How Safe Smart Accounts Power Bitpanda’s New Self-Custodial Wallet

Bitpanda’s self-custodial wallet, powered by Safe Smart Accounts, blends security and usability to make DeFi accessible to everyone. From one-click swaps to modular controls and optional seed backups, it’s self-custody reimagined for the next billion users.

Bitpanda has launched a new self-custodial mobile wallet powered by Safe Smart Accounts. This article explores how Bitpanda merges institutional-grade security with genuine self-custody to provide users a perfect blend of control, freedom, and safety.

Introducing the Bitpanda DeFi Wallet

The Bitpanda DeFi Wallet is an entirely new, standalone application separate from Bitpanda’s custodial investment platform. Designed specifically as a self-custodial solution, it enables users to hold their digital assets independently, similar to other self-custodial wallets, but enhanced with additional safety and user-friendly features.

Users can seamlessly transfer funds between their Bitpanda custodial accounts and the new Bitpanda DeFi Wallet. However, a Bitpanda account is not mandatory for using the wallet. Users can freely send and receive digital assets from and to external addresses, promoting true financial independence.

Truly Self-Custodial with Enhanced UX

At its core, the Bitpanda DeFi Wallet offers genuine self-custody through a secure BIP-39 seed phrase stored safely on the user's mobile device. This seed phrase functions as a signer within a one-out-of-one Safe Smart Account, unlocking powerful user experience features such as batched transactions and sponsored transaction fees. Bitpanda specifically uses batched transactions to enable seamless one-click swaps, and they also sponsor gas fees within fair use, significantly enhancing user convenience and accessibility.

Crucially, users retain complete control of their assets. Those seeking greater customization can export their seed phrase and use the Safe Wallet UI to incorporate additional signers, guards, or modules, thus tailoring the wallet’s functionality to their precise security preferences.

Optional Backup: Security Meets Convenience

Recognizing that not all users are comfortable managing their seed phrases independently, Bitpanda offers an optional backup solution that splits the seed phrase into two separate shards. One shard, securely encrypted, is stored on the user’s Google Drive or iCloud, while Bitpanda safely holds the second shard, which acts as the encryption key. Users can always access Bitpanda’s shard through their Bitpanda account, ensuring that recovery requires cooperation between the user and Bitpanda. This approach combines self-custody convenience with institutional-level security, providing an extra layer of protection and peace of mind.

Curated DeFi Opportunities

Unlike many wallets that grant open-ended access to the entire DeFi ecosystem, Bitpanda takes a curated approach by offering a carefully selected set of DeFi integrations. Opportunities in the Earn section are handpicked specifically to present users with only the best available risk-reward ratios. This targeted selection helps users confidently and safely explore DeFi opportunities, reducing the risks associated with less trustworthy projects, making the Bitpanda DeFi Wallet ideal for users without extensive technical expertise or high risk tolerance.

Beyond EIP-7702: A More Secure and User-Friendly Solution

While EIP-7702 has gained attention by offering UX enhancements on externally owned addresses (EOAs), the Bitpanda Wallet goes a step further. It employs Safe Smart Accounts right from inception, eliminating the need for future migration to a Smart Account setup.

Safe Smart Accounts provide superior security options, including transaction guards, modules for extended control, configurable spending limits, and flexible owner management. Bitpanda’s hybrid recovery model and curated DeFi selections further bolster this security model, making it ideal for a wide user demographic.

Empowering Self-Custody for the Next Billion Users

The partnership between Bitpanda and Safe represents a significant milestone in making self-custodial crypto accessible and secure for mainstream users. By combining genuine self-custody with institutional-grade protections, the Bitpanda Wallet empowers non-technical, risk-sensitive users to confidently participate in DeFi.

Ultimately, this solution will attract new capital and expand the DeFi landscape, paving the way for greater crypto adoption worldwide.