Crypto Wallet App: Amir Wallet v 3.19.9.9
As the provider of this product holds the keys, verifiability of the product is not relevant to the security of the funds!
As part of our Methodology, we ask:
A custodial service is a service where the funds are held by a third party like the provider. The custodial service can at any point steal all the funds of all the users at their discretion. Our investigations stop there.
Some services might claim their setup is super secure, that they don’t actually have access to the funds, or that the access is shared between multiple parties. For our evaluation of it being a wallet, these details are irrelevant. They might be a trustworthy Bitcoin bank and they might be a better fit for certain users than being your own bank but our investigation still stops there as we are only interested in wallets.
Products that claim to be non-custodial but feature custodial accounts without very clearly marking those as custodial are also considered “custodial” as a whole to avoid misguiding users that follow our assessment.
This verdict means that the provider might or might not publish source code and maybe it is even possible to reproduce the build from the source code but as it is custodial, the provider already has control over the funds, so it is not a wallet where you would be in exclusive control of your funds.
We have to acknowledge that a huge majority of Bitcoiners are currently using custodial Bitcoin banks. If you do, please:
- Do your own research if the provider is trust-worthy!
- Check if you know at least enough about them so you can sue them when you have to!
- Check if the provider is under a jurisdiction that will allow them to release your funds when you need them?
- Check if the provider is taking security measures proportional to the amount of funds secured? If they have a million users and don’t use cold storage, that hot wallet is a million times more valuable for hackers to attack. A million times more effort will be taken by hackers to infiltrate their security systems.
The Analysis ¶
This does not represent a full code review.
Google Play
The first slide in Amir Wallet’s Google Play, describes it as:
The first profitable cryptocurrency wallet with the option of delegated asset management!
The Site
Amir Capital’s website is more focused on investment and other financial products.
Curiously, some functionality is available via the web app including ‘Replenish’ and ‘Withdraw’. ‘Transfer’ is grayed out.
Terms
This is a clear indication that the service is custodial:
Section 14.8.3 The Company has the right to refuse the User to withdraw virtual assets from the investor’s Account (transferring assets to the User’s cryptocurrency wallet) until the settlement of mutual settlements between the parties. The Company reserves the right to use (withhold by mutual settlement) the virtual assets of the User (all or some reasonable part), and the User does not object to this to fullfill the payment obligations of the User under the Agreement.
Most interest bearing cryptocurrency wallets are custodial because some of them lend these coins to other users, like banks.
The App
We tried the app. The BTC wallet is accessible, but when we tap on ‘Transfer’, ‘Replenish’ and ‘Withdraw’ nothing happens. Users are encouraged to provide Proof of Identity.
Verdict
It is a apparent that Amir Capital is a custodial service and hence, not verifiable
(dg)
Do your own research!
Try out searching for "lost bitcoins", "stole my money" or "scammers" together with the wallet's name, even if you think the wallet is generally trustworthy. For all the bigger wallets you will find accusations. Make sure you understand why they were made and if you are comfortable with the provider's reaction.
If you find something we should include, you can create an issue or edit this analysis yourself and create a merge request for your changes.