductions reflect default reliance on public servers and the absence of built-in PayJoin/BIP47 primitives (tracked as open issues).

WeightsC1 15 • C2 10 • C3 15 • C4 20 • C5 15 • C6 15 • C7 10
Composite82.65

Criterion breakdown

ID Criterion Weight Score Evidence (inline links)
C1FOSS + reproducibility + distribution15%78
C2Telemetry & trackers10%80
C3Bitcoin purity vs synthetic multi‑asset15%75
C4Key sovereignty20%95
C5Node sovereignty & network surface15%85
C6On‑chain privacy arsenal15%93
C7KYC gravity & corporate capture10%60
Final posture statement

BULL Wallet (Bull Bitcoin Mobile) is a privacy-forward bridge wallet: strong day-to-day tooling (including async Payjoin and label export standards) plus a deliberately integrated fiat/exchange layer. Liquid-first design and exchange coupling carry the main sovereignty penalties.

WeightsC1 15 • C2 10 • C3 15 • C4 20 • C5 15 • C6 15 • C7 10
Composite79.95

Criterion breakdown

ID Criterion Weight Score Evidence (inline links)
C1FOSS + reproducibility + distribution15%60
C2Telemetry & trackers10%45
C3Bitcoin purity vs synthetic multi‑asset15%100
C4Key sovereignty20%92
C5Node sovereignty & network surface15%72
C6On‑chain privacy arsenal15%95
C7KYC gravity & corporate capture10%80
Final posture statement

BlueWallet is privacy-protocol rich (coin control, PayJoin, plausible deniability; plus public BIP47 and Silent Payments milestones), but the distribution/telemetry footprint is materially heavier (F‑Droid taint history, Firebase logging reports, and Tor toggle removal in later versions).

WeightsC1 15 • C2 10 • C3 15 • C4 20 • C5 15 • C6 15 • C7 10
Composite71.85

Criterion breakdown

ID Criterion Weight Score Evidence (inline links)
C1FOSS + reproducibility + distribution15%85
C2Telemetry & trackers10%80
C3Bitcoin purity vs synthetic multi‑asset15%45
C4Key sovereignty20%82
C5Node sovereignty & network surface15%78
C6On‑chain privacy arsenal15%75
C7KYC gravity & corporate capture10%50
Final posture statement

Blockstream Green/Blockstream App is a capable multi-platform wallet, but explicitly multi-asset (Liquid + USDt) and historically centered on server-key multisig security models. Descriptor-based QuickSync/Waterfalls improves sync performance while centralizing descriptor exposure when using hosted infrastructure.

Notes & constraints

  • Temporal drift: wallet code, releases, and defaults change. This report is a snapshot (2026-02-26). Evidence links point to primary sources that can be re-checked.
  • Distribution-layer caution: even fully open-source wallets can ship binaries that are not easily reproducible. WalletScrutiny is included for systematic “source-to-device” scrutiny.
  • Privacy ≠ single feature: protocol privacy (PayJoin/payment codes) and topology privacy (Tor/self-hosted backends) can move in opposite directions for the same wallet.