A number of security features were disabled in the Bitcoin mobile wallet Samourai Wallet on Monday. This was announced by the developers of Samourai Wallet, who explained that they had to disable a number of security features in the Bitcoin mobile wallet Samourai Wallet because of "new extremely restrictive policies" in the Google Play Store. The developers clarified that they had filed a request for an exemption from the new rules and explained to Google that "removing such functionality will result in users who rely on these features being less protected and more vulnerable." However, the technology giant rejected their request. "With a heavy heart, we are disabling some features in Samourai Wallet starting with version 0.99.04 because of the new extremely restrictive policies that Google has decided to introduce in its attempt to become a "golden cage." The developers noted that Google does not care about any security benefits offered by the wallet, adding: "Samourai Wallet would have been removed from the Google Play Store if we had not complied with this requirement."

The three features that will soon disappear from the wallet had been part of Samourai Wallet since its release in 2015. These are additional options that are disabled by default. The list of these features included "SIM Switch Defense", "Stealth Mode" and "Remote SMS Commands". According to the developers, "until today no other wallet included these types of features, and now, most likely, no wallet will do so, thanks to Google's heavy hand." One of the three features to be removed – SIM Switch Defense – is described as a feature that warns "users that their SIM card has been hacked due to the extremely low level of security of the network operator." This is achieved by covertly sending an SMS message to a trusted mobile phone number when the phone's SIM card has been taken under control by attackers. Another feature that will have to be disabled – Stealth Mode, which gives users the ability to hide their wallet app from attackers who have physical access to the smartphone. Enabling this feature requires granting the app access to untraceable outgoing calls. "Many users in South America who use this feature are now exposed to risk thanks to Google Play," the developers wrote on Twitter on Monday. The last feature that does not satisfy Google is Remote SMS Commands, which "gives users who have lost their device the ability to remotely wipe the wallet in order to prevent further loss of their funds." "Google Play has deprived users of this feature too," the wallet's developers write. The Samourai team stated that it hopes to bring these features back to the Google Play Store in the future.

Meanwhile, the developers intend to resume offering all features "through alternative distribution methods, such as direct download and F-Droid" in the coming months. F-Droid – the most popular marketplace of alternative apps for Android – has fewer restrictions than the Google Play Store, but its installation process may be too complicated for some users. The Samourai developers wrote: "In the coming months we will expand our distribution model to include the APK [the Android installation package file] with our own server, by adding it to the open-source app store F-Droid. All these versions will include the Stealth Mode, Remote SMS and SIM Switch Defense features." The Samourai developers advised users to disable Stealth Mode before updating to the new version.

Samourai Wallet is popular among users as a wallet that puts security and privacy first. Back in 2017 the app's development team created a tool that helps combat the problem of block congestion. The app, called Bitcoin Afterburner, allows clients of various Bitcoin wallets to nudge transactions that have stalled due to low fees.

Google Play's selective discretion, meanwhile, raises questions. In November, computer security specialist Lukas Stefanko reported that he had found in the Google Play app store as many as four fake cryptocurrency wallets that steal users' data. Earlier that same month he found in Google Play another app dangerous for users – the Easy Rates Converter program, which steals the data of users of traditional banking apps and cryptocurrency exchanges.