Android antivirus that is really safe for cryptocurrency wallet?

[taufik123]

-snip-
Use a hardware wallet, you will be 97% safe, on Android you can even send/receive transactions with your connected HW, now on iOS it's more difficult, unless it's a HW with Bluetooth! (I'm not a big fan of HW with Bluetooth).

I use the first model of Safepal S1 with Connection: Scan encrypted QR-code, No Bluetooth, wifi or NFC so I think it will be safer even if it is ridden with the Wallet Application on my phone. Attacks over a wireless connection will have no effect. 

And for antivirus on android, it is actually already on the built-in smartphone used and Google protect is now also more sensitive,
and what is important is how users apply this security to their device.

[kontroll]

OK, so if I take a step back, your question comes from a good place. You recognize the risks and complexity of your Android.

You're recognizing the risk of running some bad code which manages to bend the system to trick it and/or you to do take some destructive action or expose and extract some information.

So you're looking for a new application which could then detect and protect you from these threats. You can't really get that much more secure by bolting on a new part on top of a fundamentally insecure and leaky foundation. There are some better approaches.

You can look for a more secure foundation. Which Android device and ROM you use make a big difference. GrapheneOS [nofollow] comes highly recommended and is a huge step up in security from most stock ROMs. It locks things down a bit more to protect against those kinds of exploits.

Second, separate your domains. Everyone talks about hardware wallets, and those can be great. But maybe you really shouldn't be browsing random sites on the same device that holds access to your crypto funds in the first place? You could get a new device (like an old Pixel 6 or sth) and keep that dedicated to your crypto dealings.

Third, practice basic OS hygiene on at least your important device. Remove old apps you don't use or recognize. Stay on top of OS updates. Don't sync or backup sensitive stuff on Drive or other clouds.

[BitMaxz]

My main wallet is separated it is install on a device with no WiFi module I only use it to sign transaction via QR code. If you have a big amount much better use a hardware wallet or use the extra phone as your cold wallet to avoid these viruses and malware.

My phone has a built antivirus I don't know if all android have this but my galaxy s9 plus have that feature powered by MCaffee even I don't have AV I think my phone still safe to use never experience any issue yet.
Like the previous posts your phone can only be infected if you give them permission that's the only thing you should avoid.

I think it can easily be infected if you have a Chinese phone and rooted. There is no guarantee of safety when using any rooted phone because they can easily access the system without permission.
So don't attempt to root your phone that you usually use for crypto wallets to avoid any issue in the future.

[bhadz]

AFAIK, there is no need for an antivirus if you're using an android device for your wallet. But, what you do with your phone is going to be crucial if ever you are afraid of containing a virus/malware that shall suck your wallet's fund. You have to be careful with how you use your phone, download from official links if you need some stuff to be downloaded and always be mindful of the links you're clicking because most of them are tricky enough to send you to a redirect download.

[Forsyth Jones]

OK, so if I take a step back, your question comes from a good place. You recognize the risks and complexity of your Android.

You're recognizing the risk of running some bad code which manages to bend the system to trick it and/or you to do take some destructive action or expose and extract some information.

So you're looking for a new application which could then detect and protect you from these threats. You can't really get that much more secure by bolting on a new part on top of a fundamentally insecure and leaky foundation. There are some better approaches.

You can look for a more secure foundation. Which Android device and ROM you use make a big difference. GrapheneOS comes highly recommended and is a huge step up in security from most stock ROMs. It locks things down a bit more to protect against those kinds of exploits.

Second, separate your domains. Everyone talks about hardware wallets, and those can be great. But maybe you really shouldn't be browsing random sites on the same device that holds access to your crypto funds in the first place? You could get a new device (like an old Pixel 6 or sth) and keep that dedicated to your crypto dealings.

Third, practice basic OS hygiene on at least your important device. Remove old apps you don't use or recognize. Stay on top of OS updates. Don't sync or backup sensitive stuff on Drive or other clouds.

I've heard about GrapheneOS before. I'd like to test it someday, but it seems to work best on Pixel devices.

You've got a point: web security isn't just about installing antivirus software and expecting it to do all the work to protect our information and the OS.

It's a fundamental factor not to expose your phone to certain apps, sites, etc. Especially if you hold a significant amount of crypto in a hot wallet installed on the device. For better security, a hardware wallet makes a huge difference, but it doesn't make us invulnerable, since the user still needs to secure the backup (seed phrase) offline in a safe place.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Anti virus has nothing in common to do with crypto wallet, they are different things, we should even be more careful so that we cant use any anti virus that will then introduce more virus to the wallet we use and by then we got hacked, mostly we recommend that our crypto wallet should be on an air gapped devise without internet connection, this will make it in a more secured pattern for use, because we are not going to need the use of any antivirus under a threat.

[Forsyth Jones]

Anti virus has nothing in common to do with crypto wallet, they are different things, we should even be more careful so that we cant use any anti virus that will then introduce more virus to the wallet we use and by then we got hacked, mostly we recommend that our crypto wallet should be on an air gapped devise without internet connection, this will make it in a more secured pattern for use, because we are not going to need the use of any antivirus under a threat.

Also, it's important to use a good password or passphrase, don't use easy-to-guess passwords like birthdays, ID numbers or apartment numbers, that is crazy. A good password should be as complex and random as possible, especially when it comes to a bitcoin wallet.

For a great offline password manager, I recommend keepass2 or keepassxc for desktops, which is easy to use and learn.

[Kemarit]

Anti virus has nothing in common to do with crypto wallet, they are different things, we should even be more careful so that we cant use any anti virus that will then introduce more virus to the wallet we use and by then we got hacked, mostly we recommend that our crypto wallet should be on an air gapped devise without internet connection, this will make it in a more secured pattern for use, because we are not going to need the use of any antivirus under a threat.

Anti virus is a protection, unless you download it from a illegitimate website, then it could be weaponized to have malware in it. So it's also very important to where we get our anti-virus. In any case though, if we have wallet in our mobile phone then we should be very careful like this recent news,

Cheap Android smartphones manufactured by Chinese companies have been observed pre-installed with trojanized apps masquerading as WhatsApp and Telegram that contain cryptocurrency clipper functionality as part of a campaign since June 2024.

https://thehackernews.com/2025/04/chinese-android-phones-shipped-with.html

[DYING_S0UL]

I'm pretty sure popular antivirus software like Malwarebytes or Bitdefender also have an Android version. I don't use them myself because I don't think I can trust them, so I stick with being careful of random links, downloads, etc.

If you're worried about the malware that you mentioned in your post, I believe you can avoid it by simply not downloading suspicious apps because that's the main way for it to attack your device. You also have to be aware that opening a banking app or something similar won't require you to back up your private key at all since it's unrelated. CMIIW.

Antiviruses does more harm than protecting it's user. We should remember these software always scans the files! Who knows what these do called  software scans and sends as logs, in the pretext of giving it's users better services. I wouldn't trust them with a single piece of data. Not saying all anti-virus's are bad, but in most of the cases, controversy has always been around them. That's why I'm always skeptical when using them.

So far, I am doing pretty good without them, at least on Android! (can't say for windows, you know why!)

[Forsyth Jones]

Antiviruses does more harm than protecting it's user. We should remember these software always scans the files! Who knows what these do called  software scans and sends as logs, in the pretext of giving it's users better services. I wouldn't trust them with a single piece of data. Not saying all anti-virus's are bad, but in most of the cases, controversy has always been around them. That's why I'm always skeptical when using them.

So far, I am doing pretty good without them, at least on Android! (can't say for windows, you know why!)

Likewise, I don't use any paid antivirus on my Windows 11, I've been doing this for about 7 years. The best firewall is the user's, who is responsible for what goes into the storage. Any user with a minimum of good sense of digital security knows that they should check the sources of what is being installed on the computer, as well as check the gpg/hashes signatures like SHA-256, especially when installing software wallets.

However, for people who aren't IT professionals, they feel comfortable choosing to sign up for an antivirus, leaving the responsibility for security to them. However, not even the best antiviruses on the market can neutralize most threats, since crackers improve their malicious codes to avoid being caught by them.

[KryptoBull]

This is one of my concerns, because until now I still use an Android device to use Bitcoin transactions using Bluewallet... until now, I am still very skeptical about antivirus on Android which many say is just a gimmick, and there has never been anything that can work to protect our phones, except for displaying ads and cleaning up trash...

On cointelegraph, I read that there is a new Android virus called crocodilus.. yes, the method used is quite cunning, namely displaying a prompt to backup the private key, which will make the user guide the malware to the private key data..

My question is, is there an Android application that is truly recommended objectively to protect our phones in preventing hacking?

I used to have an Android smartphone, but I wasn't confident installing crypto wallet apps or CEXs for trading. I didn't really trust my smartphone, especially for financial purposes. I also didn't have the habit of using antivirus software on my smartphone because I didn't think it was effective.

I feel safer using iOS on my old iPhone, it's only connected to the internet when I want to trade, and everything has been very stable for many years. As hackers become more sophisticated, users should only install trustworthy apps to protect their personal information and assets.

[libert19]

...anti-virus is something you must trust since you need to give it lots of permission.

This. Amount of permissions AV's require and they usually require sensitive ones too like accessibility/device admin, so it's high probability AV itself can become a cause of unfortunate incident on your device.

One would probably be better off just being mindful of websites they visit, installing apps, and what permissions they require than using AVs tbh.