Today I reached out to all of our customers with the note below.

We wanted to share this publicly as we believe this message and its content can help many people wondering what is happening and what they should do. 

Ouriel
Zengo CEO

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As many of you are aware, this was a difficult week for the crypto industry. FTX, one of the largest exchanges, declared bankruptcy and customer funds are stuck in withdrawals. This has launched a chain of events that are still unfolding as I send this message to you. Given the turbulent context of the last few days, I am reaching out personally to share how Zengo secures your assets, and remind you of security best-practices.

Zengo has seen an enormous inflow of new users in the last few days, and rightly so. For years we have focused on creating the most secure non-custodial wallet (with no private key vulnerability). Zengo was built for a moment like this.

Your crypto funds are secure on Zengo

Zengo is the industry’s first, most-trusted MPC non-custodial wallet. That means you control your funds. You alone can access and recover your account. There is no situation in which Zengo can use, invest, or spend your funds even if we wanted to.

• Zengo has been operating since 2018 without a single security incident and is built on open-source audited MPC cryptography, now securing over 700,000 accounts.
• Your funds are “on-chain,” which means you can at any time verify exactly where they are. 
• Zengo has no 24 word seed phrase vulnerability that can be lost or taken over by a 3rd party. This offers superior security compared to traditional software and even hardware wallets.

This is in stark contrast to how custodial exchanges like FTX work, where your crypto is not on-chain, but rather held in their custody with no transparent visibility, similar to the traditional banking system.

Zengo has no exposure to or integration with FTX or Alameda companies or services. Zengo allows you to store the FTT ERC20 token like any non-custodial wallet, but we removed the ability to swap FTT in Zengo immediately after the rumors of collapse began. If you have FTT tokens on Zengo, you are free to store or move them to any wallet of your choice.

7 security best-practices

It is important in moments like this to go back to the basics of safety and security. Here are 7 guiding principles:

1. Control your crypto: If you have funds on a custodial exchange, consider withdrawing them to Zengo or a wallet of your choice under your control. Here is a guide on how to deposit to Zengo from an outside wallet or exchange.
2. Boost your security: On Zengo you can add a secondary email, cloud backup, and biometric selfie to reinforce the security of your account. See how here.
3. Understand the security risks and limits of any custodial service, exchange, wallet, or hardware you plan to use, including on Zengo. Here is a section that we created to help you learn more.
4. Understand 3rd party risks: Zengo partners with a set of regulated vendors for trading and earning crypto like Banxa, Moonpay, Changelly and Nexo. We invite you to consider their security risks by visiting their websites and reaching out to their support teams. When you use Earn with Nexo your funds leave your Zengo wallet to Nexo. While Nexo has real-time proof of reserves, given the market context, if you wish to maintain control of your funds you can withdraw them from Nexo back to your Zengo wallet at any time from within the app. 
5. Decentralized alternatives to centralized services: You have the option to use decentralized apps via Zengo to exchange coins or earn yield. Learn more here. 
6. Beware of scammers: Scammers will use times like this to trick people. Avoid engaging with any person you meet on social media (even verified accounts, which can get hacked) and make sure you only engage with Zengo through official channels. When in doubt, contact Zengo customer support.
7. Practice self-care: During times like this, try to find balance and perspective with people close to you. You are not alone. Manage your health. Do not make short-term decisions that may compromise your health or net worth.

If you need help, we are here 24/7

This crisis is going to psychologically and financially impact many investors. Maybe even some of you. We are here to listen and help as much as we can. 

True security is knowing you’re never alone: As always, our customer support team is here 24/7 to answer any questions, and we have instructed our team to be more responsive than ever. I will also personally be there to help as much as I can. Although this does not affect us directly, we are part of an ecosystem where being there matters.

Contact support directly in Zengo, 24/7, by tapping any screen of the app in the top-right corner.

Long live crypto

Crypto is going through a difficult time, and many systems are being put to the test. After the collapse of centralized companies like Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, FTX, and who knows what is next, we are all collectively discovering what happens to centralized, custodial systems that lack transparency and control customer funds in a black box with no clear regulation or governance structure.

We are here to build a future we deserve: A transparent, decentralized system where you as the customer control your assets, and where things are done transparently and securely. 

Now’s the time to remember our mission: To put control back in your hands, safely and securely. That’s why we built Zengo. Thank you for being part of this vision.

Be safe and stay zen,

Ouriel
Zengo CEO