diff --git a/tests/test_version_source.py b/tests/test_version_source.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54331d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_version_source.py
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+"""Tests for the single-source-of-truth plugin version.
+
+The plugin version must come ONLY from ``bal/manifest.json`` (no hardcoded
+copies, no ``bal/VERSION`` file), and it must be readable both from an extracted
+package and from INSIDE a zip (the way Electrum loads external plugins via
+zipimport). These tests lock that behavior.
+
+Run:
+    QT_QPA_PLATFORM=offscreen PYTHONPATH=<electrum-src> \
+        python3 -m pytest tests/test_version_source.py -q
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import zipfile
+
+import bal
+from bal.core.plugin_base import BalPlugin, get_version
+
+_REPO = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+_MANIFEST = os.path.join(_REPO, "bal", "manifest.json")
+
+
+def _manifest_version():
+    with open(_MANIFEST, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+        return json.load(f)["version"]
+
+
+def test_get_version_matches_manifest():
+    """get_version() returns exactly the manifest 'version' field."""
+    assert get_version() == _manifest_version()
+
+
+def test_get_version_is_not_unknown():
+    """The manifest must be readable - never the 'unknown' fallback here."""
+    assert get_version() != "unknown"
+    # a plausible semantic version, e.g. 0.6.0
+    assert get_version()[0].isdigit()
+
+
+def test_version_property_matches_get_version():
+    """BalPlugin.version is a property returning the same value."""
+    assert isinstance(BalPlugin.version, property)
+    # A bare object works as ``self`` because the property ignores instance
+    # state and simply delegates to get_version().
+    class _Dummy:
+        version = BalPlugin.version
+    assert _Dummy().version == get_version()
+
+
+def test_no_hardcoded_class_version():
+    """The old hardcoded BalPlugin.__version__ constant is gone."""
+    assert "__version__" not in vars(BalPlugin)
+
+
+def test_no_version_file_in_package():
+    """The bal/VERSION file has been removed (manifest is the only source)."""
+    assert not os.path.exists(os.path.join(_REPO, "bal", "VERSION"))
+
+
+def test_get_version_cached():
+    """Second call returns the cached value (same object)."""
+    v1 = get_version()
+    v2 = get_version()
+    assert v1 == v2
+    assert v1 is v2  # cached string, identical object
+
+
+def test_version_readable_from_inside_zip(tmp_path):
+    """The version must be readable when 'bal' is imported from a zip.
+
+    Electrum loads external plugins via zipimport, so this is the real
+    production scenario (and the one that used to break on Windows with
+    os.path.join). We build a zip of the bal package and read the version in a
+    fresh interpreter whose only path to 'bal' is that zip.
+    """
+    bal_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(bal.__file__))
+    zip_path = tmp_path / "bal_plugin.zip"
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_path, "w") as z:
+        for root, _dirs, files in os.walk(bal_dir):
+            for fn in files:
+                if fn.endswith(".pyc"):
+                    continue
+                full = os.path.join(root, fn)
+                # arcname keeps the leading 'bal/' package prefix
+                arc = os.path.join(
+                    "bal", os.path.relpath(full, bal_dir)
+                )
+                z.write(full, arc)
+
+    # electrum must stay importable in the child, but 'bal' must resolve ONLY
+    # from the zip. So: drop the on-disk repo (and this package's dir) from the
+    # child's path, prepend the zip, and run from a neutral working directory.
+    repo_real = os.path.realpath(_REPO)
+    bal_parent_real = os.path.realpath(os.path.dirname(bal_dir))
+    filtered = [
+        p for p in sys.path
+        if p and os.path.realpath(p) not in (repo_real, bal_parent_real)
+    ]
+    child_path = os.pathsep.join([str(zip_path)] + filtered)
+    env = dict(os.environ, PYTHONPATH=child_path, QT_QPA_PLATFORM="offscreen")
+    code = (
+        "import bal, os;"
+        "assert 'bal_plugin.zip' in bal.__file__.replace(os.sep, '/'),"
+        "  'bal not loaded from zip: ' + bal.__file__;"
+        "from bal.core.plugin_base import get_version;"
+        "print(get_version())"
+    )
+    out = subprocess.run(
+        [sys.executable, "-c", code], env=env, capture_output=True, text=True,
+        cwd=str(tmp_path),
+    )
+    assert out.returncode == 0, f"child failed: {out.stderr}"
+    assert out.stdout.strip() == _manifest_version()