TOP-10 Lightning Network Wallets

The successful implementation of the Lightning Network could become the next step towards the mass adoption of Bitcoin. However, in order to maintain this process, it is necessary to have a well-developed infrastructure which includes, apart from nodes, a plethora of the Lightning-compatible digital wallets. Here is the list of top 10 of such cryptocurrency purses.

The Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (BLW)

BLW was designed specifically for Android devices. It is one of the most versatile and robust SPV wallets that was created on the basis of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 0037 which stipulates the connection bloom filtering. This wallet comes in the form of a standalone application/BTC node that is also capable of performing the off-chain Lightning transactions. BLW’s crucial feature is that it provides for the ultimate censorship resistance due to the fact that all digital funds that belong to the user are stored only in his wallet/smartphone. In case the user loses the phone, the wallet can be restored via the unique mnemonic key. 

LND

A desktop from the Lightning Labs, a California-based startup that is regarded by many as the biggest contributor to the development of the Lightning Network. The release of LND 0.4, the beta version of the wallet which was later upgraded to 0.5, is considered an unofficial launch of the mainnet of the Lightning Network. The 0.5 version utilizes the Neutrino protocol that significantly decreases the CPU load and the needed RAM because it doesn’t require the use of the full Bitcoin node for the Lightning protocol to operate.

Eclair Wallet

This Android wallet was developed by the French blockchain startup ACINQ and launched in April 2018. Eclair is a fully-functional Bitcoin wallet that is compatible with the Lightning Network. The first users of the purse might remember an anecdotal situation when ACINQ had accidentally deleted the signing key and were forced to disable the Eclair mainnet. However, they have learned from that mistake and even attracted $1.7 million of additional funding to hire the specialists to develop an API called Strike to facilitate the transactions within the Lightning network.

Zap

Zap is a popular Lightning wallet that was launched in January 2018. It is based on the mentioned LND 0.5 with the support of the Neutrino protocol, but it also has several differences. Zap has a privacy option that allows for the use of Tor; the user interface is quite intuitive and can be comprehended even by the novice user. What makes Zap unique is that it supports Litecoin transactions in the Lightning network.

Peach Wallet

The cross-platform Peach Wallet was created by Lightning Peach, a team of developers that cooperate with the Bitfury Group. Peach was released in January 2019 and included an opensource LN wallet, valuable payment solutions for merchants, and the public Lightning Network node called the Peach.

Breez

An Android wallet that is often considered as the most convenient tool for instant mobile transactions in Bitcoin. It boasts an intuitive interface as well as the NFC application which most merchants find very useful. The wallet doesn’t store any of the user’s funds. Breez was one of the first to implement Neutrino.

Bluewallet

Another mobile wallet explicitly created for the fledgling users of crypto. The developers had focused on making their product as user-friendly as possible, without the need to configure the transactions in the Lightning network. It should be noted that Bluewallet is a custody wallet which means that it stores the digital funds.

Spark

A cross-platform wallet, compatible with Android, MacOs, Windows, and Linux, that provides for the implementation of c-lightning 0.7, an interface that supports Go and Python plugins. Spark is compatible with Tor and is highly customizable.

Wallet of Satoshi

A custodial mobile wallet for instant and hassle-free microtransactions in BTC. Features the QR payment option as well as the possibility to deposit funds on crypto exchanges and purchase Bitcoin directly from the wallet.

Casa Node

A hardware Lightning wallet released in September 2018. Apart from storing funds and providing easy access to the Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, Casa can synchronize with Chrome to interact with all websites that have the host of Lightning functions.