FAQ
General Questions
What are the features and advantages of Bitizen Wallet?
Bitizen is a new generation MPC-based Web3 wallet with no private keys and no seed phrases.
Secure: Bitizen is an MPC-based wallet, meaning that it has no private keys and no seed phrases. You can’t accidentally expose them, lose or get them stolen!
Easy to use: Bitizen wallet can be set in less than 1 minute, has simple and intuitive design, perfect for people even with no experience in crypto. Censorship-resistant: Nobody, including the Bitizen team, can access your funds or stop you from sending them.
Privacy-safe: Your personal information is fully encrypted, private and anonymous.
Multi-chain compatible: use one Bitizen wallet for all tokens and Dapps!
Bitizen wallet has also implemented other advanced features:
Safe 3FA backup and restore solution: to ensure you can restore your Bitizen wallet if you lose, break or change your phone.
Biometry identification (face scan): adds extra security level, ensuring only you can use your wallet
Social recovery: add your family member’s face as an extra verification method.
Total encryption: your personal data and account balance can not be viewed even by the Bitizen team
Compatible will all major blockchains and Dapps: enjoy using Bitizen to discover Web3!
Built-in Web3 Touch (™) Browser, Dapp Pass with a access to hundreds of Dapps, DEX- aggregator, and other platforms NFTs, Web3 Games, Social networks, Crypto News, Market data and more!
How to set up a Bitizen Wallet?
- Search for Bitizen wallet in AppStore or in Google Play, download the app to your mobile phone.
- Select the Create button and mark Agree next to the User Agreement and Privacy policy, then complete anti-bot verification to create your Bitizen wallet.
- After creating a new wallet, press Back Up Now on the top to keep your assets safe.
- First, enter your email address, pass anti-bot and type in the verification code from your mailbox. Next, Bitizen wallet will ask permission to use your phone camera to collect some of your facial features and store them in an encrypted form. Please note that it is NOT KYC procedure, your personal information will always be encrypted, anonymous and privacy-safe, no photos or videos will be saved. Move your phone so your face matches the oval frame, click Start and follow the instructions to complete the face scan.
- Next step: confirm to enable the device lock, select a cloud drive to store your wallet backup files. Next time when you need to restore your wallet, you can log in to this cloud drive to get the backup files.
- Last step: after the backup is completed, the wallet creation is finished and you can select different chains to manage your assets. You can check your Account and Backup Settings and set preferences in the right bottom menu icon.
Which public chains does Bitizen Wallet support?
Bitizen wallet supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Avalanche, Fantom, Optimism, Arbitrum, Aurora, Gnosis, KardiaChain, TomoChain, KuCoinChain, OKChain, HECO, Bitgert, and other chains; more networks will be also added in the future. If you want to add another EVM-compatible chain, in the main Wallet menu find the list of supported chains, press a button with three dots, then press a + button on the top. In the searching bar type in a network name, ticker of a native token or the chain ID to find a chain you want to add.
Does Bitizen Wallet support NFT?
Yes, Bitizen supports NFTs on Ethereum and ERC-721, ERC-1155 standards, and EVM-compatible chains such as Polygon, Binance chain. More chains supporting NFTs such as Flow and Solana will be added in the future.
Do I need a cryptocurrency to enable Bitizen Wallet?
No, you can create a new Bitizen wallet with no cryptocurrency. It’s free! You can deposit your cryptocurrency or buy it by using a third-party provider any time later.
Security and Privacy-safety
What is MPC?
MPC (Multi-Party Computation) or Secure MPC is a cryptographic technology where the multiple parties that are responsible to hold an encrypted share of a private key (key shares) and use those key shares to provide their part of a multiparty approval of a transaction. After joint computation they generate a single digital signature to release digital assets for transfer to a third party.
MPC is one of the most advanced technologies in modern cryptography.
Bitizen wallet implements three MPC Protocols:
MPC Distributed Key Generation: when you create a new Bitizen wallet, independent and encrypted key shares are being created for your mobile phone and Bitizen server. When you connect to your Bitizen wallet another device, such as a second mobile phone, computer or iPad – it will also generate another key share to open 2-of-3 TSS mode.
MPC Signature Generation: when you initiate a transaction, MPC signature generation protocol will send requests to key shares from your mobile phone, secondary device (if connected) and Bitizen server, and compute a signature for your transaction.
MPC Rotating Key Shares: it allows adding and changing key shares, to further increase security level and minimize the risk.
What is 2-of-3 TSS?
Bitizen wallet supports 2-of-3 TSS – Threshold Signature Scheme, meaning that to successfully co-sign the transaction in MPC Signature Generation, 2 out of 3 key shares are required. When you initiate a transaction, you can sign it with your phone and Bitizen server, or connect your second device (it will have the third key share), and sign the transaction by yourself, using your two devices via Bluetooth without connecting to the Bitizen server at all.
Even if the Bitizen server is down for any reason, with 2-of-3 TSS you still can send your crypto any time you want.
Who holds the key shares?
Key shares (shards, fragments) are stored independently in encrypted form on your mobile phone, Bitizen server, and on your secondary device (such as a second phone, laptop/desktop/iPad etc.).
When you create a new Bitizen wallet, you also create an encrypted backup file for your key share, with a decryption key on your personal Cloud Storage (iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox).
To sign a transaction, you can just use your phone + Bitizen server, or your phone + secondary device.
Does the Bitizen Wallet server hold my assets?
No, the Bitizen wallet server has no access to your funds. Bitizen only creates public addresses for your wallet, uses cryptographic protocols to generate encrypted key shares in a distributed way, and computational algorithms to jointly generate signatures for transactions that you initiate. At any point of time, we do not have access to your funds, and we are not able to see your account balance, nor your personal information.
Why does the installation of Bitizen Wallet require email and face recognition? Will this reveal personal privacy?
Email and face recognition are used as a security measures to protect your account, so you will be able to back up and restore your Bitizen wallet in case you lose or break your phone/get a new phone/delete Bitizen app/etc.
To restore a key share that was used in your wallet, we will use three verification methods: email, face, and personal cloud storage.
To enable Social Recovery, you can also add your phone number, and a family member face scan.
Your personal data is stored on Bitizen server in encrypted form, and we are not able to see it. Under any circumstances, the Bitizen team is not able to access or transfer your personal data.
Enjoy full privacy, anonymity and censorship-resistance!
During the backup step, it says "Bitizen Wallet wants to access your Google account - only to view, modify, create and delete specific Google Drive files you use with this app", is this safe?
Yes, it is safe. Bitizen wallet will only create a decryption key file on your Google Drive for your encrypted key share for a backup, so you will be able to restore your wallet if you lose/break/change your phone.
Bitizen does not have access to any other files on your Google account due to Google Access control.
Do not delete this decryption key file, otherwise you won't be able to restore your wallet later. We recommend you to add this file to other clouds to avoid losing it by mistake.
Lost password or phone: how to recover wallet?
No problem! It is fast and easy.
Install your Bitizen wallet again, open the app.
Select the “Restore” button and mark Agree next to the User Agreement and Privacy policy then complete anti-bot verification.
Next step: enter the email address you used to create your wallet, pass anti-bot and type in the verification code from your mailbox.
Bitizen wallet will use the phone camera to collect some of your facial features and encrypt them to compare with the original face scan encrypted data. Please note that it is NOT KYC procedure, your personal information is always encrypted, anonymous and privacy-safe, no photos or videos are saved.
Move your phone so your face matches the oval frame, click Start and follow the instructions to complete the face scan.
Next step: confirm to enable the device lock, select the cloud drive you used to back up your wallet.
Last step: after the recovery is completed, wallet restore is finished, you can use your wallet to manage assets as usual now.
Beginner's Tutorial
How to receive and send funds using Bitizen Wallet?
Receive: In the main menu select a network that will be used to receive your funds. If you can’t find it, press a button with three dots, and scroll down the list of networks. If it is not there, press the + on the top and enter the network name, ticker of the token, or chain ID.
After selecting a network, choose a wallet, and press the Receive button. You will see your QR code and deposit address for this wallet. Scan the QR code or use your deposit address to transfer funds to it. Make sure that the side that is sending you funds uses the correct blockchain and address that you provided.
After the blockchain transaction is confirmed, the funds will be deposited to your Bitizen wallet.
Send: In the main menu select a network and token that will be used to send your funds. If you don’t have enough funds in this token and only have tokens from other blockchains, swap them on a DEX first.
After selecting the network and token, press Send Button.
Double-check the network, paste or input the recipient's deposit address, then enter the amount. Press Send.
Double-check the details, including network, amount, sending address and gas fee. Press “Cancel” to change the details. If everything is correct, press Sign.
Follow instructions to verify the transaction.
Bitizen will perform a Keyless Signing, and your funds will be sent. After blockchain confirmations, the funds will be deposited to a recipient’s deposit address.
You can also check transaction details by selecting your recent transactions history.
How to buy cryptocurrencies with Bitizen Wallet?
Bitizen is currently integrating third-party services to buy cryptocurrencies, such as P2P/OTC services and fiat gateways. Please check for updates in the Bitizen wallet and follow announcements in the official channels of Bitizen wallet.
If you buy crypto on other services, make sure you provide a correct deposit address from a supported blockchain. Beware of scammers!
How do I link my wallet to DApps?
There are many ways how you can find and connect to Dapps:
- Open the Web3 Touch Browser, find the Discover tab in Bitizen wallet or NFT/Games/DeFi/Marketplaces; or in the Hot/Trending/Bitizen’s Pick sections to find a Dapp;
- Search for them in the Bitizen Web3 Touch ™ Browser by typing the name of the Dapp or URL;
- Find them online in your phone or laptop browser.
If you connect to the Dapp in Discover Dapps from the list of supported Dapps, or in other sections of the Web3 Touch ™ Browser after you press the Log in or Connect button, check if there is a Bitizen logo. If yes, press on Bitizen, if not, then press on Metamask.
Bitizen wallet will ask you to choose a blockchain and wallet address. Select and press Connect to Start.
If you use other methods, such as a Web URL on a PC browser, after opening a Dapp, find a Log in or Connect button, and select Bitizen Wallet (if have), or WalletConnect.
Get a QR code from the Bitizen Wallet or WalletConnect button, press [W] button in the Discover tab, and scan the QR code with your camera.
Bitizen wallet will ask you to choose a blockchain and wallet address. Select and press Connect to Start.
If you use a Web URL on a mobile browser (such as Safari or Chrome, Opera etc.), find a Log in or Connect button. If it has a Bitizen logo, press it; if not, press WalletConnect and search for the Bitizen logo, and press on it.
After using the Dapp, you can check and finish the Wallet Connect session in the Profile -> Wallet Connect Sessions.
How can I view my NFT collection?
Select the chain supporting your NFT token, for example, Ethereum, open your Ethereum wallet. Find the NFTs tab next to the Tokens. Open the NFTs tab and you will see your NFT gallery.
How do I add a token contract to display my assets?
Open your main tab, search for your blockchain, for example, Ethereum, select the wallet. Under the Receive button press on +. Choose Tokens or NFTs. To add an ERC-20 token, press the Add button in the right top corner, and enter the token contract address. Press Confirm. To add an NFT token, Choose NFTs in the pop-up menu, and enter NFT token contract address and token ID. Press Import.
How to exchange tokens in Bitizen Wallet?
In the Discovery page find a decentralized exchange Dapp, for example, KyberSwap by Kyber Network. Connect your Bitizen wallet, select a pair, double check price, amount and gas fee, and swap your tokens.
In the future Bitizen wallet will add our own built-in DEX aggregator to maximize liquidity and number of supported token pairs, and increase price accuracy by using oracles like Chainlink.
Other questions
To learn more, please read our documentation.
If you are a Web3 developer, check our SDK manual.
If you have more questions, you can ask them in Bitizen Wallet official communities, our team will be happy to help:
Telegram：https://t.me/bitizenwallet
Discord：https://discord.gg/6bpZkzZBDP