The Best Bitcoin Lightning Wallets: Top 10 Picks

Bitcoin lightning wallets are gaining popularity in the digital financial market as they allow seamless cross-border payments. Lightning Network is a second-layer payment protocol that has revolutionized Bitcoin transactions, enabling faster and more scalable transactions. Bitcoin wallets not only serve the purpose of storing your Bitcoins but also goes beyond by using Lightning Network to make transactions faster and cheaper. 

Finding the best Bitcoin Lightning Wallet becomes increasingly crucial as crypto enthusiasts seek for efficient, user-friendly solutions. 

Lightning wallets have host benefits, like faster transactions, near-instantaneous payments, enhanced privacy, a seamless and user-friendly payment experience, and almost no fees, so smaller Bitcoin transactions are viable. 

There are a number of Lightning wallets available, each with its own set of features, advantages, and disadvantages, so choosing one becomes a challenge. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced Bitcoin investor or new to cryptocurrency; these wallets offer a seamless Lightning Network experience. Here are the top 10 best Lightning Wallets that stand out for their features, usability, and overall performance.

Bitcoin Lightning Wallet – Overview 

A Lightning Wallet is designed for the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Lightning Wallets allow users to do Bitcoin transactions via the Lightning Network channel. This Lightning Network Wallet is fast, cost-effective, and scalable to conduct Bitcoin transactions.

Bitcoin can only handle seven transactions per second, while Visa and Mastercard can handle 24,000 and 5,000 transactions per second (TPS). The Lightning Network, on the other hand, can perform up to one million transactions per second, which makes it the most efficient network of all.

Regular Bitcoin transactions can be expensive and slow. But this kind of wallet works on a special off-chain payment channel that runs independently off the main Bitcoin network, making transactions faster and cheaper. Users can open channels on the blockchain, lock funds, and then transact instantly off-chain with reduced fees.

Bitcoin Lightning wallets are user-friendly and secure for your phone or computer. Leveraging smart contracts ensures channel security.

Popular lightning Bitcoin wallets include Speed, LND, and Zap Wallet.

How Do Bitcoin Lightning Wallet Work?

Bitcoin Lightning Wallets operate through Lightning Network nodes and channels. This network handles the Bitcoin micropayments which are made off-chain, similar to Ethereum sidechains.

In the regular main Bitcoin network, even the small payments are relatively slow and expensive. On the other hand, Lightning Network transactions allow these payments to be quick with lower fees. These transactions are not recorded in the main Bitcoin network except for the channel openings and closings.

Lightning wallets are usually Lightning nodes. Here, you can use this wallet to transact payments with other nodes/destinations. Meanwhile, it also allows you to open channels and initiate transactions with other parties. Each Lightning node routes payments.

The node operators set their compensation. It is necessary for a node operator to have some liquidity in order to be successful. Payments will fail if there is insufficient liquidity from the nodes, and node operators won’t be compensated.

To maintain a node’s balance, you need almost equal amounts of inbound payments and outbound payments. This ensures that the node doesn’t get depleted from making too many payments and not enough payments. This is where fees come into play.

There are two types of fees: the ones charged by the network and the other by the wallet. 

Custodial Wallet & Non-Custodial Wallet

For different types of users, there are two kinds of wallets:

1. Custodial Wallet

Most custody wallets are web-based and are provided by centralized crypto exchanges. The interfaces of most exchanges don’t let you interact directly with your wallets. Generally, custodial wallets are preferred by newcomers who want to avoid managing their private keys themselves. Instead, the website takes care of that for the users.

Custodial wallets allow you to send funds to any address you choose. Crypto exchanges, as custodians of private keys, sign transactions for validity. Generally, custodial wallets are easy to connect with decentralized applications (dApps) and financial opportunities like staking.

Among the best Custodial wallets are Speed, Binance, BitMex, Bitgo, and Blockchain.com.

2. Non-custodial Wallet

Non-custodial wallets give crypto users complete control over their private keys and funds. A non-custodial wallet is a bit more technical than a custodial wallet. Experienced crypto users tend to prefer them, as they offer more control and security.

These non-custodial wallets are browser-based, but there are a few others as well. The wallet software stores and encrypts private keys on your computer, ensuring their security. The most secure type of Non-Custodial Wallet is a hardware wallet. It is similar to a USB thumb drive and can only be accessed online when plugged into a computer or mobile device.

When the device gets back online, it signs transactions using the private key and sends them to the blockchain for confirmation. Because of this, non-custodial hardware wallets are virtually hacker-proof.

A few examples of best non-custodial wallets are Electrum, Exodus, Trezor One, Wasabi, etc.

| BONUS READ – Best crypto wallet

The Best Bitcoin Lightning Wallets In 2024

• Speed
• Zap
• Wallet of Satoshi
• Muun 
• Breez Wallet
• Zeus Wallet
• Phoenix
• Eclair Wallet
• Electrum
• Blue Wallet

Let’s take a closer look at each Bitcoin lightning wallet. We have ranked the wallets based on their popularity, user-friendliness, reliability, and features.

1. Speed Wallet

Speed Wallet, a top Bitcoin lightning wallet, is designed to facilitate secure, fast, and fraud-proof Bitcoin transactions. It is a custodial wallet that allows Android and iOS users to send and receive Bitcoin on the Lightning network. One of the advanced features of Speed is that users can withdraw the BTC wallet balance into any other third-party wallet if they want to. 

Speed makes it easier for users to make payments by creating QR codes or links for easy payments, irrespective of boundaries. To the core, it focuses on making Bitcoin accessible to everyone. Speed charges a small network fee from the miners; beyond that, it doesn’t charge any additional fees for conducting transactions. 

This advanced wallet ensures users can conduct real-time transactions with secured infrastructure. Speed Wallet complies with all the regulatory bodies across the globe to protect users’ data, comes with end-to-end encryption, and is compatible with multiple platforms.

For Android users – Click here

For iOS users – Click here

2. Zap Wallet 

Zap Wallet is a non-custodial Bitcoin wallet that is available in desktop and mobile versions. It is a decentralized wallet for users who are familiar with the advanced features of Bitcoin and want more control over their digital money. 

Zap Wallet system enables the creation and management of payment channels on the lightning network. These channels allow transactions using QR codes or invoices. Additionally, users can opt to make transactions on-chain (Bitcoin Network) or off-chain (Lightning Network); this facilitates faster and cheaper transactions. Some of the supporting features of Zap Wallet include creating payment requests, exploring network graphs, managing multiple wallets, and exploring the network graphs.

3. Wallet of Satoshi

Wallet of Satoshi claims to be one of the most straightforward lightning wallets. It is a mobile custodial wallet available for both iOS and Android users. One of the core benefits of this wallet is it’s simple to use. It allows users to make Bitcoin payments with negligible transaction fees. This wallet stores BTC for you and manages opening and closing payment channels. 

Wallet of Satoshi is ideal for beginners looking to try out the Lightning network. The only disadvantage is it doesn’t allow you to control your BTC or private keys. You have to trust the service to keep your funds safe and secure- however, it is standard how most custodial wallets work. 

4. Muun

Muun is a non-custodial mobile wallet that offers easy and secure ways of using the Lightning Network. It combines the benefits of on-chain and off-chain transactions, allowing you to send and receive payments with Bitcoin and Lightning.

It has advanced features like hierarchical deterministic and multi-signature wallets that offer advanced security measures. Users can also control their private keys; they can restore and back up wallets if needed. It allows the user to get the monitoring of real-time transactions. Muun has a streamlined user interface, allowing users to send and manage the currency easily. It lets users tap into their transactional history and balance to set up recurring payments. 

5. Breez Wallet

Breez is a non-custodial mobile wallet designed to operate with Lightning Network. This wallet stands out due to its unique feature of handling channels through zero-conf channels. This channel allows users to send and receive funds quickly. 

Breez goes beyond being just a mobile wallet. It allows merchants to use it as a Point-of-Sale app for those who want to accept Bitcoin for their services or products. Currently, this wallet operates under the Beta version, which works well enough but comes with a fear of customers losing their money in the test case. 

6. Zeus Wallet

Zeus Wallet is a popular non-custodial lightning network wallet with automated payment channels. It is suitable for users who want to control their LN wallet and its nodes. This is because the app does not have its own node and requires users to connect to existing nodes.

This wallet is available on both iOS and Android devices. It allows users to perform transactions over the lightning network with zero transaction charges. Also, it is affordable compared to other platforms, which usually charge premium rates. 

7. Phoenix 

Phoenix is a non-custodial mobile native lightning Bitcoin wallet ideally suited for lightning transactions. This wallet allows the users to control their own Bitcoins and private keys but also considers taking care of opening and closing payment channels. 

Additionally, Phoenix is integrated with the On-the-Fly feature, which allows users to increase liquidity without going through any complex process. However, this function has to be disabled by the user on the app as it can create unnecessary multiple channels when receiving payment amounts exceed the channels’ balance limit. 

8. Eclair Wallet

Eclair Wallet is a Bitcoin wallet available to Android users. It facilitates the option to connect to the lightning network. It works on the stripped-down lightning node. This offers more privacy than wallets, which rely on third parties to calculate the routes.

Eclair has some advanced features; it supports encryption in terms of security, backup & restore capability, 2FA, and open-source hardware wallets. It includes host features like multi-path payments and channels, which makes it a versatile and secure Bitcoin wallet for more experienced users.

9. Electrum

Electrum is the best lightning wallet explicitly designed to store Bitcoins only. One of the remarkable features of this wallet is that it is very secure. It has a watching-only wallet function, which lets users keep an eye on tracking transactions and multi-sig abilities for additional security. Moreover, it also supports hardware wallets.

This platform is available for desktop and mobile versions (Android only), enabling mobile users to pay merchants. It is suitable for users who are looking forward to lightning wallets that retain their privacy. The wallet has a compulsion to keep a minimum of two mBTC in the wallet to operate lightning wallets. The software of this Bitcoin is simple but needs a hands-on crypto wallet.

10. Blue Wallet

Blue Wallet is a Bitcoin lightning wallet that makes it easier for users to provide a smoother experience for receiving and sending money. It has a few host features, including custom invoices, seed backups, and two-factor authentication for added security. The developer community consistently upgrades and improves Blue Wallet. The vault of the wallet is designed to hold large amounts of cryptocurrency for an extended period.

Blue Wallet is ideal for users who prefer to be more involved in a hands-on approach and can connect to their node. It is a non-custodial wallet for mobile applications such as Android, iOS, and desktop applications. 

To learn more about these Bitcoin Lightning Wallets– Click here!

Bottom Line: Bitcoin Lightning Wallet

Lightning Network is experiencing tremendous momentum and impetus in the digital payments era. This revolutionary network is a scalable payment protocol that simultaneously facilitates instant, scalable, and low-cost micropayments. 

On the other hand, transactions are getting settled without the need for third-party intermediaries. This leads to remarkably minimal transactional fees as well as high processing speed. These wallets and services can help you to use the lightning network easily. If you have yet to explore these wallets, now is the perfect time to explore one that brings out the unparalleled convenience you are looking for in digital payments.