ZenGo disrupted the market this year when they launched their keyless wallet. It is a non-custodial wallet available on iOS devices from an iPhone 6 onwards and on most Android devices. The wallet supports Ether, Bitcoin and Binance Coin, and offers users to conveniently buy crypto through the app using their credit card or Apple Pay.
Treshold Signatures For The Win
Normally with crypto wallets, users always have to choose either convenience or full-control over funds (a.k.a custody) but can’t have both. ZenGo harnesses the power of “threshold signatures” to instill high-grade security in its non-custodial wallets.
Instead of only storing the private key on the user’s phone (and risking a lost device), ZenGo divides the private key into two parts, one of which is stored on its server the other one on the user’s phone. Only when both parts interact can the private key be computed and a transaction take place.
When users sign-up for the first time, ZenGo scans the client’s face and stores an encrypted backup of their private key share on the user’s personal cloud storage (e.g iCloud, Dropbox,). Should a user lose their phone and want to access their wallet, they simply re-authenticate with a quick face scan which decrypts the private key share initially stored on their iCloud and voila - all funds are back!
The innovative security measures are conveyed through a simple, well-designed interface that reveals no complications and clutter to the user. Signing up is straight-forward and easy. So is the procedure to send crypto. As it currently stands, the platform lacks support for all Ethereum (ERC20) tokens but ZenGo have promised expansion in later versions to come.
Zengo Savings
Zengo supports the following Blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tezos and Terra (Luna). As it supports Ethereum based ERC-20 tokens you can store a range of popular DeFi tokens like SUSHI, AAVE, COMP but also the popular stablecoins like USDC or USDT.
Moreover, ZenGo supports staking Tezos which means users can act as a validator in the Tezos network and earn approximately 5.5% for doing so. Tezos staking is made super simple. A couple of taps in the app and you have delegated your Tezos to a "baker" of your choice who will use it to vote on the Tezos chain and pay you a share of the rewards.
In the same "Savings" tab, it also supports the DeFi lending platform Compound, which allows users to deposit stablecoins and other Ethereum based assets and earn 5-15% anual interest on them.
Hopefully they will also support Ethereum staking soon giving users a hefty 7-10% return on their ETH.
Zengo Fees
Another perk of Zengo is that you can buy crypto easily within the app. There are two options both implemented via third-party providers.
Buy & sell: allows you to buy crypto with fiat currencies (e.g $ or €) with credit/debit card or bank transfer. The fees for buying with credit card are 5.99% whereas buying by bank transfer only costs 1.99% but takes 1-2 until you receive your purchased cryptoDepending on the amount of cryptocurrency you want to purchase in Zengo, you might have to identify yourself.
Trade: allows you trade cryptocurrencies against other cryptocurrencies or tokens. For example it allows you to convert your Bitcoin into USDC. Here the fee is just 0.75%.
For a detailed breakdown of all the fees in Zengo, refer to this article.
Zengo Crypto Card
As of recently, ZenGo also announced a crypto card, which allows you to spend the cryptocurrencies you own in normal brick and mortar stores just like you would with any normal Visa debit card.
It comes with a small twist though, since ZenGo has no control and doesn't know which cryptocurrencies you own (remember it's non-custodial), you’ll have to convert your crypto to USD first. In the mobile app, you’ll be able to convert some funds to fiat (such as USD) and deposit that amount on your card. If you plan to use your card regularly, you’ll be able to convert a fixed amount every week.
While the card will initially launch in the U.S. only, the startup already plans to release it in other countries. You can join the waitlist inside their app.
Conclusion
All in all, we highly recommend ZenGo if you're looking for a wallet that can hold all your cryptocurrencies across different blockchain networks. If you're looking for a wallet to interact with DeFi protocols on Ethereum, you may want to check out our Ethereum wallet guide.
ZenGo shines in terms of UX and security. It also has exemplary customer 24/7 support that can be reached via email, social media or live chat in the app. Sometimes you'll even have the CEO himself answering questions in the support chat, which shows their customer obsession. This is very rare in the space and makes ZenGo a great choice, especially for beginners.
