The Bitcoin lightning network is the perfect solution to the scalability issue of the bitcoin. There is a massive growth is seen in the lightning network after the first launch of the lightning network beta.
There are a lot of developments in the lightning network that occurred and still a number of things going on so far.
In this post, you will learn about the most famous bitcoin lightning network wallets which are categorized for Beginner, Novice, and Experts as well.
For Beginner:
Wallet Of Satoshi ( custodial )
Open Source? – No
Website – https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/
Introduction – Wallet Of Satoshi is a zero-configuration bitcoin lightning wallet which is available on both iOS and Android platforms. This is a custodial mobile wallet with a very simple and easy user interface where any new user can use it for doing bitcoin lightning payments without any problem or guidance.
The wallet of satoshi allows you to send and receive lightning payments.
In the Wallet Of Satoshi, you don’t need to create any payment channels as devs already opened channels for you where you just need to use it directly for sending/ receiving payments without any extra headache of channels.
It is a centralized service that stores your bitcoins in their wallets like centralized exchanges and you need to trust them for your funds’ security. They have all control over your funds as well as they knew every transaction you do from their wallet.
The wallet does not take you any private info and you only need to provide your email address only if you want the backup of wallet to restore again in future when changing device or lost device.
How to start with Wallet of Satoshi :
- Download and install the app
- After downloading the app you can start sending and receiving bitcoin/satoshi from your wallet and you don’t need to do anything else.
- Click on the Receive button on the top left corner in order to top-up your wallet with bitcoin/satoshi.
- You can top-up your wallet by depositing funds from lightning bitcoin transactions as well as from on-chain bitcoin transactions.
Features/Advantages –
- Simple Layout – You will see only the required information on the screen which makes this wallet very simple and easy to use. There is no confusion in using this wallet at all.
- Easy To Use – You just need to download the app and can start sending and receiving lightning payments. You don’t need to do anything else like opening channels as the devs already opened channels for you.
- Scan To Pay – You can do lightning payments just by scanning the merchant’s payment QR codes.
- Top-Up Options – You can top-up your wallet by sending bitcoins from an exchange or from your other wallets as well as you can also buy bitcoins/satoshis directly from the wallet of satoshi company.
- Find Merchant Store – You can find the merchant stores near you that accept lightning payments withing the wallet.
Disadvantages –
- You have no control over your bitcoins/satoshis (Not Your Keys Not Your Coins)
- You need to trust the wallet provider for the safety of your bitcoins/Satoshis
- Low privacy and security, but the wallet of satoshi provide good privacy and security than other custodial wallets.
- Storing large amounts of funds is very risky.
Contact Mail – support@walletofsatoshi.com
Twitter
Blue wallet
Custodial by default but you can connect it to your node
Open Source? – Yes
Website – https://bluewallet.io/
Introduction – The BlueWallet is the bitcoin and lightning wallet available on android and iOS devices. It allows users to create a lightning wallet with zero configuration. The Blue lightning wallet is custodial (no need to open payment channels) by default but users are allowed to connect it to their own lightning nodes.
Blue wallet provides direct access to the lightning marketplace within the wallet where you can buy/sell or trade on exchanges, spends on stores, can tip to your friends, can play lightning games, read articles on Y’alls and pay to retailers directly from your lightning wallet.
Blue wallet is very easy to use and get started with it. It has a very good user interface and provides many features as well.
How to start with Blue wallet :
- Download and install the app
- Open the app, then click on create a wallet widget shown on the wallet screen or on the plus icon shown at the top right corner.
- After clicking on “Create a wallet” widget, now choose the lightning one and click on the “create” button. You can also name your wallet there if you want.
- After creating the wallet, now tap and open this wallet then click on the “manage funds” button. Now you can refill your wallet by clicking on refill or by depositing funds.
- After filling your wallet, you can send/receive from your wallet by clicking “Send” and “Receive” buttons on the screen.
- Click on the “marketplace” button in order to see the list of merchants, stores and websites that accepts LN payments.
Features –
- Lapps Marketplace – A Lapp browser and a Marketplace of Lightning-enabled apps are integrated within the wallet app in order to help you discover new services or to use them directly from the app.
- Plug-in your Bitcoin Full node – In BlueWallet, you can also plug-in your own Bitcoin Full node through Electrum Personal Server (EPS), ElectrumX or Electrs.
- Full encryption – You can completely encrypt your Blue wallet by using its multi-layer encryption functionality by adding a strong password regardless of biometric security (touch ID, Face ID).
- Be in control – In the Blue wallet, the private keys of your wallet never leave your device and you can take the backup of your private keys as well. You are the only one who controls your wallet private keys.
Disadvantages –
- Low privacy and security
- Storing large amounts of funds is very risky.
Contact Mail – bluewallet@bluewallet.io
Github
Twitter
For Novice:
Breez wallet ( non-custodial )
Open Source? – Yes
Website – https://breez.technology/
Introduction – Breez wallet is an open-source non-custodial bitcoin lightning wallet available for android and iOS devices.
Breez runs a Neutrino-based light node by which users can start receiving payments just after doing one on-chain bitcoin transaction.
The Breez wallet is designed to be used for non-tech new users as well as for the merchants.
How to start with Breez wallet :
- Download and install the app
- Open the app and start it by following instructions,
- wait until it syncs to the blockchain network and then it will start opening a secure channel with their server which usually takes a few minutes.
- After completion of opening a secure channel process, you can start adding funds into your wallet.
- In order to add funds to your wallet, click on the ADD FUNDS button shown on the wallet screen, where you can deposit funds from your other on-chain BTC account.
- After adding funds to your wallet, now you can start sending and receiving bitcoin lightning payments.
- You can send and receive lightning payments just by clicking on the INVOICE button at the bottom right corner of the wallet screen where you will get options to go for sending an invoice or receiving as well.
Features –
- Simple – Breez wallet is very simple to use and get started with it. It is specially designed for new users having little knowledge of tech.
- Good user Interface – The Breez wallet provides a very good user interface to the users and designed in such a way that everyone can use it easily without any problem.
- Connect to Pay – By using this feature, users can pay to their friends just by sharing a link to them. The team is also working hard to make payments more easy via NFC in the future.
- Breez Card – It makes sending a payment request as easy as waving an NFC card. You can order or activate your Breez card from your Breez mobile wallet.
Disadvantages –
- As the Breez wallet is still in beta (at the time of writing) then there is a chance that your funds will be lost.
- Low privacy and security
- Storing large amounts of funds is very risky.
Phoenix wallet by ACINQ (non-custodial)
Open Source? – Yes
Website – https://phoenix.acinq.co/
Platform – Android
Introduction – Phoenix is an open-source non-custodial bitcoin lightning wallet for mobile devices like Android and iOS (coming soon).
This wallet is specially designed for new users and this wallet is the most simple and intuitive non-custodial lightning wallet ever. If you are new to the lightning network and don’t want any headaches to go into deep in order to get started with it then this wallet is the best choice for you.
How to start with Phoenix wallet :
- Download and install the Phoenix wallet app.
- Open the app and click on the New Wallet button.
- Now take the backup and setup the PIN for security and here you go.
- Enjoy lightning payments.
Features/Advantages –
- Simple Layout – You will see only the required information on the screen which makes this wallet very simple and easy to use. There is no extra headache of extra features and no confusion in using this wallet at all.
- Easy To Use – You can start using this wallet just by downloading the app and can start sending and receiving lightning payments instantly. You don’t need to do anything else like opening channels as the devs already opened channels for you.
- Scan To Pay – It becomes easy for every user to do lightning payments just by scanning the merchant’s payment QR codes.
- Extra Features – Basically, The team focus is only on simplicity and ease of use that’s why the Phoenix wallet does not provide extra features in order to avoid complexity for users.
Disadvantages –
- Low privacy and security
- Storing large amounts of funds is very risky.
For Expert:
Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (SPV, non-custodial)
Open Source? – Yes
Website – https://lightning-wallet.com/
Platform – Android
Introduction – Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (BLW) is a non-custodial bitcoin lightning wallet for android mobile devices only. It is basically a standalone SPV Bitcoin Node with a built-in Lightning node that allows you to send or receive bitcoin lightning payments as well as on-chain transactions.
In this wallet, you have full control over your funds and only you own the private key of your bitcoins which means if you lose the key then you will lose your funds as well.
This wallet also allows you to open or manage your payment channels manually.
How to start with Bitcoin Lightning wallet(BLW) :
- Download and install the app
- Open the app and start it by following instructions,
- Click on the New Wallet button and then a bitcoin lightning wallet is created for you with an opened channel from the SPV node.
- Now you can start sending or receiving lightning payments from your lightning wallet and you can also create more channels manually as well.
Features/Advantages –
- Your private key is yours – The private key of your funds is only stored on your mobile device by which you are the only one who owns the private key.
- This wallet provides you good privacy and good security as well.
Disadvantages –
- The complexity of channels – A lot of advanced features and need to create payment channels by the user itself that increase the complexity of using the lightning wallet for new users.
- No Simplicity and bad UI – this wallet is not simple to use and has a bad user interface as compared to above-discussed wallets.
Contact Mail – anton.kumaigorodskiy@outlook.com
Github
Eclair wallet by ACINQ (non-custodial)
Open Source? – Yes
Website – https://acinq.co/
Platform – Android (secure download)
How to start with Eclair wallet :
- Download and install the wallet app
- Open the app and click on the New Wallet button
- Now write down seed words backup that shown on the screen
- Now enter the strong PASSPHRASE or leave it blank if you don’t want it
- Now set a PIN for your wallet and after this, your wallet will be created successfully
- Now, wait until your wallet gets sync with the lightning network as it takes a few minutes.
- In order to start using lightning payments, you need to connect your lightning node to the wallet, and after it, you need to open payment channels by yourself and then you can start sending lightning payments.
- In order to receive lightning payments you need to turn on receiving features from the setting and you must remain online once in a week in order to use the lightning payments receiving service.
Features –
- Good Privacy and Security – As users need to connect their own lightning nodes and can create channels manually in order to use this wallet. So this wallet provides you the good privacy as well as good security where everything is under your control.
- Your Node Your Coins – This wallet allows you to connect your own node with the wallet and create or manage payment channels by yourself.
Disadvantages –
- The complexity of channels – A lot of advanced features and need to create payment channels by the user itself that increase the complexity of using the lightning wallet for new users.
- No Simplicity and bad UI – this wallet is not simple to use and has a bad user interface as compared to above-discussed wallets.
- You must have your own lightning node in order to use this wallet.
A great thanks to sir Saj_le_great for helping me in writing this post and if you are a trader then I personally suggest you join the Whalepool telegram group.
Also Read: How to Earn Bitcoin? 13 Different Ways to Earn Bitcoin Free
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