It seems there is some debate on Reddit regarding the Coinomi wallet. Most people assume this solution is open source, but that is not entirely true. An earlier version of the code can be found on Github, but it is not the current code for the wallet. Moreover, their android repository is now marked as inactive. This causes some concern among cryptocurrency users, as a closed-source wallet is not to most people’s liking.
It is evident cryptocurrency wallet development has become a competitive business. In most cases, these wallets will have an audible source code on GitHub. In the case of Coinomi, that is not the case any longer. The company confirms their wallet is no longer open-sourced. The previous code can still be found on GitHub, but that is not what people are looking for. Instead, they want to see the current repository, which is off-limits. A rather strange turn of events, although a justifiable one as well.
Closed Source Coinomi wallet is Disconcerting
More specifically, a lot of wallets are closed source as of right now. This issue is not unique to Coinomi whatsoever. It is unclear why that is happening exactly, though. In the case of Coinomi, the wallet is under a proprietary license, which makes open sourcing it impossible. Certain parts of the wallet’s code can no longer be unveiled to the public. That is understandable, yet it remains an annoying situation to deal with. No one wants to use a wallet which can’t be publicly audited these days, regardless of the company’s reputation.
In a way, this doesn’t make Coinomi less of a useful wallet. However, keeping the closed source aspect in mind, it shouldn’t be used to store large amounts of money. The same goes for wallets such as Jaxx, which are only designed for hot storage. Hardware solutions are always the safest bet when it comes to cryptocurrency cold storage. Unfortunately, most hardware wallets only support a fraction of the available currencies. That situation will not improve overnight either.
Whether or not this will impact the popularity of Coinomi, remains to be seen. There is no shortage of cryptocurrency wallets these days. It all depends on which currency one wants to store in the wallet in question. Coinomi is one of two major wallets supporting Bitcoin Gold. It is a bit unclear how they integrated the code, which is what most developers would like to figure out, it seems. An interesting situation to keep an eye on in the future. All wallets should be open sourced, to begin with. Unfortunately, that is far from the case right now.
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