Crypto wallet stock footage and b-roll: what the licenses really cover, and 12 shots to film yourself
You need a phone showing a crypto wallet for ten seconds of an edit. Stock sites offer a branded app you cannot clear or a spinning coin that proves nothing. Here is how to read the fine print, and how to shoot the footage yourself.
Published: · Last reviewed:
Picture the edit: the narrator says “open your wallet” and the timeline needs a phone with a balance on it. The footage has to come from somewhere. Below, the options ranked by how much trouble they cause, a short guide to reading a license, and a list of twelve shots that need nothing more than two phones and an afternoon.
Three ways to get a wallet on screen
Every crypto wallet shot you will ever need comes from one of three places. Each one trades realism against licensing risk differently.
| Route | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Stock clip of a real wallet or exchange app | A believable hand and a believable screen | Someone else’s logo and layout are in the frame, and the license may not clear them |
| Stock motion graphics | Glowing coins, candlesticks, a Bitcoin symbol over a grid | Easy to license, but it looks like no app anyone has opened |
| Your own recording of a mockup | A screen that behaves like an app, with no third-party brand | You film it, and the mockup’s terms of use apply |
The first route looks right and is often unusable in an ad. The second is safe and says nothing. The third takes work and fixes both problems.
Why wallet app clips so often say editorial only
A contributor who films a famous wallet can license the filming. The wallet’s logo and screen design were never theirs to license. So the library tags the clip for editorial use: news, commentary, teaching. Ads, sponsored posts and product promos are the usual exclusion, and that is where most crypto b-roll is headed. There is a second worry in an ad: a visible brand can look like the company is backing your product.
Reading a stock license for wallet footage
Libraries differ, and none of this is legal advice. Open the license attached to the exact clip and look for four things.
- Editorial or commercial. A clip labeled editorial stays out of ads and sales videos, however much you paid for it.
- Trademarks and interface designs. Many licenses, including free ones, cover the footage but not marks or products inside it. Pixabay’s license summary says content showing recognizable trademarks, logos or brands may not be used commercially, and Pexels asks that you do not suggest the people or brands pictured endorse you.
- Releases. A person who can be identified needs a model release for commercial use. Recognizable property or designs can need a property release.
- Sensitive uses. Some licenses bar showing a person in a way that implies something about them, for instance backing a financial product.
The trouble with spinning coins
Motion graphics are brand-safe, and that is their whole appeal. In a tutorial or an explainer they leave a gap: the voiceover describes a screen and the picture shows a trophy-style coin. The figures on it are ornaments. It works for mood, and it does not work as a screen.
Filming your own mockup screen
Build an unbranded wallet in a simulator such as Flexdger Wallet, set up for video: pick the wallet name, the accent color, and the tokens and amounts your script needs. Open it on your phone and start the built-in screen recorder. Before you press record, scan the screen for any text that names a real wallet or exchange. Nothing needs exporting. The recording is the file.
SOL, ETH, BTC, HYPE and USDC come with live market prices that refresh every 4 seconds while the phone is online, so the fiat figures drift the way a real app does. Why that drift matters in a clip is covered elsewhere. The paid wallet does not draw a status bar, so the clock and battery at the top belong to your phone. The homepage previews the wallet in a phone frame before you pay, but record your own wallet rather than that page.
Nobody else shot the footage, so no stock license is involved; the mockup’s terms of use still are. That also means nobody can pull the clip later over a logo or a layout, which is the quiet risk with borrowed app footage. Recording settings live in the wallet screen recording guide, and a phone filmed on a set is in phone screens as props.
Why not film your real wallet
It sounds easier, but it exposes you. Bitcoin.org’s privacy page says that “anyone can see the balance and all transactions of any address.” A real address on camera hands strangers your holdings. A mockup shows only the figures you chose to type.
Twelve shots, grouped by how you capture them
This set covers a typical explainer, skit or ad. For cash, cards and charts, money b-roll: 25 shots for finance videos picks up where this list stops.
Screen recordings (shots 1 to 5)
- 1. Opening the app. Full screen, vertical, about 3 seconds. Add the wallet to the home screen first, begin on the home screen and tap the icon, so it opens without browser chrome.
- 2. The total, held still. Full screen, 8 to 10 seconds. With prices refreshing every 4 seconds, a hold this long catches at least two updates in the fiat column.
- 3. A slow scroll. About 5 seconds, down and back up. Quick flicks smear once the clip is scaled down.
- 4. One token row. About 3 seconds, punched in during the edit on one or two rows. Use SOL, ETH, BTC, HYPE or USDC so the price moves unprompted.
- 5. A made-up token. About 4 seconds, full screen. Any other token is a custom row with a price you enter. Give a fictional coin a name nobody could mistake for real.
Camera shots (shots 6 to 12)
- 6. Thumb over the shoulder. 60 fps, medium close from behind the shoulder, 5 seconds. Keep the face out and the screen legible.
- 7. Macro on the total. 60 fps with Lock Camera on, tight on the balance, 4 seconds. Lock Camera keeps a supported iPhone from swapping lenses mid-take.
- 8. Picking up the phone. 60 fps, top-down then following it, 4 seconds. Begin with the screen dark and wake it as the phone rises.
- 9. The desk from above. Overhead, 6 seconds: phone, notebook, coffee. No second screen showing a real exchange or somebody else’s account.
- 10. Rack focus. 60 fps, 4 seconds, from a foreground object to the screen. Land on the total, not on the top band of the display.
- 11. Night glow. Auto FPS off, medium, face lit by the screen, 5 seconds. In low light Auto FPS can drop to 24 fps, so switch it off to hold 60.
- 12. Two phones side by side. Locked off, flat on a table, 5 seconds. Made for larp battle clips, with a separate label on each wallet.
Camera settings that save the edit
On iPhone, Settings > Camera > Record Video holds the frame rate and resolution. Depending on the model Apple lists 24, 25, 30, 60 or 120 fps. Higher rates make bigger files, and footage recorded at a higher rate can be played slower in Photos. Shooting 6 to 11 at 60 fps lets you slow a hand movement to half speed on a 30 fps timeline.
- Auto FPS. Off when the cut needs a steady 60.
- Lock Camera. Off by default; switch it on before any macro shot.
- Screen recording. iPhone: open Control Center, tap Record, wait for the three-second countdown, and the clip lands in Photos. Android: swipe down twice, tap Screen record, then pick audio and touch options. Leave Show touches off for clean b-roll and on for a how-to.
Keeping the top of the screen clean
A short pre-flight saves a reshoot: charge the phone, close every other app, switch on Do Not Disturb, and take one test recording to check how the top band looks in the actual clip before you commit to a full session.
The wallet draws no status bar, so each recording carries your phone’s time, signal and battery. Turn on Do Not Disturb from Focus in Control Center so a banner does not slide across the balance. Charge up beforehand, since a red battery icon distracts, and keep the clock believable from shot to shot, or crop the band in the edit. For a wallet on someone else’s phone, try phone screen green screen video.
Labeling every shot
Burn “Simulated screen” or “Mockup” into a corner of each wallet shot, big enough to read on a phone, for the full duration and not only the first second. Shots 6 to 12 count too, even when the display is a small part of the frame. Repeat it in the caption. The demo is marked DEMO and works without an account, which makes it fine for a rehearsal take, but record your own wallet for the final footage. The terms of use prohibit presenting any of it as a real balance or proof of funds.
What the footage must never say
The screen multiplies typed quantities by market prices. That is not a holding, and it proves nothing about anyone’s funds. Use a round, plainly illustrative balance, tie no person’s name to it, and state on screen that it is a mockup. Never cut it in behind a sentence like “here is what I made this month.”
Sources
- Apple Support, Record a video with your iPhone camera (Change video recording formats), read 2026
- Apple Support, Change video recording settings on iPhone, read 2026
- Apple Support, Record the screen on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, read 2026
- Apple Support, Turn on or schedule a Focus on iPhone, read 2026
- Android Help, Take a screenshot or record your screen on your Android device, read 2026
- Pixabay, Content License Summary, read 2026
- Pexels, License, read 2026
- Bitcoin.org, Protect your privacy, read 2026
Questions
Why is a clip of a real crypto app often marked editorial?
Because the footage may be fine to license while the logo and interface inside it belong to another company. Editorial licenses cover news, commentary and teaching, and usually leave out ads. The limits are written on the page of each clip.
Does a free crypto clip come with commercial rights for everything in it?
Not necessarily. Free libraries often license the pixels but say nothing good about brands or products that appear in them. A free clip of a recognizable wallet app has the same trademark question as a paid one, so read the license text before you publish.
Which crypto b-roll is least likely to cause trouble in an ad?
Footage with nobody else’s brand in it: a mockup screen you recorded, or licensed motion graphics. Keep the balance round and clearly made up, and label it as a mockup on screen.
Can I show a mockup wallet recording as proof that I own crypto?
No. The amounts are numbers you typed, so the screen proves nothing about anyone’s funds. The terms of use forbid presenting it as a statement or as proof of funds, and an ad should avoid any figure that could pass for one.
What do I need to film wallet b-roll with only phones?
Two devices. One shows the wallet and records its own screen, the other films hands, a desk and the glow of the display. Use 60 fps for the camera shots if the phone offers it, switch on Do Not Disturb, and put a label on every wallet shot.
My night shots look choppy and the file says 24 fps. Why?
iPhone’s Auto FPS can lower the frame rate in dim light to get a cleaner picture. Turn it off under Settings, Camera, Record Video, and light the scene instead if you need a steady 60.