Trust Wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that lets users store, send, receive and swap digital assets across many blockchains from a mobile app or a browser extension. It is a non-custodial wallet: the private keys are generated and kept on the user's own device, so the company does not hold customer funds and cannot reverse transactions or recover lost access. It is one of the most widely downloaded crypto wallets, with a user base it describes in the tens of millions.
Trust Wallet was created in 2017 by developer Viktor Radchenko and acquired in 2018 by Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, though it operates as a separate product and does not require a Binance account. It competes with other self-custody wallets such as MetaMask, and its ties to Binance mean it is closely associated with the BNB Chain ecosystem while supporting dozens of other networks.
Trust Wallet in plain terms
Using a bank app is like keeping money in a bank vault: the bank holds it, and if you forget your password, you can ask the bank to help. Using Trust Wallet is more like carrying cash in your own pocket. The app is the pocket, and the money is yours alone. Nobody else can spend it, but nobody can rescue it if you lose it.
What protects the pocket is a list of twelve or so words, the recovery phrase, shown when the wallet is set up. Anyone who has those words can rebuild the wallet on another phone and take everything inside. That is why the phrase must be written down and kept private, and why no genuine support agent will ever ask for it.
Features
- Multi-chain support. As a multi-coin wallet, Trust Wallet supports bitcoin, ether, BNB, Solana and many other blockchains, along with tokens on them, from a single recovery phrase.
- Swaps. Users can exchange tokens inside the app through integrated decentralized exchanges and aggregators, paying network and service fees.
- Buying crypto. The app connects to third-party payment providers that let users buy crypto with cards or bank transfers, subject to the providers' identity checks.
- Staking. Holders of some proof-of-stake coins can stake them from the app to earn network rewards.
- Decentralized apps. The wallet connects to decentralized applications, either through a built-in browser or through connection protocols, so users can trade, lend or use NFT marketplaces.
- Browser extension. A browser extension, launched in 2022, brought the wallet to desktop computers.
How it works
When a user creates a wallet, the app generates a seed phrase from which all the user's private keys and addresses are derived. These keys are stored encrypted on the device, protected by a passcode or biometric lock. When the user sends funds or interacts with an application, the app builds the transaction, signs it locally and broadcasts it to the relevant blockchain. Trust Wallet does not see the keys and cannot freeze accounts, although it can stop showing certain tokens or features in its app. Because the phone is online, it is a hot wallet; users holding large amounts often combine it with a hardware wallet.
Trust Wallet Token
In 2020 Trust Wallet introduced its own token, the Trust Wallet Token (TWT), issued on Binance's networks and later as a BEP-20 token on BNB Chain. The project has described TWT as a utility and governance token offering features such as fee discounts and participation in community decisions. As with many wallet and exchange tokens, critics question how much value the token adds beyond promotion. Its price is volatile, and nothing on this page is investment advice.
Security and risks
Because Trust Wallet is self-custodial, the main risks fall on the user. Losing the recovery phrase without a backup means losing access permanently, and revealing it to anyone means losing funds. Scammers impersonate Trust Wallet through fake support accounts, counterfeit apps and websites, and messages asking users to "validate" or "sync" their wallets, all forms of phishing. Malicious decentralized applications can trick users into approving token permissions that let attackers drain balances, and address poisoning tricks users into copying a look-alike address.
The software itself has had flaws. In 2023 Trust Wallet disclosed that a weakness in the way its browser extension had generated some wallets made them vulnerable, that a small number of users had lost funds, and that it would reimburse affected users. Like all wallet providers, it publishes updates to fix vulnerabilities, and users are advised to download the app only from official stores and the project's own site and to keep it updated.