Looking for more information on Exodus and whether or not it’s been hacked? Here’s what you need to know.
What Kind of Wallet is Exodus?
First things first, Exodus is a non-custodial wallet. That is, Exodus gives you control of your crypto assets. We do not custody, or manage, your assets directly.
One of the main innovations with crypto is that you can control your money—not a bank, exchange, or even Exodus.
However, with great power comes great responsibility. While using Exodus to manage your crypto assets gives you ultimate power over your money, it also means that you need to not only become your own “bank”, but your own “security guard”.
Can Exodus be hacked?
Exodus the company does not have access to your wallet or crypto. Unlike custodial parties such as Binance or Coinbase, Exodus does not manage or store your private keys (the credentials that manage and grant access to your crypto).
Exodus the app encrypts and stores your private keys locally on your computer or mobile phone.
You can think of your private keys as the “login” to your “account” for crypto. Instead of a login that gives access to your bank account, your private keys give you (or anyone else) access to your crypto addresses and the funds stored within them.
If Exodus the company were ever hacked, hackers would have no way to run off with your funds, since your private keys are stored on your device (computer or phone). Exodus the company does not store your private keys.
This is different from how custodial third parties like centralized exchanges manage private keys. When storing your crypto with a third party, such as a centralized exchange, the private keys are held and owned by the exchange. They manage the private keys on your behalf.
If hackers gains access to the exchange’s private keys, such as by hacking the centralized exchange, they can steal the exchange customer’s funds.
Is Exodus Wallet Safe?
If Exodus the company is ever hacked, your crypto is safe since Exodus the company does not hold any of your assets.
However, your Exodus wallet is only as safe as your personal security practices. When users of non-custodial wallets like Exodus get hacked or lose their crypto, it’s usually because of one of the following reasons:
Saving wallet recovery information electronically
The biggest mistake users make when safeguarding their crypto is saving critical information, such as their private keys, or secret recovery phrase, which is like a “master” private key that can generate private keys for multiple addresses, electronically.
For example, storing the above kind of information in:
- A phone note
- A digital photo
- An electronic text file
- A cloud/email account
This is extremely dangerous since storing your private key(s) and/or secret recovery phrase electronically exposes them to all the dangers of the Internet.
It’s necessary to store this information offline on paper or perhaps more creative places, such as steel or other durable, offline materials.
See our secret recovery phrase article for more information on how to store your wallet access information securely or watch the following video.
Not following safe computing practices
Another mistake crypto users will make is not following safe computing practices.
For example, downloading torrents, using pirated versions of Windows, and visiting suspicious websites are all things you should avoid to protect yourself from bad actors.
Reusing the same passwords
Use the same password on every site?
This is NOT a good idea! All it takes is one site with your password to get hacked before hackers login to your accounts elsewhere. Have I Been Pwned is a site that lists passwords exposed in hacking incidents.
When setting up a password for your Exodus wallet as an extra level of security, it’s important to choose a unique password in case hackers find a password you use on other sites to then access your Exodus wallet through the use of malware.
Don’t know how to set up a strong password? Check our video below for more information.
Exodus Wallet Security
The above are some of the most common mistakes users make when it comes to securing their crypto.
For tips on securing your Exodus wallet, such as using a hardware wallet (explained in more detail below), check our articles on keeping your crypto safe and best security practices.
Using a Hardware Wallet for Enhanced Security
One of the easiest ways to quickly enhance your wallet’s security is by pairing it with a hardware wallet, such as a Trezor.
A hardware wallet is a physical device that is designed so that your private keys never leave the device. In addition, you have to approve all transactions manually from the device itself. These two features make it much more difficult to lose your crypto to a hacker.
You can pair a Trezor hardware wallet with Exodus to benefit from Exodus’ ease of use and Trezor’s enhanced security features at the same time.
How Exodus Deals with Security Incidents
In the case that your funds are moved without your approval, we’ll do our best to help you determine the cause.
While our response to these situations varies depending on your personal situation, here’s our general process for investigating security incidents:
1. Having you send any remaining funds in your wallet to a different wallet (to prevent further losses)
2. Having you send us your wallet’s Safe Report, which lets us see your transaction history (read-only - we can’t move or touch your funds in any way) to try and understand what happened
3. Do not send any assets to this wallet while the investigation is on-going. If you receive mining payouts, be sure to redirect them to another wallet
4. Determining how the wallet was accessed, and helping you to ensure that such an incident doesn’t happen again.
Although this process may seem disappointing if you happen to lose your funds somehow, we’ve included the details of this process lower in the article - after detailing good security practices - because by following smart security practices, like you would with physical cash, your chances of having a negative incident are greatly reduced.
YouTube Scams
Exodus Wallet Hacked YouTube
Another thing to watch out for when using Exodus or other crypto wallets is various crypto-related scams.
For instance, on YouTube, hackers gain control over YouTube channels and impersonate companies like Exodus to scam people of their crypto. In some cases, the hackers promote download links that are malware designed to steal your crypto.
We actively work with the relevant authorities to eliminate these scams but in case you see a suspicious YouTube channel with the Exodus name - many will offer you “free crypto” if you send them crypto first - you’ll know whether or not they’re real by checking:
1. The URL of the Youtube channel
Our official YouTube channel has the URL
https://www.youtube.com/c/exodus
2. Our website, which lists our official YouTube channel at the bottom of the homepage
Exodus Wallet News
If there’s any Exodus news related to security that you need to know about, we’ll be sure to include it on our status page: https://www.exodus.io/status/
Exodus Wallet Update
Another thing to remember when it comes to securing your Exodus wallet is to keep your wallet updated. From time to time, updates include security updates so it’s important to stay up to date.
For more information on how to update your wallet, check our support article on that topic.
Exodus Wallet Review
Still have concerns about Exodus’ security? Check some third party reviews of Exodus to get other opinions on the topic!
How Do I Withdraw from Exodus Wallet?
Hopefully, this article has helped with any worries you may have had about Exodus’ security. To recap:
- Exodus is a non-custodial wallet, where you, and you alone, have control over your funds. Exodus merely provides software to make crypto easy, but we do not have any access to your crypto
- This means that your crypto is as safe as your personal security practices. Be sure to follow the guidelines we’ve mentioned in our keeping your crypto safe and best security practices articles to stay safe from hackers
- In the case that you do lose your crypto somehow, we’ll do our best to help you determine how the loss happened and where your funds might’ve gone so you can possibly recover them
- Don’t fall for crypto-related scams and stay up to date with the latest Exodus news via email, Twitter, or other channels in case there’s something you need to know about for security reasons
- Remember to keep your Exodus wallet up to date (updates can include security enhancements)
However, if you still feel worried about using Exodus, you’re free to withdraw your crypto from your Exodus wallet and send it elsewhere! We want you to feel comfortable using your own money, whether that’s with our software or someone else’s.
In the case that you want to give Exodus a try, our customer support team is available 24 hours, 7 days a week if you ever need help.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. You should consult a qualified licensed advisor before engaging in any transaction.
