THIS VIDEO IS MY FULL HONEST REACTION AT THE TIME OF FILMING. THE BLUE WALLET DEVS HAVE BEEN VERY POLITE AND WONDERFUL TO SPEAK WITH WHILE I NAVIGATED THESE ISSUES POST-FILMING. I EXPECT TO HAVE FURTHER DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE SECURITY TRADEOFFS OF CUSTODIAL LN WALLETS IN COMING VIDEOS.
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Today I take a look at how to use the Bitcoin lightning network on iOS and android via an app called Blue Wallet. The lightning network had a release date of March 15 2018, and since then we’ve seen a lot of development both custodial and non-custodial solutions for end users. This tutorial for Blue Wallet focuses on a slightly more centralized solution that comes across as a bit of a hybrid wallet. This is in contrast to sovereign solutions like the Casahodl or Nodl full node options, and the Wallet of Satoshi which is a fully custodial option with no off-ramp. As the technology and market matures, we’re sure to see many solutions put forth for consumers to utilize lightning on BTC.
Regarding my issues with Blue Wallet: A couple weeks before creating this video I encountered a bug that allowed me to withdraw the same funds twice because of a delay in the broadcast of the first transaction. This was unintentional and ended up resulting in me withdrawing an additional $40 more than I had in the wallet. After asking around, I disclosed it on their github. When filming and coming across a similar issue, I made sure to again disclose on github before posting this video. The team was quick in their response and has already patched both issues.
Blue Wallet Website:
https://bluewallet.io/
Blue Wallet Medium Post (more details on tradeoffs, etc)
https://medium.com/bluewallet/bluewallet-brings-zero-configuration-lightning-payments-to-ios-and-android-30137a69f071