The Top 15 Bitcoin Lightning Wallets Of 2023

The Top Bitcoin Lightning Wallets Of 2023 Include Phoenix Wallet, Zap Wallet, and Electrum Wallet 

The Lightning Network serves as a Layer-2 scaling solution protocol built on the Bitcoin blockchain. While Lightning Network wallets function similarly to regular Bitcoin wallets, they possess a crucial distinction – transactions conducted within the Lightning Network payment channels offer enhanced privacy and are essentially feeless. Bitcoin Lightning Wallets are instrumental in advancing the adoption and usability of the Lightning Network. 

The capacity of Bitcoin’s Layer-2 Lightning Network reached 5,468 BTC (approximately $165 million) in July 2023, meaning that the Lightning Network is still growing quickly.  

Introduction to Bitcoin Lightning Wallets

Bitcoin Lightning Wallets are those wallets that support the Lightning Network for Bitcoin transactions. The Lightning Network is designed to enable speedy, cost-effective, and scalable transactions. Visa and Mastercard process 24,000 and 5,000 transactions per second, respectively, while Bitcoin handles only seven TPS. The Lightning Network outperforms all of these networks, handling up to 1 million transactions per second for ultra-efficient payments.     

In 2023, the lowest transaction fee on the Bitcoin network was $0.503, observed on January 8th. In contrast, the Lightning Network is gaining traction to address the slow and expensive nature of current Bitcoin transactions. With almost 16,400 nodes and 68,700 channels, transactions cost a mere 0.000032 satoshis worth $0.000000009, making it highly suitable for microtransactions.

Lightning Network wallets provide promising solutions to address Bitcoin’s scalability challenge by enabling off-chain micropayments through nodes and channels. This approach offers faster and more cost-effective transactions compared to the main Bitcoin network. While most of the Lightning Network transactions are not fully recorded on the main network, the opening and closing of channels are exceptions. 

Lightning wallets play a crucial role as they serve as nodes, facilitating payments and channel management for users. Successful node operators can earn fees, but they need to ensure sufficient liquidity to prevent payment failures. These fees cover both network and wallet charges, and as Bitcoin’s price rises, even small amounts of fee increases can have a significant impact. That being said, let’s take a deep dive to learn more about the top fifteen Bitcoin Lightning wallets of 2023. 

Top 15 Bitcoin Lightning Wallets of 2023

1. Umbrel

Umbrel is an easy-to-use Bitcoin full node and lightning node that allows anyone to run on a dedicated device in their home. Basically, Umbrel is a one-click solution that creates a server and runs its own self-hosted Bitcoin and Lightning Network full nodes. 

One of the stand-out features of Umbrel is that it makes Bitcoin more accessible to everyone. Moreover, Umbrel Wallet cuts the mediators, simplifying the task for users. It does so through the capability to operate personal Lightning Network nodes on dedicated home devices, thereby improving transaction control and accessibility

Moreover, Umbrel is fully open-source, allowing developers to continually enhance the wallet. While initially focused on providing self-hosting software called umbrelOS, Umbrel has now expanded into hardware solutions. Users can set up a dedicated device or utilize a Raspberry Pi to run a Bitcoin node or home server, and they have the option to download all the necessary infrastructure, including umbrelOS.

2. Blue Wallet

Blue Wallet emerged as a powerful and exclusive Bitcoin-only wallet for the community, rising from the turbulent 2017 fork wars. This open-source wallet is primarily focused on the Bitcoin network and stands out as the leading Bitcoin Lightning wallet. It seamlessly integrates with the Hodl Hodl exchange, enabling users to trade Bitcoin directly within the application. Moreover, Blue Wallet supports Segregated Witness (SegWit) and Native SegWit (Bech32) addresses, resulting in reduced transaction fees and improved scalability.

In addition to its Bitcoin support, Blue Wallet extends its functionality to include other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. The wallet also offers watch-only modes, which allow more advanced Cobo vault management, enabling users to monitor and receive funds without exposing their private keys.

With Blue Wallet, transactions on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network become blazingly fast and surprisingly cost-effective. Users have the flexibility to adjust their transaction fees based on their preferences and time sensitivity. Additionally, the wallet facilitates easy connectivity to hardware wallets for managing cold storage effectively.

3. Phoenix Wallet

Phoenix Wallet is a self-custodial Bitcoin lightning network wallet. It was created by ACINQ, one of the pioneering companies that contributed to developing the Lightning network. Moreover, Phoenix Wallet is also open-source, and has a user friendly interface and fast setup. 

Phoenix Wallet gives users the ability to generate Lightning invoices, allowing them to receive payments from any other participant within the Lightning Network. This wallet also has autopilot channel management to help users to manage their Lightning channels automatically.

4. Zap Wallet

Zap Wallet is an open-source Lightning Network platform. Boasting more than 70 contributors and support for 20 translated languages, Zap Wallet enjoys active community engagement on a daily basis, adhering to the principle of being designed by the people, for the people.

Through the Lightning Network, the wallet has achieved remarkable milestones in delivering Bitcoin to its over 10,000 regular users. This is only more impressive due to the fact that the wallet is currently only available on Android devices. Notably, users can swiftly swap fiat currencies for Bitcoin without relying on any custodial services. The wallet’s simplicity and efficiency make it an ideal non-custodial option, allowing users to create and manage multiple wallets with ease.

Additionally, users can effortlessly connect to their existing Lightning node, granting them the ability to send, receive, and manage channels seamlessly. Furthermore, the wallet aims to simplify becoming a full node with just a click of a button in the near future

5. Hexa Wallet

Hexa Wallet is an open-source, advanced Bitcoin-only wallet. This wallet is designed to provide a bank-like experience to its users while staying true to the Bitcoin ethos. It is a secure and non-custodial wallet, giving users complete control over their private keys. 

Additionally, Hexa Wallet is compatible with multiple exchanges like Swan Bitcoin, Wyre, and Ramp. You can use Apple Pay, Debit/Credit Card to buy sats, and Bitcoin. One of the striking points of the Hexa wallet is that it is a self-contained Lightning node capable of running a self-hosted lightning node at home.

With Hexa Wallet, users can back up their wallets onto their phone’s cloud or use seed words. Using seed words ensures that their wallet’s backup is not dependent on their cloud service provider

6. Zeus Wallet

Zeus Wallet is a feature-rich and powerful Bitcoin lightning network wallet that allows users to manage Bitcoin on-chain and Lightning Payments. It is one of the popular Bitcoin Lightning network wallets.  

Furthermore, the Zeus wallet can be accessed from both mobile devices and desktop platforms. It is worth noting that Zeus Wallet provides an intuitive and very user-friendly interface and allows users to customize their Lightning Network transactions.

Moreover, the wallet grants users full control over their Lightning node channels, making channel management relatively straightforward and convenient.

7. Fully Noded Wallet

Fully Noded Wallet is an open-source and secure Bitcoin Lightning wallet that operates its node over the TOR network. This setup aims to provide users with a self-sovereign, private, and secure experience when using Bitcoin. The wallet also offers a powerful suite of tools essential for advanced users, facilitating an interface between their nodes and Bitcoin-CLI commands.

Additionally, Fully Noded serves as a robust recovery tool, allowing users to easily add any BIP39 recovery phrase for efficient restoration of renowned wallets. The wallet boasts exceptional interoperability with Coldcard, enabling users to effortlessly airdrop wallet export files and PSBTs to Fully Noded, facilitating a seamless experience. The wallet also simplifies the historically challenging process of utilizing Coldcard as a watch-only or multi-sig wallet powered by the user’s own node.

8. Muun Wallet

Muun Wallet is a user-friendly and self-custodial Bitcoin wallet that is often promoted as a Lightning wallet, even though it stores all coins on-chain. This open-source wallet allows payments to be made without the need for any channel configuration.

In contrast to Blue Wallet, where Lightning and on-chain Bitcoin are treated as separate wallets with different balances, Muun Wallet presents a unified balance. This eliminates the need for users to decide between Lightning or on-chain payments.

Furthermore, Muun Wallet functions as a 2-of-2 multi-signature wallet and offers the option to enable two-factor authentication for enhanced protection and security. Notably, the wallet includes a built-in recovery system, making it convenient to restore the wallet. Despite some notable features, Muun Wallet is not a popular choice among users, as it is primarily seen as a backup method.

9. Joule Wallet

Joule Wallet is an open-source Bitcoin Lightning Network browser extension available on Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Brave. It provides users with convenient access to Lightning Network functionalities directly from their dedicated web browsers.

This exciting browser extension employs WebLN to lightning-charge your browser, enabling you to pay and use your node as an identity on the web. Its primary aim is to enhance user-friendliness when using the Lightning Network.

Moreover, Joule Wallet operates as a non-custodial wallet, ensuring users have complete control over their private keys and funds. It allows users to generate Lightning Network invoices for receiving payments and facilitates Lightning payments to other users within the Lightning Network.

Furthermore, Joule can be likened to MetaMask for Ethereum, but it is designed specifically for the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Its intuitive graphic interface simplifies interactions with the Lightning Network, making operations like receiving payments effortlessly manageable.

10. Breez Wallet

Breez Mobile Wallet is an open-source non-custodial wallet for Lightning payments available on both Android and iOS devices. It aims to shape the future of Bitcoin by facilitating peer-to-peer payments for people and apps, reflecting the ethos of the broader Lightning ecosystem. 

The wallet is meticulously designed to offer a seamless and user-friendly experience for both on-chain Bitcoin transactions and Lightning Network transactions, positioning itself as one of the most reliable Lightning wallets in the market.

Notably, Breez Wallet is gaining significant attention due to its unique cloud integration, which combines the sovereignty of non-custodial Lightning with the versatility and convenience of custodial services. This allows users to send and receive payments from any device at any time.

Beyond being a mobile wallet, Breez also serves as a Point-of-Sale app, making it attractive for merchants looking to accept Bitcoin for their products and services. Additionally, users can enjoy podcasts through the app and support their favorite podcasters by making payments in sats, adding further versatility to the platform.

11. Electrum Wallet

Electrum Wallet is a non-custodial Bitcoin wallet explicitly designed to store Bitcoin. This wallet has been around since 2011. It is one of the oldest and most trusted Bitcoin wallets, known for its security features, flexibility, and robust functionality. 

An eye-catching feature of Electrum Wallet is its emphasis on security, offering a watching-only wallet function to track transactions and multi-sig capabilities. Additionally, the wallet supports cold storage, enabling users to store their private files offline, and provides two-factor authentication for added protection. Users can also customize their transaction fees to set appropriate priority levels for their Bitcoin transactions. With decentralized and redundant servers, Electrum Wallet ensures there is no downtime.

Since it’s open-source and free to download, Electrum Wallet offers users a relatively robust and flexible solution. However, it may not be ideal for newcomers, as it provides a variety of options for configuring the wallet to perform various tasks, which may be confusing to navigate. However, experienced users will likely appreciate the wallet’s versatility. 

12. Wallet of Satoshi

The Wallet of Satoshi stands out as one of the most straightforward Bitcoin Lightning wallets, available as a mobile app for both iOS and Android. This user-friendly application enables easy sending and receiving of Lightning payments.

The wallet operates as a zero-configuration custodial wallet, prioritizing simplicity and an excellent user experience. However, it is essential to note that the drawback lies in the fact that users relinquish ownership of their private keys. Due to this, it is not recommended to store significant amounts of funds within the wallet itself.

Additionally, this wallet serves for both regular Bitcoin on-chain transactions and Lightning transactions. There are three methods to add funds to the wallet: receiving Bitcoin from another wallet via the leading Bitcoin network, using the Lightning Network, or buying Bitcoin directly from the wallet service itself.

13. ShockNet Wallet

ShockNet Wallet is a non-custodial application designed specifically for the Bitcoin Lightning Network. It establishes connections with a remote LND node and maps user nodes to create an open and decentralized social network.

ShockNet Wallet offers an impressive array of features, including automatic seed and channel backup for efficient recovery and backup, sender-initiated payments, and end-to-end encrypted chat messaging.

Moreover, ShockNet provides essential infrastructure and tools to bridge web applications with the Lightning Network, facilitating quick payments. Its infrastructure enables the integration of Lightning micro-payments with any application, allowing content delivery and offering a means for monetization for users.

14. Eclair Mobile

Eclair Mobile is a cutting-edge, Lightning-ready Bitcoin wallet, offering users full control and advanced features. The wallet utilizes Electrum servers to access the Bitcoin blockchain and operates as a regular off-chain Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, it has the capability to compute payment routes on the user’s device.

For cost-effective and instant payments, users can connect to the Lightning Network through Eclair Mobile. The app seamlessly interfaces with both the regular Bitcoin blockchain and the off-chain Lightning Network, eliminating the need for a separate wallet for on-chain transactions.

With its exceptional features, Eclair Mobile has garnered positive feedback from users, who praise its impressive speed and user-friendly interface.

15. Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (BLW)

Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (BLW) is an exclusive Android-only, non-custodial, and standalone Bitcoin Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) node with Lightning Network functionality.

One of the standout features of Bitcoin Lightning Wallet is its use of Olympus Servers, which serve multiple purposes. These servers collect fiat prices of coins, maintain a list of public Lightning Network nodes used by BLW to open payment channels, provide partial payment routes, store an encrypted backup of users’ payment channels, and offer watchtower services.

Notably, this wallet combines both a standalone Bitcoin node and a Lightning node within a single package, eliminating the need for additional setups. This capability empowers users to seamlessly send and receive Bitcoins on-chain and through the Lightning Network without any extra complications.

In Conclusion: Bitcoin Lightning Wallets Continue To Grow In Importance

In 2023, the Bitcoin Lightning Network experienced substantial growth, leading to the emergence of a variety of high-quality Lightning wallets. The number of Lightning Network nodes has grown significantly, from below 400 in January 2018 to more than 16,000 in mid-to-late 2023. These cutting-edge wallets with lightning nodes empower users to make instant and cost-effective micropayments while also supporting innovative use cases for Bitcoin.

With a dedicated focus on security, decentralization, and user-friendly interfaces, Lightning wallets play a crucial role in extending the functionality and utility of Bitcoin, actively contributing to a more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystem. As the Lightning Network continues to develop, it unlocks the potential for innovative Bitcoin use cases, encompassing everything from instant and micropayments to supporting various applications.

In conclusion, Bitcoin Lightning Wallets serve as essential tools in enhancing the functionality and usability of Bitcoin, actively contributing to a more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystem. Given the growing number of wallets and services utilizing the Lightning Network, now is an opportune time for those who haven’t yet explored these options to give them a try!

References

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7. Umbrel. Umbrel.
8. BlueWallet. BlueWallet.
9. Phoenix. Phoenix.
10. Zap. Zap.
11. Hexa. Hexa.
12. Zeus. Zeus.
13. Fully Noded Wallet. Fully Noded Wallet.
14. Munn. Munn.
15. Joule. Joule
16. Breez. Breez.
17. Electrum Bitcoin Wallet. Electrum Bitcoin Wallet.
18. Wallet of Satoshi. Wallet of Satoshi.
19. ShockNet. ShockNet.
20. Simple Bitcoin Wallet. Simple Bitcoin Wallet.
21. Real-Time Lightning Network Statistics. 1ML.