Yes, it's open source and anyone can look at the source code instead of appealing to authority.

That's not what I asked. Generally laypeople are not going to be good judges of whether or not an encryption protocol is sufficiently secure.

Has it been audited by security researchers?

You're assuming it takes considerable skill to fuzz an algorithm or look for back doors and easter eggs? To answer your question, I don't know if Wire's been audited by paid researchers. I personally prefer a customer-exposed product whose each commit you can look up rather than the remote promise of security in a locked and hidden program.

> You're assuming it takes considerable skill to fuzz an algorithm or look for back doors and easter eggs?

This is usually a good assumption.

Why can't it be both?

Bitwarden is open-source (both the server and clients) AND has been independently audited for a security review.

It is not impossible to create code which looks like it does one thing while simultaneously doing ya-mother.

http://underhanded-c.org/

"look" is a weak word. Anyone with eyes can look.