BlueWallet is ending its connection of lightning nodes to Lndhub, according to an official statement. BlueWallet will cease lightning custodial operations, which means that BlueWallet users of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network will need to connect to the nodes to continue using BlueWallet’s lightning services.
What does BlueWallet sunsetting LndHub mean for you?
– If you use BlueWallet for on-chain bitcoin: ✅ nothing
– If you use other LndHub services (like LightningTipBot, LNbits, Alby): ✅ nothing
– If you use the Lightning account hosted by them: ⚡️ Move your sats outRead on
— street ⚡️ (@callebtc) February 23, 2023
Calle, a Lightning developer who tweeted about the change, told Cointelegraph:
“The most important thing is that people don’t panic and suddenly have noobs move their on-chain funds or wrong lightning balances out.”
The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 payment solution built on top of Bitcoin. The Lightning network is used to send small amounts of Bitcoin, called satoshis or sats, often using a Lightning wallet.
Blue Wallet is a popular Lightning Network wallet with over 42 BTC ($1 million) of liquidity. Its largest channel has a capacity of 4 BTC ($95,000), according to Amboss data. BlueWallet is a popular Lightning wallet, often recommended by well-known Bitcoiners.
Calle continued: “It’s important to realize that lndhub is a protocol that helps connect wallets to accounts. The wallet (in this case) is BlueWallet but other wallets also support LndHub (like Alby or Zeus).”
“The account is shutting down, not LndHub or Bluewallet itself. The account here is hosted by the BlueWallet team and they don’t want to keep doing this.”
Although users will still be able to withdraw their sats, it will no longer be possible to create new lightning wallets or top up existing ones on the LndHub node. BlueWallet publicly stated that users with sats connected to BlueWallet’s lightning node should move them as soon as possible.
The service will shut down on April 30, so it is crucial that BlueWallet users move their sats to another service or wallet of their choice. However, normal Bitcoin wallets will not be affected by this change.
While some may see the change as a thorn in the side of Lightning Network adoption, it’s important to note that BlueWallet will “only support self-custody solutions,” according to the website. The change seeks to promote decentralized solutions and self-custody.
Disclaimer: Cointelegraph has contacted BlueWallet for comment. BlueWallet said to check out the blog post on the BlueWallet website.
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