This is our details ZenGo Review: User-friendly and Keyless crypto wallet
Zengo is a non-custodial keyless crypto wallet that allows users to simply buy, sell, trade, and send crypto through the mobile app.
We are digital nomads dealing with cryptos and their applications in real-life daily. We are testing different services snd solutions to give you an in-depth review in one place. We test them out, so you can decide if they are suitable for you.
Let's dive in!
At a Glance
| | |
|---|---|
| **Headquarters** | Tel Aviv, Isreal |
| **Wallet Type** | Non-custodial, keyless |
| **Security** | Facial Biometrics |
| **Payment Methods** | Credit Card, Apple/Google/Samsung Pay, debit card, bank transfer (only UK, EU) |
| **Services** | Crypto wallet, savings accounts, crypto exchange |
| **Crypto Savings Account** | Yes |
| **Desktop App** | No |
| **Customer Service Channels** | 24/7 Live chat, email, and contact form |
| **Card Type** | Plastic: No staking required Metal: Staking required |
Overview: ZenGo Review
ZenGo is an Israel based company founded in 2018, with headquarters in Tel Aviv.
In the vision of creating a simple and accessible solution for crypto needs, the founders Omer Shlomovits, Ouriel Ohayon, and Tal Be'ery created the first keyless non-custodial wallet that raised $4 million seed investment, including the backing of Samsung.
What does a keyless wallet mean? First, you don't use a private key or seed phrase. Instead, the ZenGo team replaced both with threshold signature cryptography that creates two secret shares – one gets stored on your mobile device (in the cloud), the other on their servers. Since they don't hold your keys, you have complete control of your funds. Besides that, you can set up your account faster and make backups and any recoveries.
ZenGo focuses on intuitive UI and security, simplifying the crypto world and bringing it closer to the masses, especially beginners. Their app is available for iOS (iPhone 6 and above running iOS 12.5.5+) and Android (6.0 Marshmallow and above) devices. ZenGo is open-source.
The wallet allows you to buy, trade, send and receive BTC, ETH, and 70+ crypto assets directly from the wallet.
ZenGo is a mobile-only platform.
ZenGo offers different features for managing cryptocurrencies on mobile. Let's have a look at the most prominent ones.
Buy and Sell Cryptocurrency
You can buy and sell crypto safely and easily with ZenGo. You can buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), and more using:
credit or debit card,
Apple and GooglePay,
Samsung Pay,
bank transfer (available only in EU and UK)
Depending on your location and the asset you want to buy, you can buy crypto via MoonPay, Coinmama, or Banxa in 188 regions worldwide.
Currently, you can buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Chain (BNB), Dai (DAI), Paxos Standard (PAX), Tether (USDT), Basic Attention Token (BAT), USD Coin (USDC), TrueUSD (TUSD), Tezos (XTZ). They are promising more coming soon.
Minimum to buy 125 USD or its equivalent in EUR/GBP.
Trade Cryptocurrency
Besides buying and selling your cryptos, you can also trade them. They partnered with Changelly, who provides liquidity for the trading pairs.
You can trade over 40 multichain assets, meaning more than 1,000 options.
You can switch between supported currencies under a 0.5% exchange fee for processing + Network fee. You will need Ethereum to pay for the network fees on supported Ethereum tokens (ERC-20).
The best way to check the currently available trading pairs is by selecting them in the app. The availability can change from time to time.
Depending on the trading pair, trades usually need 30min or less to settle.
Send and Receive Cryptocurrency
Another way how you can use ZenGo Wallet is to send or receive cryptocurrencies. There is no minimum or maximum amount for sending and receiving, or extra fees.
The process is speedy; all you need to do is navigate to your assets, tap on the coin you want to send, tap 'Actions,' 'Send,' and enter the address. The address can be another wallet you own, a friend's wallet, exchange, or any other address.
The process to receive is similar. You need to tap on the asset, tap 'Actions' and 'Receive.' The QR code gets generated that you can share with the sender. Or you can share your public address QR code or send your public address to the sender.
Earn Free Bitcoin and ZenGo Savings
You can earn 10 USD cashback on your first crypto purchase of 200 USD or more. Another way to earn is to follow our referral link, where we get a little commission, and you receive 10 USD as well.
Besides earing Free Bitcoin as they call it, ZenGo partnered with Nexo to enable earning interest on your cryptocurrency holding in ZenGo Savings. By holding your cryptos in the ZenGo Savings account, you can earn higher APY than with a traditional savings account. There is no lockup period, and your exact rate depends on the crypto you're holding.
There are two ways to earn interest with ZenGo Savings: Lending your crypto and staking your crypto.
Lending:
You are lending your cryptos to their partner Nexo, a licensed financial institution for crypto lending. In return, you earn interests that are calculated algorithmically and added to your balance daily.
Staking:
At the moment, you can stake with Tezos (XTZ) through their partner Chorus One, but they plan to add more in the future.
By staking, you can earn extra money by contributing your assets to the network's security PoS (proof-of-stake) asset.
The initial waiting period for receiving your first staking rewards is approximately 30 days. After that, you should receive your reward every three days directly into your wallet.
There is no lockup period, and you can withdraw your funds at any time.
The exact rate varies by crypto: Here is the most up-to-date table with APY from their website:
With their super-intuitive mobile app, you can track all your transactions and investments. The setup is very straightforward and convenient for those with little experience in crypto works.
Supported countries and currencies
ZenGo Wallet is virtually available everywhere. However, due to local regulations, they are not available in China and a few other countries for now.
Nexo, which is used for lending, is a global company that operates worldwide except in Bulgaria, The Central African Republic, Cuba, Estonia, Iran, New York, Vermont, North Korea, Syria. The assets supported for lending: BTC, ETH, LINK, DAI, USDT, TUSD, USDC, NEXO.
For staking, they currently support only Tezos XTZ.
You can see the list of all the assets that ZenGo supports here.
Fees and limits: ZenGo Wallet
While some features require fees, you can send, receive, and store your cryptocurrency in ZenGo free of charge and without any limits.
Let's look at the fees that apply for different transaction types:
| | Processing fee | Minimum | Maximum | Network fee |
|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| **Receive Crypto** | 0% | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| **Send Crypto** | 0% | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| **Buy crypto with bank transfer (MoonPay, EU/UK only)** | 1.99% | 125 USD/EUR/GBP | Depends on your identity verification level | Differs by blockchain and time |
| **Buy crypto with credit/debit card (MoonPay)** | 5.99% | 125 USD | Depends on your identity verification level | Yes |
| **Buy crypto with credit/debit card (Coinmama)** | Depends on Coinmama’s fee schedule | Depends on Coinmama’s fee schedule | Depends on Coinmama’s fee schedule | Depends on Coinmama’s fee schedule |
| **Sell crypto (MoonPay)** | 1.99% | 0.001 BTC, ETH: 0.01, BCH: 0.05, USDC: 30, USDT: 30 | 2k EUR daily, 10k EUR monthly | Yes |
| **Trade crypto** | 0.5% | Differs by trading pair and market liquidity | Differs by trading pair and market liquidity | Yes |
| **Deposit into Savings (Nexo)** | 0% | Yes | N/A | Yes |
| **Withdraw from Savings (Nexo)** | 0% | Yes | 20,000 USD/user/day | Yes |
| **Activate Tezos staking** | 0% | N/A | N/A | Yes |
Security and Customer Support: Zengo Review
High-level security was one of the most critical factors for the team behind ZenGo. ZenGo account doesn't require private keys, as they believe private keys are one of the failures of the cryptocurrency industry.
You have to store personal keyless backup on Apple or Google Cloud. An encrypted copy is stored on the ZenGo server- Only your biometric face scan or finger scan can you access the encrypted share. ZenGo doesn't have access to your funds.
Using threshold signatures, we've replaced the traditional private key with two independently created mathematical secret shares. One share is stored on your mobile device and the other on the ZenGo server. With no single point of failure, even if something happens to one of the shares, your assets are always safe. ZenGo on their security model
Some argue that the data used for the wallet's recovery is being stored by a third-party and not entirely in your custody, which means that the wallet is not fully non-custodial. We will leave this to your judgment.
With biometric recognition, it takes seconds to recover your wallet in case you lose your phone, or it gets stolen, if you delete the app, or if you want to add your app to a new phone.
Finally, ZenGo also has an accessible and responsive support team that is available 24/7, which is excellent, as usually, the support for similar products on the market is not so great. Kudos to them!
How do I open the Zengo account?
Creating an account with ZenGo will take seconds. First, you need to enter your email address and, optionally, your referral code. We'll be glad if you support our work and use our code ZENORF1I, so we can receive a small commission and you receive 10 USD.
After a couple of seconds, you receive the email that you need to confirm and activate your touch ID or face ID. And you are done. There is no additional KYC.
As mentioned earlier, there are also no private keys that you need to store.
Conclusion: Zengo Wallet
ZenGo non-custodial Wallet is a great product that does the job if you are looking for the functionalities they offer. We love their uncluttered and intuitive mobile app and innovative solution with biometric recognition.
Their crypto wallet is safe, super easy to use, and without any necessary complexities when you simply want to have your cryptos safely stored in a mobile wallet, and buy, sell, send, receive, or trade your assets.
It's great for beginners and experienced looking for a simple solution and doesn't require complex trading dashboards, like Binance. You can read our detailed review KuCoin vs Binance if you look for more complexity and better trading options.
The wallet is free to use, but fees apply for buying and trading cryptos.
There is no KYC, so you can sign up in seconds.
Their responsive and reliable customer support gives great reinsurance that they take customers seriously and support you if you have any questions or concerns.
To draw the line, Weirdo.Rocks recommend ZenGo, and we are looking forward to seeing more to come from the team.
+ Easy-to-use app with smooth UI + Safe + Offers Crypto rewards and earning interests + Good customer service + No need for private keys + Fast setup
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ZenGo have a debit/credit card?
No, at the moment, ZenGo offers mobile crypto wallets only.
Who is ZenGo for?
ZenGo is for everybody looking for an easy-to-use and secure crypto wallet.
How secure are biometric backups?
ZenGo's biometric security combines privacy and security. Their recovery system scans for signs of likeness and liveness and can't be spoofed by a picture or 3D masks. ZenGo stores their customer's biometric information as an encrypted 3D face map that can be restored any by their customers.
Disclaimer
This website includes information about cryptocurrencies and other financial instruments. All these areas are complex instruments and have a high risk of losing money. We are NOT giving financial or investment advice; this page is for educational and informational purposes only. Please be careful and make sure that you understand how these instruments work. Also, think about whether you can afford to take the risk of losing your money.
Weirdo.Rocks encourage you to do your own research before you make any investment decision.
Also, keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.