Woow!!! If you have Telegram you have your Bitcoin Lightning Network Wallet 馃槂
The power of Lightning on Telegram, composition made with GIMP using free images
Following the line of discovery of the different applications that take advantage of the lightning network technology, as we showed in the post Living an experience close to the Web3 with Bitcoin Lightning Network with Alby, we have discovered something extraordinary: Telegram integrates through bots an excellent Bitcoin Lightning Network wallet. We will tell you the details below.
Telegram overview
Screenshot on https://www.telegram.org/
Telegram is one of the most popular instant messaging applications, rivaling others like Whatsapp or Messenger. In that competition, it is adding more and more functionalities that make it very attractive for users and developers. Some of these functionalities are native and third parties add others (if they are successful, they even become native). The functionalities created by third parties are mainly done through bots, as we quote from FAQ:
Q: How do I create a bot?
Creating Telegram bots is super-easy, but you will need at least some skills in computer programming. If you're sure you're up to it, our Introduction for Developers is a good place to start.
The power of Bitcoin Lightning Network
Image taken from blog.blockonomics.co
Bitcoin Lightning Network is a protocol to improve the scalability of Bitcoin, allowing transactions with very low commissions and almost instant, hence its reference symbol of lightning. It should be borne in mind that when operating with the lightning, transactions are being routed over payment channels established via p2p relationships, once a payment channel is closed, the transactions are recorded on the bitcoin blockchain. As this protocol has evolved, it has gained in adoption, security, and reliability. Until this moment it is recommended to use the lightning network only for everyday use with pocket amounts, larger values should be stored in non-custodial wallets and preferably on the chain.
If you want to know the most popular wallets and their features I recommend @brianoflondon's post: Best BTC Lightning Wallet Apps to use with Hive
The great Combination: Telegram with Bitcoin Lightning Network Wallet
If you already have Telegram and have become familiar with the use of bots in their chats and groups then it will not be difficult for you to activate your Bitcoin Lightning Network Wallet. To do this, just access the @lntxbot bot directly from telegram or through the link: https://t.me/lntxbot. Once inside you execute the /start command and that's it, you have your wallet activated and you will receive from the bot all the basic information you need to operate.
A Lightning wallet in your Telegram. Call /help for usage information or join us on
@lntxbot_dev. Follow https://twitter.com/lntxbot for updates.One of the most attractive features of Lnxbot is that it gives you a lightning address "Like an email address but your bitcoins". It is enough to know your Telegram user (ertytux in my case) and your address will be [email protected] ([email protected] for me) or a link where anybody can send tips to you https://lntxbot.com/@TelegramUsername (https://lntxbot.com/@ertytux for me).
In addition, as Lnxbot uses Lndhug technology, it is possible to add the account to other wallets such as BlueWallet or Zeus, although we prefer to use the Alby browser plugin that gives us an interactive experience with other applications that work on the lightning network.
Adding the lnxbot wallet to Alby
Screenshot of the Alby plugin
If they don't have the Alby browser plugin you can add it from this link, once installed creating an account is an intuitive process but that in the documentation on their page they describe very well. To add the lnxboot account toalby we must enter the lndhug information using the /bluewallet command for it in the bot chat @lnxbot in Telegram. This will generate a code like lndhub://XXXXXXXXXXXXYYYY that we must copy or scan from the QR code and paste on Add new account on Alby panel:
Screenshots of the Alby plugin
select the LNDHub option for late paste the code generated from
It will also have a fairly agile way of interacting with the $Hive bridge with the lightning network: @v4vapp https://lnd.v4v.app/
Enjoy!!!
Thanks by your time