Proton's bitcoin wallet raises concerns from bitcoiners

Proton, the company with a user base of over 100 million behind privacy-preserving products such as Proton Mail, Proton VPN, and more, has launched a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet called Proton Wallet. Bitcoiners have raised questions about some features of this new product.

Currently, the open-source wallet is available only to some Proton users, while others can sign up for early access. Proton says it aims to be a self-custodial digital wallet for different kinds of assets, meaning that users are in control of their funds. The wallet is starting with BTC, with possible plans to add support for fiat currencies, such as USD and EUR, in the unspecified future.

"By enabling us and the entire Proton community to more easily adopt means of payment that deliver on the promise of financial freedom for all, we better insulate Proton from the risks posed by traditional finance," the company stated.

Among the features of the new wallet is the ability to send BTC using the recipient’s email address only or receive BTC using your email address. However, both the sender and the recipient need to have a Proton account.

The wallet also has two-factor authentication, and a separate passphrase can be set. The company has also introduced a program called Proton Sentinel, aimed at users who are likely to be targeted by cybercriminals, such as activists and journalists. The developers claim it uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that have analyzed millions of logins to detect and block malicious login attempts.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin author and educator Anita Posch raised concerns that the Proton Wallet might be "less privacy-preserving than a regular Bitcoin wallet" due to BTC addresses being associated with Proton email addresses. Proton responded by saying that each BTC transaction "uses a different address from the pool, so they are not linked together" and that "the pool is replenished with more new addresses as addresses are given out."

Separately, a pseudonymous BTC privacy expert, Seth For Privacy, noted that while the Proton Wallet is an easy-to-use BTC wallet, it is a "departure from the normal 'private by default' mantra of Proton."

"Bitcoin as-is is not private by default. That breaks the norm that Proton users expect for their other offerings and opens up a can of worms," Seth For Privacy posted on X, urging Proton to provide "very clear warnings around the potential privacy issues here."