Phantom

Is Phantom wallet safe?

For a hot walletHot walletA crypto wallet connected to the internet, such as an app or an exchange's online wallet. It is convenient, but more exposed to hacking.More in the glossary, yes. Phantom has run since 2021 without a single loss traced to its own code or releases, and its transaction warnings are among the more thorough you will find in a software wallet. We score it 76/100, a B. The main catch is that you cannot check what you install: the apps are closed source, and the most recent audit Phantom has published is from June 2024.

Phantom started as a Solana wallet and still dominates there, but it now also handles Ethereum, Bitcoin, Base and Polygon. It is a hot wallet, so the keys live on the same phone or computer you browse with. That is fine for spending money and trading. For savings, pair it with a Ledger or keep them in a hardware walletHardware walletA small dedicated device that stores crypto private keys offline and signs transactions inside the device, so the keys never touch your computer.More in the glossary.

Has Phantom ever lost user funds?

Not through anything Phantom shipped, on the evidence we found. Two episodes are worth knowing about.

In June 2022 security firm Halborn disclosed a flaw affecting MetaMask, Phantom and at least ten other browser wallets: the browser could keep the recovery phraseSeed phraseA list of 12 to 24 words that can restore a crypto wallet and all its funds. Anyone who has it controls the wallet.More in the glossary in local memory, where someone with access to the computer might extract it. Phantom had patched it between January and April 2022, and there was no evidence it was ever exploited.

In August 2022 about $4.08 million was drained from 9,230 Solana wallets. Some victims used Phantom, which drew suspicion for a few days. Solana developers traced the leak to the Slope wallet, and Phantom said every affected user it reviewed had imported their phrase to or from a non-Phantom wallet. It does not count against Phantom here.

The open question is a lawsuit. In April 2025, 14 plaintiffs sued Phantom Technologies in the Southern District of New York after an attacker who had compromised one plaintiff's computer exported his key and took about $500,000 in tokens. The complaint argues Phantom kept private keys in unencrypted browser memory and seeks $3.1 million. Phantom told Decrypt the claims are "entirely without merit". Malware running on your own machine can attack almost any software wallet, so the case tests a design argument more than a hidden backdoor. We found no ruling, and the security record stays at 85 rather than 90 or higher while it is open and the track record is just over five years.

How Phantom stores your keys

The classic setup is a standard recovery phraseSeed phraseA list of 12 to 24 words that can restore a crypto wallet and all its funds. Anyone who has it controls the wallet.More in the glossary created on your device and stored encrypted behind your password. You can write it down and restore it in other Solana or Ethereum wallets, so you are not locked in, and you can connect a Ledger so the key never touches the computer.

Since December 2024 Phantom also offers sign-up with Google or Apple and a four-digit PIN. The seed still exists on your device, but Phantom keeps an encrypted backup on its servers and splits the key material through the Juicebox network, and Phantom says no party but the user can decrypt it. This is convenient and arguably safer than a phrase on a sticky note, but your recovery now rests on your email account and a short PIN. If you use it, protect that Google or Apple account with a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary or hardware key. Key management scores 78, close to MetaMask; a software wallet can score at most 84 here under our rubric.

Phantom Cash, perps and prediction markets

Phantom has added money features that work differently from the wallet itself. Phantom Cash, announced on 30 September 2025, is built on CASH, a dollar stablecoin on Solana, plus bank-account details, direct deposit and a prepaid Visa card. The card is issued by Lead Bank and run by Bridge, a Stripe company; Stripe does the identity checks. Money on the card or in those accounts sits with those partners, not in your self-custodySelf-custodyHolding crypto in a wallet where you alone control the private keys, rather than leaving it with an exchange or another company.More in the glossary wallet. Phantom Perps, since July 2025, moves your funds to Hyperliquid, a separate exchange, as USDC margin. In 2026 the CFTC gave Phantom no-action relief to route orders to registered US derivatives and event-contract exchanges without registering as a broker. All of these sit outside our wallet score; each adds the risk of the partner holding the money.

Does Phantom warn you about drainers?

Yes, and well. Phantom shows a preview of what a transaction or signature will change before you approve it, and flags requests its scanner judges malicious. That scanner comes from Blowfish, a simulation company Phantom acquired, whose service reported 1.3 billion transactions scanned. Phantom also warns when a site's domain is new or unreviewed, checks that Android apps connecting through Mobile Wallet Adapter really own the domain they claim, keeps an open-source phishing blocklist and hides spam tokens.

The limits are the usual ones. You can click past a warning, a preview can differ from what finally executes if on-chain state changes in between, and a hot walletHot walletA crypto wallet connected to the internet, such as an app or an exchange's online wallet. It is convenient, but more exposed to hacking.More in the glossary has no separate trusted screen like a hardware device. Address poisoning, where a scammer sends a tiny transfer from a look-alike address hoping you copy it later, still catches Phantom users.

Why transparency scores only 55

Phantom's GitHub account holds SDKs, the blocklist and audit PDFs, but not the wallet itself. WalletScrutiny found no source code and lists the app as not verifiable, so nobody outside Phantom can confirm that the build in the store matches audited code. The two public audits help: Kudelski Security reviewed the wallet in May 2021, and Least Authority reviewed a private wallet repository in early 2024, finishing in June 2024 with two suggestions and no reported vulnerabilities. Neither is recent. Phantom moved its bug bounty to Cantina in July 2026, with payouts up to $100,000 for critical bugs, which is generous, though its own security page still says $50,000.

How to stay safe with Phantom

1. Install only from phantom.com or the official app store listing; fake Phantom extensions and sites are common.
2. Stop when Phantom shows a red warning, and treat "this transaction could not be simulated" as a reason to check twice.
3. Copy addresses from the source, never from your activity list.
4. If you use Google or Apple login, secure that account with a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary and do not reuse the PIN anywhere.
5. Revoke approvals you no longer use and keep larger sums on a hardware walletHardware walletA small dedicated device that stores crypto private keys offline and signs transactions inside the device, so the keys never touch your computer.More in the glossary.

How we scored it

Security record (85) and company record (85) are Phantom's strongest factors: no loss traced to its own code and no data leaks. Transparency (55) is the weakest, because the wallet is closed source and its latest public audit is more than two years old. Trust Wallet scores lower mainly because of a malicious extension release in 2025.