Exodus
Exodus is a self-custody cryptocurrency wallet founded in 2015 by JP Richardson and Daniel Castagnoli, known for a polished desktop app and a matching mobile app, with a browser extension too. It holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and thousands of other assets, includes a built-in exchange and fiat on/off ramps, and integrates with Trezor hardware wallets. Because it is non-custodial, your keys and recovery phrase stay on your device — nobody at Exodus can move, freeze or recover your funds.
- Founded
- 2015, by JP Richardson and Daniel Castagnoli2015 · source
- Custody model
- Non-custodial (self-custody); keys and recovery phrase stay on your device
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS and Linux desktop apps, iOS and Android apps, and a browser extension
- Public offering
- First US company to complete an SEC-qualified crypto-only equity offering2021 · source
What is Exodus?
Exodus is a self-custody crypto wallet founded in 2015 by JP Richardson and Daniel Castagnoli, and one of the earliest wallets to pair a genuinely polished design with a built-in exchange. The desktop app came first in December 2015, followed by mobile apps and a browser extension. It holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and thousands of other assets, lets you swap between them without leaving the app through an integrated exchange, offers fiat on- and off-ramps, and works alongside Trezor hardware wallets for people who want cold storage with the same interface.
As a company, Exodus is US-based and, in 2021, became the first US firm to complete an SEC-qualified crypto-only public equity offering. But the wallet's defining trait is self-custody: it does not hold your coins on its servers, so your recovery phrase — not an Exodus account — is what controls your funds.
Is Exodus safe?
Exodus is non-custodial, so it has no central store of customer funds to be hacked, and there is no verified breach of Exodus at the wallet level that drained users. Keys and the recovery phrase stay encrypted on your device. That design shifts the risk to you and to your computer's overall hygiene rather than to an Exodus server.
The threats that actually target Exodus users are phishing and malware. Scammers impersonate "Exodus Support" over email and social media and send fake "verification" pages built to harvest your 12-word recovery phrase — Exodus never asks for it. Separately, because Exodus is a desktop hot wallet, malware on your machine is a real danger: in 2024 macOS malware targeting Exodus surfaced, and in 2025 a malicious npm package was found trojanizing Exodus and Atomic wallet apps to swap payout addresses. These are attacks on the user's device and supply chain, not breaches of Exodus itself. Download only from exodus.com, keep the recovery phrase offline, and consider pairing with a hardware wallet for larger balances.
Incident record
No security incident on record as of 2026-09-28 — we checked and found none, which is not the same as never having one.
In our ratings
Where we score Exodus against its peers on open data. The number lives there, not here.
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Frequently asked
Is Exodus wallet safe?+
Exodus is a non-custodial wallet with no central store of funds to hack, and no verified wallet-level breach on record. The real risks are phishing that asks for your 12-word recovery phrase and device malware, since it is a desktop hot wallet. Download only from exodus.com, never share your recovery phrase, and consider a hardware wallet for larger amounts.
Has Exodus ever been hacked?+
Exodus itself has not had a verified wallet-level breach — being non-custodial, it holds no central pot of user funds. The incidents involving Exodus users have been external: phishing scams and device malware, such as 2024 macOS malware and a 2025 malicious npm package that trojanized the desktop app to redirect payments. These target the user's machine, not Exodus's servers.
Can Exodus access or recover my funds?+
No. Exodus is self-custody: your keys and recovery phrase stay on your device, and nobody at Exodus can move, freeze or recover them. If you lose your recovery phrase, there is no support line that can restore access, which is why backing it up offline is essential.
Does Exodus charge fees?+
Exodus does not charge a fee to hold crypto, but its built-in exchange earns a spread that is baked into the quoted rate, and any on-chain transfer pays the network fee of the chain you use. For frequent swapping, that spread can be more than trading on an exchange, so it is worth comparing before large conversions.
What changed
- 2026-09-28Profile created: founding, desktop/mobile self-custody model and built-in exchange, and a safety section covering self-custody, phishing and device malware — no verified wallet-level breach on record.