Hello everybody. Today we are excited to talk about Blitz Wallet: a Bitcoin-only wallet that integrates Lightning, Liquid, and eCash to deliver a seamless user experience tailored to individual needs. Most people in Bitcoin can agree that Bitcoin has revolutionized the way we think about money and financial independence. Yet, as important as that financial independence is, the usability gap remains a challenge new people trying to use Bitcoin in its original purpose: a currency.

Let’s dive deeper into how Blitz Wallet works and how it’s reshaping the way users interact with Bitcoin.

How Blitz Wallet Works

Blitz Wallet uses three Bitcoin technologies:

• Lightning Network for non-permissionless cheap payments.
• Liquid Network for lightning channel liquidity management + offline payments + beginner nodeless lightning experience.
• eCash for small micropayments with no lightning channel.

Our wallet has tied together these three technologies to maximize user experience and minimizing technical expertise.

Step 1: Onboarding

The most critical step in any Bitcoiners journey is when they send and receive their first Bitcoin payment.

When a user first downloads Blitz Wallet, they can immediately start sending and receiving Bitcoin payments without the need to open a Lightning channel. This is because Blitz Wallet leverages Boltz Atomic Liquid swaps to seamlessly convert Bitcoin on-chain or lightning payments to Liquid BTC. This allows users to bypass the lightning network initial channel open fee which may not be economical based on the amount of the first transaction. The beauty in this beginning nodeless environment is the removal of complex lightning topics for new Bitcoiners.

However, there was a problem with this setup. Because Boltz has a minimum swap amount of 1000 sats or .00001000 Bitcoin, this excludes users from being able to take advantage of the Lightning networks micropayments feature. That is why we added an Experimental eCash feature, which provides the ability to send and receive micropayments for users while they do not have a Lightning channel open.

Step 2: The Custodial Ladder

Our philosophy at Blitz is user choice. Some users might want a less complex payment experience while others might want to maximize how permissionless there money is. As users grow more comfortable with using Bitcoin and their balances increase, Blitz Wallet introduces the “custodial ladder” to help them transition to full self-custody.

Here are a couple of main ways you can customize your payment experience in Blitz Wallet.

• Toggling Lightning: By default, the use of Lighting is turned off. This is because, when off, the wallet is not dependent on the lighting node reducing the chance of connectivity issues. However, when a user learns more about Lightning, they can turn it on in settings at any time.
• Threshold-Based Channel Opening: Once a user’s balance reaches a preset threshold of 500,000 sats and Lightning is turned on, Blitz Wallet automatically attempts to open a Lightning channel. The user can configure this threshold as well as the maximum fee they’re willing to pay for opening a channel. If the fee conditions are met, the channel is opened, giving the user 100% self-custody of their funds.
• Liquidity Management: One of the biggest challenges with Lightning is managing liquidity. Blitz Wallet solves this by dynamically balancing funds when the rebalance amount is over a set threshold (default is 10,000 sats). For example:
• If a user receives more Bitcoin than their inbound liquidity allows, Blitz Wallet automatically generates a Lightning-to-Liquid invoice to ensure payment completion.
• If a user spends funds from their Lightning channel, creating enough inbound capacity, Blitz Wallet swaps Liquid BTC back into the channel to maintain balance.
• A user can also manually perform swaps in settings if liquidity needs to be freed up for an incoming transaction.

By providing choice to the user, we can give various payment experiences all from a singular app. Say goodbye to onboarding your friend to a custodial solution only for them to need to download a new self-custodial app later. These features also ensure that less technical users can seamlessly send and receive payments without running into liquidity issues when using the lightning network.

Blitz Wallet Features

Integrations Are King

One of the most common questions we hear from newcomers to Bitcoin is, “What can I actually do with it?” While there are plenty of online platforms where Bitcoin can be used, these platforms aren’t integrated directly into most wallets. Instead, wallets rely on webviews to link users to these platforms, which often disrupts the user experience.

To address this, we introduced a native store feature in Blitz Wallet. Instead of relying on webviews, we use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to seamlessly connect users to Bitcoin-accepting services directly within the app. This approach keeps the experience smooth and consistent without requiring users to leave the app. Currently, Blitz Wallet supports four key integrations.

• Gift Cards: Through an in-app integration with The Bitcoin Company, users can buy gift cards to various stores. The number of gift cards available varies depending on the user’s location, enabling Bitcoin to be spent at local retailers.
• VPN Services: Privacy-conscious users can use their Bitcoin to purchase VPN, enhancing their online security.
• Generative AI Credits: Users can purchase credits for cutting-edge AI services, including Claude-3.5-Sonnet, GPT-4o, GPT-4o-Mini, and Gemini-Flash-1.5. This opens up exciting possibilities for leveraging AI tools using Bitcoin.
• Anonymous Text Messages: For those seeking privacy in communication, Blitz Wallet allows users to send anonymous text messages directly from the app.

This built-in utility ensures that Bitcoin becomes immediately useful for new users, showcasing the usability of Bitcoin as a currency.

Reaching Who Matters

One big challenge with using Bitcoin is how hard it is to pay friends easily. We like to call this the “QR code problem.” Right now, most Bitcoin transactions between people rely on QR codes—not because they’re convenient, but because manually typing out a Bitcoin address is nearly impossible.

While LNURL Pay was a step forward in solving this, most LNURL services are custodial. This is because receiving funds in a self-custodial way on mobile devices either requires the app to always be online or app wake up notifications, which can be unreliable.

To address this, we created an internal contacts payment system that simplifies the process of paying a friend to just using their name. Inspired by Venmo’s simple and user-friendly design, this system removes all the technical details of Bitcoin transactions.

To ensure Blitz Wallet works seamlessly with other Lightning wallets, we also allow users to add LNURL Lightning addresses. This means you can pay other Lightning wallets just as easily as you would pay a Blitz contact.

Blitz’s internal contacts system addresses key user experience challenges:

• Generating Payment Addresses: Without Blitz, paying a friend who doesn’t already have an LNURL address requires them to manually generate an invoice for every transaction, which is inefficient and creates a poor user experience.
• Address Complexity: Bitcoin Lightning addresses are often long and intimidating for new users. Bitcoin and Liquid addresses can feel even more daunting, especially for those unfamiliar with the technology.
• Simplifying Transactions: By managing contacts behind the scenes, Blitz ensures that users only see simple "Send" and "Request" buttons, eliminating the need to deal with intimidating payment addresses.

This streamlined approach makes transacting intuitive and stress-free, especially for newcomers. This decreases the payment barrier and allows more people to start paying each other in Bitcoin.

The Vision for the Future

Our mission is to make Bitcoin more accessible to everyone regardless of technical expertise. The benefits of Bitcoin come in its use, but that use can only happen when it becomes simple enough. So, whether you’re a beginner making your first Bitcoin transaction or an advanced user managing multiple channels, Blitz Wallet provides the tools you need to succeed.

Best,

Blitz Team