Arqma Wallet privacy — the honest version
Arqma’s privacy is real and meaningful — but no chain is magic. Here’s exactly what Arqma Wallet hides, what it doesn’t, and how to stay private at the edges.
What the chain hides
Arqma is built on CryptoNote/RingCT cryptography. On-chain, the following are hidden by default:
- Sender: ring signatures mix your real input with decoys, so an observer can’t tell which of the candidates spent the funds.
- Receiver: every receive uses a one-time stealth address. Even your reused public address never appears on-chain.
- Amount: the transferred value is encrypted using a commitment scheme. Only sender and receiver know the exact amount.
That’s the privacy baseline. It applies to every Arqma transaction sent from Arqma Wallet, not as an opt-in feature.
What the chain does NOT hide
- That a transaction happened. Block-level metadata (when, size, fee) is public.
- Total supply. Anyone can audit the total amount in circulation.
- The fact that you use Arqma, if your network identity leaks (see below).
Metadata you can leak yourself
The cryptography is strong. The risks live at the edges:
- IP address: when Arqma Wallet broadcasts to a remote node, the node sees your IP. Use Tor, a trusted VPN, or run your own node.
- Exchange deposits/withdrawals: if you buy or sell Arqma on a KYC exchange, that exchange knows your identity is linked to your withdrawal address.
- Reused public address: sharing the same address with multiple counterparties doesn’t weaken the on-chain crypto, but it does identify you to those counterparties as the same recipient. Use subaddresses.
- Off-chain context: “send 1.2345 ARQ to address X at 14:02” in a chat log is a paper trail no chain can hide.
Practical steps for stronger privacy
- Run a local node when possible. No third-party node sees your traffic.
- If using a remote node, prefer one reachable over Tor.
- Use subaddresses for different counterparties — new address per relationship.
- Avoid reusing the same public address publicly (forums, GitHub READMEs).
- Use a different device or at least a different user profile for sensitive activity.
Privacy vs anonymity
Privacy means the contents of your activity are hidden from observers. Arqma Wallet provides this strongly by default.
Anonymity means the link between your identity and your activity is hidden. Achieving full anonymity needs disciplined operational habits on top of the chain’s privacy.
The cost of not owning your privacy
Privacy you don't own is privacy that can be revoked. Custodians, browser extensions and exchange wallets all see what you send and to whom — and most of them log it. Arqma Wallet keeps that data on your device.
- $2.2Bstolen from crypto services and custodial wallets in 2024 alone (Chainalysis). Almost none of it was held in self-custodial wallets like Arqma.
- #1cause of consumer crypto losses, year after year, is a fake wallet or cloned download page — not a protocol exploit. The official build is the fix.
- 25words is all you need to restore an Arqma Wallet on any device, in under five minutes. No support ticket, no waiting on a custodian to respond.
- $5.6Breported lost to crypto investment fraud in the US in 2023 (FBI IC3). Nearly all of it sat in third-party accounts the victim didn’t actually control.
Download Arqma Wallet
Free, open source, non-custodial. Your keys, your coins, your privacy — on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. Install in two minutes.
Always download from the official page. Verified builds, signed releases, open-source code.