Blockstream Green

Blockstream has been providing products built on top of Bitcoin since 2014. Led by Adam Back, a cryptographer and cypherpunk, he and his team of passionate cryptographers and developers continue to provide software, hardware, and services for a wide range of industries that utilize Bitcoin. Specifically for their mobile wallet, the Blockstream team is focused on providing the most convenient and secure way for users, traders, and developers to get what they need from the Green wallet. This mobile wallet is perfect for everyday users who wish to transfer and store their bitcoin. The Liquid network is a sidechain for traders who move large funds between institutions. Green wallet provides a Liquid wallet within the app to make it convenient for traders to quickly store and move their funds. Also included in the Green wallet is a Testnet wallet that may be used by developers or hobbyists. Testnet is a network that is utilized for the sole purpose of testing the Bitcoin Core source code and even products that are built on top of Bitcoin.

• Pincode for signing into the wallet.
• Ability to set an auto logout time for the user’s account.
• Proxy server and Tor connection for added network privacy.
• Portfolio value page. Users may customize the denominated values.
• Send and receive bitcoin funds.
• Can move bitcoin into Green wallet using private keys from paper wallets, Bitcoin ATMs, or other wallets.
• Generate multiple Bitcoin addresses to increase privacy.
• Customize network fees and times for withdrawing funds.
• Ability to set up a Liquid and BTC Testnet wallet.
• Hardware wallet support with Ledger, Trezor, and Blockstream Jade.
• SPV to verify transactions on the user’s end with their own node.
• Fee control to set how fast or slow you want funds to be transferred.
• Multisig shield feature that allows users to sign in with a key on their devices and a second key on Blotckstream servers for added security.
• Multilingual setting. Multiple languages are available, including: Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and more to come.

Everything needed for using the Green mobile wallet: 

• iOS or Android phone.
• Access to an exchange to purchase bitcoin.
• Paper or other non-digital material to copy down the pincode and seed phrase.

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After downloading the Blockstream Green mobile wallet onto your phone:

1. The Green wallet will have the user first create a new wallet and then copy down their seed phrase, 6 words at a time. After they are written down, the user is then quizzed for various seed words to make sure that the user has a written record of each word in the correct order. 

It is important to write down the seed phrase because it allows you to recover your Bitcoin funds on another device if your phone is lost or destroyed.

2. The user will then be prompted to create a pincode that must be 6 digits. The user has the option to choose a familiar set of numbers, but it is recommended to select them at random.

3. The user will then have access to their account and create multiple Bitcoin wallets from the main screen here.

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Singlesig vs Multisig

Before the user is able to access their Bitcoin wallet, they are given the option to set up a Singlesig or Multisig Shield solution for recovering their Bitcoin wallet in the event that they lose access to their phone. The Singlesig option allows the user to save their mnemonic phrase (private key) on the device and is quicker to set up. With the Multisig Shield solution, the user will have access to one key (the mnemonic phrase) while the second key will be stored on Blockstream's servers. This second key will then require 2FA (two-factor authentication) to access it.

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2FA

A user may set up 2FA through email, SMS, Call, or the Google Authenticator app. The most secure of the four options will be with the Google Authenticator app because a bad actor will need to be physically present with the phone in order to view the generated code. The other three options have the potential to be sim swapped or accessed remotely. The Green wallet also uses PGP to encrypt an email being used with the mobile wallet. SPV is another added feature that may also be implemented. If the user already has a node set up at home or in a secure location, this will ensure that they may self-verify all transactions within the Bitcoin network.

Blockstream Green is one of the most trusted mobile wallets on the market because of the team behind it. Adam Back has assembled a company with leading experts to provide an open-source online digital asset wallet that may be used by individuals, institutions, and developers. With security and privacy in mind, the Green wallet integrates all of the latest measures needed to keep user funds safe. This is ultimately up to the user for whether or not they wish to take advantage of all the security tools provided by Blockstream. Security measures like a pincode for the app itself and copying down the seed phrase are necessary to create a wallet, but it is important for users to be aware that they have the options to set up two-factor authentication, use Tor or a proxy server for executing transactions, and that it would help to also have a pincode for their phone as well.

• Extensive security features
• Sleek design that is intuitive for intermediary to expert users
• Open-source