BitBox02 vs Electrum Comparison

A new wallet gets 24 BIP39 recovery words; the device can also restore 12-word phrases. The default backup is a file with the wallet secret on the included microSD card, which is not encrypted; the 24 words can be shown on the device screen at any time after you re-enter the device password.

Electrum creates its own seed phrase: 12 words from the same 2048-word list as BIP39, but with a version number hidden in the phrase's hash instead of a BIP39 checksum, so a wallet that reads only BIP39 phrases cannot restore it. Electrum publishes the format, and it can also restore BIP39 phrases and SLIP-39 shares.

The BitBox shop ships only to a name and postal address and asks for an email address. You can pay with Bitcoin or Lightning through BitBox's own BTCPay Server instead of a card. BitBox says order data is anonymised after 30 days, but invoices are kept for ten years under Swiss law.

BitBox says each device receives an attestation key at the factory, which the BitBoxApp checks every time you connect, and that the chips are covered in epoxy and the case halves are glued so that opening them breaks plastic pins. The device ships in a vacuum-sealed bag with a patterned seal. BitBox itself says these checks cannot rule out every physical modification of a genuine device.

Shift Crypto AG is registered in the Canton of Zurich, with its address in Adliswil. Its privacy policy follows the Swiss data protection act and the GDPR, and says personal data is stored in the EU.

Electrum Technologies GmbH, Berlin, develops and distributes the software and hosts electrum.org. The company holds no user accounts and cannot freeze or reverse payments. Anyone can run an Electrum server, and none of the 84 servers in the app's built-in list is on electrum.org.

A privately held Swiss company that sells under the BitBox brand. Its founders started the BitBox line in 2015; the BitBox02 came out in 2019.

Thomas Voegtlin created Electrum in November 2011 and founded Electrum Technologies GmbH in 2013. Two developers, Thomas Voegtlin and SomberNight, have write access to the code; website changes and releases must be signed by both.