BlueWallet users are encouraged to withdraw money

by · February 28, 2023

BlueWallet is suspending the lightning hub connection to Lndhub, according to an official statement. BlueWallet will cease operations of custodial lightning, which means that BlueWallet users of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network must connect to nodes to continue using BlueWallet lightning services.

Calle, a Lightning developer who tweeted about the change, told Cointelegraph:

“The most important thing is that people don’t panic and suddenly noobs move out their chain means or wrong lightning balance.”

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment solution built on Bitcoin. The Lightning Network is used to send small amounts of Bitcoin around, 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. The largest channel has a capacity of 4 BTC ($95,000), according to data from Amboss. BlueWallet is often a popular lightning wallet is recommended of famous Bitcoiners.

Calle continued: “It’s important to realize that lndhub is a protocol that helps you connect wallets to accounts. The wallet (in this case) is BlueWallet, but other wallets also support LndHub (like Alby or Zeus).”

“The account is being closed, not LndHub or Bluewallet itself. The account here is hosted by the BlueWallet team and they don’t want to do this anymore.”

While users will still be able to withdraw their stake, it will no longer be possible to create new or top up existing lightning wallets on the LndHub node. BlueWallet publicly stated that rate users connected to BlueWallet’s lightning node, they should move them as soon as possible.

BlueWallet’s website recommends “keeping the amount [of Bitcoin] low” to use the Lightning Network, as it is “experimental”. Source: bluewallet.io/lightning

The service will be shut down on April 30, so it is imperative that BlueWallet users move their stakes to another service or wallet of their choice. However, regular Bitcoin wallets are not affected by this change.

Related: Bitcoin Lightning Network Growth Is Organic, Coming From Real-World Adoption

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-custodial solutions,” according to its website. The change seeks to promote decentralized solutions and self-care.

Disclaimer: Cointelegraph contacted BlueWallet for comment. BlueWallet said to check the blog post on BlueWallet’s website.