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BRD Crypto Wallet Review
Adam Traidman, a founder of the BRD Bitcoin wallet, also known as Breadwallet, stopped talking to Aaron Voisine, his future partner, when the latter brought up Bitcoin in the conversation for the first time.
Traidman thought to himself, “Bitcoin is used to buy guns and drugs, this kind of stuff just never goes mainstream”. He was an eccentric serial entrepreneur from Silicon Valley. He turned around and left the bar, and if it wasn’t for a coincidence, maybe you wouldn’t be reading this BRD Wallet Review now.
In about a year, he was at Andreessen Horowitz and heard some smart guys discussing Satoshi and blockchain. He finally decided to start talking to Voisine again, called him and learned that his friend had been working around a purely decentralized-money wallet.
Voisine has spent his whole career in UX, creating simple and plain mobile apps. In 2009, his app ranked second in AppStore, so Traidman gave him a shot.
In 2015, the two entrepreneurs created a company and raised venture capital. Then, they ran an ICO in 2017 and now have around 5 million customers in 170 countries.
Let’s take a look at the BRD Bitcoin wallet in detail.
BRD Wallet Overview
- Free to download for iOS and Android
- Setup only takes a matter of seconds
- The keys are stored in your phone only
- Lightweight and easy to use
Pros & Cons
Pros
Straightforward UI
One-click send and receive options
Security backed by Apple’s encrypted storage
Easy to buy crypto with your credit or debit card
Trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin cash and over 100 ERC20 tokens
Cons
Doesn’t support hardware wallets
Huge fees when buying crypto with fiat
Lacks the multi-sig feature
Beginner Perspective of BRD Wallet
If you don’t like the fact that the initial purchase of crypto in Exodus must be done through another app or exchange, you’ll find the BRD Bitcoin wallet easy to use.
With a built-in exchange and a straightforward transaction process, the wallet makes it easy to send and receive cryptocurrencies. In a word, such a wallet might very well turn crypto into mainstream, ditching major cryptocurrency exchanges with their KYC procedures, complicated graphs and order books.
The beginner seeking some minimalism, will be happy. Is BRD wallet safe? Yes. Is it easy to use? Yes.
However, any newbie will have to pay quite punishing fees for this safety and ease: 7.5% for credit card purchase. This is higher than Coinbase’s 3.99% and Atomic Wallet’s 5%, for example.
Best Features
What leaps to the eye in the first place about this Bitcoin wallet is its simplicity. It’s not avalanched with a gruelling signup process or unnecessary charts.
The wallet’s interface is as simple as if it was made for your granddad. It’s a good thing in a world of crypto where you still have to use Terminal from time to time, to stake coins or run bots.
An option to buy crypto with a credit/debit card within an app adds to the overall simplicity. The feature is facilitated through Simplex, a credit card clearing solution for Bitcoin exchanges, broker websites and wallet applications.
In addition, the wallet is non-custodial, meaning that you’re the only person to own the keys.
Cryptocurrencies Supported
If you want to dip your toes into the world of trading, there are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash at your disposal within the BRD app, together with over 100 ERC20 tokens.
However, if you want to simply transact, there are only three coins available:
- BTC
- ETH
- BNB
Is BRD Wallet Safe?
BRD wallet has never been hacked, which is a fact that speaks for itself. Arguably, the only downside in the context of security is that the client lacks multi-signature addresses. In a nutshell, multi-signature means you can split the access of your cryptocurrencies into two or more parts.
Other than that, not only will the BRD mobile app provide you with a 12-word recovery key, but also require you to set a pin and enable Touch ID either on Android or iPhone.
The team emphasizes that no-one owns your keys which are held in your phone’s encrypted storage. BRD is available for iOS, Android. There is no BRD desktop app.
Potential Dealbreakers
The fees you will pay to purchase cryptocurrency on the BRD wallet make it unappealing for users wishing to frequently purchase cryptocurrencies. Paying a 7% markup on all cryptocurrencies is a not a good long term adoption strategy. So much so that it may end up causing you to adopt a different wallet.
BRD Frequently Asked Questions
No. BRD has been very reliable in terms of security. For its entire history its been a very safe method of storing cryptocurrency.
If you lose or damage your phone, your randomly generated 12-words recovery key will help you install your wallet onto a new phone. It should be written down and stored in a safe place.
Your fee will depend on the payment method used. They will be displayed under each payment method.
Selling ETH is only available in the US market at the moment. If you’re in the U.S., tap Buy/Sell, toggle the switch to Sell. Select ETH, review the order details, tap Confirm and enter your PIN.
The HBAR coin is the crypto developed on top of the Hedera network, the network that utilizes the hashgraph consensus algorithm instead of a blockchain for faster transactions.
You will find a list of BRD rewards in your app in the lower right corner. The BRD token is the basis for the loyalty and rewards program. For example, as of writing, you can receive 25% of trading fees if you hold more than 1000 tokens.
