Blockchain.com
Blockchain.com is one of the oldest brands in crypto, founded in 2011 and originally known as Blockchain.info. It began as a widely used Bitcoin block explorer, added a popular non-custodial wallet in 2013, and now also runs a custodial exchange for retail and institutional clients. Because it spans a self-custody wallet, an exchange and an explorer under one name, what "Blockchain.com" means depends on which product you are using — and that distinction matters for how your funds are held.
- Founded
- 2011, by Peter Smith, Nicolas Cary and Ben Reeves2011 · source
- Former name
- Blockchain.info, originally a Bitcoin block explorer · source
- Products
- Self-custody wallet, custodial exchange, and a blockchain explorer
- Custody model
- Mixed: the wallet is non-custodial (you hold the keys); the exchange is custodial
What is Blockchain.com?
Blockchain.com is one of the oldest names in the industry, founded in 2011 as Blockchain.info. It started life as a Bitcoin block explorer — a public window onto the blockchain that let anyone look up addresses and transactions — and that explorer heritage is still part of the brand. In 2013 it launched a non-custodial wallet that became one of the most widely used ways to hold bitcoin, and it later added a full exchange for buying, selling and trading crypto.
The key thing to keep straight is that "Blockchain.com" now covers three different products with different custody. The wallet can be used in self-custody mode, where you control the keys and the company cannot touch your funds. The exchange is custodial, meaning Blockchain.com holds the assets you trade there on your behalf. The explorer holds nothing at all — it is just a public data tool. Which one you are using decides who controls your coins.
Is Blockchain.com safe? (hack history)
People searching for a "Blockchain.com hack" are usually looking for a story that does not exist in the form they expect: there has been no major breach in which its custodial exchange was drained of user funds. The event that dominates its risk history is financial, not a theft. In 2022 Blockchain.com disclosed that it stood to lose about $270 million on cryptocurrency and dollar loans it had extended to Three Arrows Capital (3AC), the hedge fund that collapsed that summer. That was a loss the company took as a lender when a borrower defaulted — a counterparty and credit loss, not stolen customer money. At the time the CEO said the firm remained solvent and that customers would not be affected.
So the honest safety picture is twofold. There is no user-fund exchange hack on the record, which is a genuine positive for a brand this old. But the 3AC loss is a reminder that a custodial platform's health depends on its own risk-taking, and that safety on the exchange side still means trusting the company. On the wallet side, using self-custody removes that trust from the equation — the trade-off is that you alone are responsible for your recovery phrase, and phishing sites that imitate Blockchain.com exist to capture exactly that.
Incident record
In June 2022 Blockchain.com disclosed it stood to lose about $270M in cryptocurrency and US-dollar loans it had extended to hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), which became insolvent during that year's market collapse. This was a corporate credit loss from a defaulting borrower, not a hack or theft of customer assets. The company said it remained liquid and solvent and that customers would not be impacted, so this is recorded with an n/a verdict and excluded from theft statistics.
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Frequently asked
Has Blockchain.com been hacked?+
There is no major breach on record in which Blockchain.com's custodial exchange was drained of user funds. The notable event is financial: in 2022 the company disclosed a roughly $270M loss on loans it made to Three Arrows Capital, which defaulted. That was a corporate credit loss, not a theft of customer money, and the company said customers were not affected.
Is Blockchain.com safe?+
It is one of the oldest crypto brands, with no user-fund exchange hack on record. Its wallet can be used in self-custody, where you hold the keys and the company cannot touch your funds; the exchange is custodial, so using it means trusting the company. Phishing sites imitating Blockchain.com are a real user-side risk — guard your recovery phrase.
Is the Blockchain.com wallet custodial?+
The Blockchain.com wallet can be used in self-custody mode, meaning you control the private keys and the company cannot move your funds. The Blockchain.com exchange, by contrast, is custodial and holds the assets you trade there on your behalf.
What is the difference between Blockchain.com and Blockchain.info?+
They are the same company. Blockchain.info was the original name, launched in 2011 as a Bitcoin block explorer; the brand was later renamed Blockchain.com as it added a wallet and an exchange.
What changed
- 2026-09-28Profile created: founding and Blockchain.info heritage, the wallet/exchange/explorer distinction, the safety picture with no user-fund hack on record, and the 2022 3AC credit loss recorded with an n/a verdict.