ZoneBitcoin EditorialIf there are many principles that are essential in the world of Bitcoin, they are confidentiality and security. Having a reliable Bitcoin wallet that takes care of user privacy is crucial. And, in this area, Samourai Wallet is a portfolio which, for years, has always stood out in this area.
Developed by a team of cypherpunk, Samourai Wallet was designed to preserve the confidentiality of transactions by protecting the identity of users. This is why it is a preferred wallet for committed bitcoiners who are looking for a secure wallet that truly preserves data privacy.
If you want to know more and know if it is a wallet that suits you, read this guide to discover its particularities.
Introducing Samourai Wallet
The Samourai Wallet is a modern and advanced Bitcoin wallet available exclusively on Android devices. It offers a wide range of features suitable for both beginners and advanced users. With its user-friendly interface and robust security measures, the Samourai Wallet has earned a reputation as one of the most functional and secure Bitcoin wallets on the market.
Before we begin, please note that Samourai Wallet supports Bitcoin (BTC) exclusively and only and does not support other cryptocurrencies. If you want to store other cryptocurrencies, you will need to use another wallet that supports other cryptocurrencies.
The main features of the Samourai Wallet
👉Privacy enhancement : Samourai Wallet integrates various privacy-enhancing technologies to ensure the confidentiality of your transactions. It uses AES-256 encryption, a virtual private network (VPN) and the TOR network to protect your data and hide your IP address and identity.
👉 non-custodial : The Samourai Wallet is a non-custodial wallet, which means you have full control over your private keys. This ensures that you are the sole owner of your funds and eliminates the risk of third-party custody.
👉 Offline sending : The Samourai Wallet allows you to send Bitcoin transactions even when you are offline, bypassing data network restrictions. This function is particularly useful in areas with limited Internet access such as in conflict regions for example or countries with strong censorship.
👉 Full node integration : The wallet integrates seamlessly with your own Bitcoin full node, giving you enhanced security and privacy. This feature allows you to validate your own transactions and avoid relying on third-party nodes. This is an advanced function, which nevertheless remains useful if you are looking for greater security.
👉 Batch processing of transactions : Samourai Wallet offers the ability to create large batches of unrelated transactions, which saves on transaction fees. This feature is particularly useful for users who frequently make many transactions.
How to use Samourai Wallet
1/ Installation
The first step is to download and install Samourai Wallet. It will depend on whether you want to use it on your phone (available on Google and Android) or on your computer.
2/ Backup of your private key
Click on “Create Wallet”.
Create a 5-8 digit PIN to access your wallet. This adds an extra measure of security.
For your mnemonic recovery phrase, please write down and store your 12-word phrase in order. Remember that this seed phrase is essential to access and restore your wallet. Don't lose it!
You can now use your wallet and start receiving or sending bitcoin. As simple as that.
However, now it is necessary to manage and configure security measures for optimal use.
Samourai Wallet security measures
🔐 Encryption and Privacy
This is one of the great advantages of Samourai Wallet, namely the fact that the wallet uses special AES-256 encryption which protects your wallet data.
🔐 Integration with TOR and VPN
Best of all, Samourai Wallet integrates with VPN and TOR networks, which is the most radical way to strengthen your privacy and hide your IP address and online activity.
🔐 Non-custodial
The wallet does not store your private keys on a server, ensuring that you are the sole owner of your funds. Non-custodial wallets eliminate the risks of hacking or theft that can be encountered on centralized exchange platforms or on custodial wallets. You control your funds on Samourai Wallet.
The 12-word recovery mnemonic phrase during the installation process serves as your backup and can be imported to open your wallet on another device.
—>Read the article: 12 tips to protect your seed phrase
🔐 Two-factor authentication
As in the vast majority of applications, it is recommended to add an additional layer of security using two-factor authentication (2FA). By enabling 2FA, you add an extra step to the login process, making it more difficult for unauthorized access to your wallet.
What are the fees for Samourai Wallet?
You should know that the Samourai Wallet does not include any fees for storing your Bitcoin. However, there may be fees associated with bitcoin transactions that depend not on the wallet but on the Bitcoin network itself.
You can nevertheless determine the fees for outgoing transactions, to adjust them according to the desired transaction speed. The faster you want the transaction to be completed, the higher fees you will have to choose.
Depending on the services selected, additional costs may be taken into account. These are fees that are linked to advanced features of the wallet. Beginners will not necessarily encounter this type of transactions and therefore fees.
- Private payment channels: To open a private payment channel between two Samourai wallets, there is a one-time cost of 0,00015 BTC per channel.
- Ricochet Transactions : The Samourai Wallet charges 0,002 BTC per Ricochet transaction. It is a type of transaction that allows you to hide transaction histories and adds an additional layer of confidentiality. You can find out more here.
What are all the features of Samourai Wallet?
- Offline mode : Samourai works in all network conditions. This is an attractive option for those who want to create ultra-secure cold storage systems, as well as those operating in hostile or expensive network conditions.
- Segregated Witness : It is an update to the Bitcoin network that helps keep mining fees as low as possible during transactions. Samourai Wallet was one of the first to support SegWit, allowing users to create efficient transactions while keeping mining fees as low as possible. Today, most wallets use it.
- tap root : This is also a more recent update to the Bitcoin network that improves Bitcoin for multisignature and layer 2 protocols. Samourai supports sending to these new address types. —> Read our article on the different types of bitcoin addresses and their meanings.
- Smart Mining Fees : Mining fees are the cost of doing business on the Bitcoin blockchain. They serve as an incentive for the miner to add your transaction to a block, while preventing spam. Samourai Wallet offers a first-class mining fee estimate to help ensure your transactions are confirmed quickly without you overpaying.
- Dojo : Unless you're running your own full node, you have to trust someone at some point. It used to be difficult to run your own full node on a mobile wallet. It's possible with Dojo.
- STONEWALL: Most Bitcoin wallets leave a trail of metadata that surveillance companies track down identities. Stonewall helps protect users against address aggregation attacks.
- PayNym : PayNyms defend users against this type of 'First Touch' attack by never revealing an address to anyone except the sender and recipient of the transaction.
- Batch Spending : It involves batching and composing a single transaction containing many unrelated transactions. This can be beneficial when mining fees are high and you have multiple transactions to make at the same time.
- Scrambled PIN : The PIN code screen is random each time, which means that if an observer wants to imitate your gesture to find your Pin Code, they cannot do so. This is an original feature that can be very useful.
- Stealth Mode: This is an interesting mode because it allows you to remove the application from your home screen on your Android device. To reveal the wallet, simply dial a secret code. Very useful if you lose your phone or want to hide this app.
- Ricochet: It may be useful to enable the Ricochet feature if you are sending funds to centralized platforms like Binance, Coinbase to reduce the risk of unjustified account closure by these third-party services.
- Whirlpool: By spinning your bitcoins in the Whirlpool, you break the link between the inputs and outputs of your Bitcoin transactions. This is ideal for ensuring your confidentiality.
Integrate your own Bitcoin Node
Ronin Dojo represents the ability to connect your own ready-to-use full node that has been designed to deliver great privacy performance. With Ronin Dojo, users can enjoy a plug-and-play full node experience, while increasing their security and privacy in the bitcoin world. However, you don't have to buy a device and you can connect your own node to Samourai.
Once you have your own Bitcoin node set up and running, you can go to Samurai Wallet settings, navigate to the “Node” tab, and select “Use my own node”.
You will need to enter your node IP address and port that you configured. After that, Samouraï Wallet will connect to your node, giving you full control over your transactions and significantly improving the privacy of your Bitcoin operations. Integrating your own node into Samouraï Wallet is a wise choice if you really want to preserve your anonymity and privacy using Bitcoin.
What is Sentinel Watch only?
This is an interesting feature that Sentinel Watch Only allows you to track offline physical wallets, cold wallets, or even paper wallets without the need for private keys. This is an option that is also found on BlueWallet for example.
This can be particularly useful if you have multiple wallets that you want to track without having to connect to them directly.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Samourai Wallet
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
| – Most advanced privacy and security measures on the market – A user-friendly interface that is pleasant to use. – Non-custodial wallet – Possibility of Integration with a full node. – Advanced features for users concerned about their privacy (Tor) – An active and present community | – The application is only available on Android and not on iOS. |
The interface and customization of the wallet
First of all, we can note that the interface is rather user-friendly with a red design, which necessarily recalls the Samurai universe. The wallet is designed to provide a fairly pleasant experience for a beginner or a more experienced user.
It is possible to customize certain aspects of the wallet according to your preferences. You can choose to adjust transaction fees, activate or deactivate features or even change display themes.
Samourai Wallet customer service
Le Samourai Wallet offers a service by email and on forums such as Reddit for example. There is very advanced documentation with precise guides and tutorials on the site as well. Remember that Samourai wallet is open source software, which perfectly corresponds to the value of the blockchain and Bitcoin.
You should know that there is a very large, very active community of users who actively contribute to its development and improvement. By observing all the features developed by the wallets, we can quickly realize the level of commitment of the community and developers.
Final Verdict: The Ultimate Bitcoin Wallet for Privacy
For the ZoneBitcoin editorial team, the final verdict is clear: Samourai Wallet is an excellent wallet, certainly one of the best on the market. This is clearly a powerful portfolio focused on policy which offers users all the tools and functionalities necessary to guarantee the privacy and security of transactions.
It is perhaps the most advanced wallet although there are equally powerful alternatives like Electrum, Breez Wallet ou Wasabi wallet For example. However, Samourai wallet has so many features that it becomes a must-have for users who want to protect their private lives.
If you're still intimidated by the idea of using Samourai Wallet (which is understandable), try to keep it in the back of your mind to come back to once you're ready.
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