Phoenix Wallet Review
Phoenix is a Lightning, non-custodial bitcoin wallet that enables you to send, receive, and store bitcoin. It is open source, which means that anyone can review and contribute to the code.
Description
Phoenix is a bitcoin non-custodial wallet that allows you to send, receive, and store bitcoin. It is an open source wallet built on top of the Lightning Network to enable instant and low-cost transactions. It supports Electrum server and Tor for advanced users.
How Phoenix wallet works
To begin using Phoenix wallet, you must first download the app and create a new wallet. It is available on both Android and iOS. After installing the wallet, you need to back up your wallet with a 12-word seedphrase in case your phone is lost, broken or stolen. To do this, you need to click the settings gear icon on the bottom left, click recovery phrase and click display seed.
You need to save the seedphrase somewhere safe. If you lose your seedphrase and your phone, you have completely lost your funds.
You can easily send and receive bitcoin after setting up your wallet by scanning QR codes or using Lightning invoices. The app also includes a bitcoin-to-fiat currency converter, which allows you to see the value of your bitcoin holdings in your local currency. Please note that the Android version of the application has a restricted selection of fiat currencies to show your balance.
Phoenix is primarily intended for conducting transactions through the Lightning Network. It serves as a native Lightning wallet, effectively operating as a Lightning node that runs on your phone. In the channel details page, the app displays the balance and capacity for each channel. However, you can use the “swaps” feature to send and receive bitcoin on-chain. This approach helps to keep transaction fees low and provide a seamless experience for users who primarily use the Lightning Network.
Phoenix wallet fees
Phoenix wallet charges a minimum fee of 3000 sats or 1% for on-the-fly channel creation, higher than other Lightning wallets. This means, you need 3000 sats in your wallet to receive bitcoin via Lightning Network on Phoenix. Otherwise, the fee will be deducted from the incoming funds to initiate a new channel. The first payment you receive must be at least 10,000 sats. The default fee for outgoing Lightning payments is 12 sats + 0.50%. You can override the default fee. There are no fees for receiving Lightning payments, unless a new channel has to be created.
Some other Lightning wallets offer more dynamic fee structures, which can help users save money on transaction fees.
Because Phoenix runs natively on Lightning, if you are receiving on chain bitcoin, you should look to use an on chain wallet to avoid having to pay fees associated with swaps.
Phoenix wallet benefits
One of Phoenix’s main advantages is its emphasis on user privacy. Because the wallet is non-custodial, you have complete control over your funds at all times. To help protect your personal information and transaction data, the app also employs a number of privacy-enhancing technologies, such as Tor.
In conclusion, Phoenix is well-known for its user-friendly design and straightforward interface. The app is intended to be simple to use, even for those unfamiliar with bitcoin. This has contributed to Phoenix becoming one of the most popular Lightning Network wallets on the market today.
More information about Phoenix Lightning wallet
- Phoenix wallet
- Phoenix updates on Twitter: @PhoenixWallet
Additional information
| Wallet Type | |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin Only | |
| Source Code | |
| Lightning Network | |
| LNURL | |
| Replace by fee (RBF) | |
| Wallet Integration | |
| Backup | |
| Tor Support | Yes |
| Mobile App | Yes |
| Operating System (OS) | |
| Year Launched | 2019 |
| Made in | France |
ton –
Hi. Phoenix wallet is my main lightning network wallet, it’s simple, visually appealing and very fast with payments. I hope many more BTC LN enthusiasts will adopt it as their main wallet. highly recommended
Alfred Sparrow –
Phoenix wallet is really easy for newbies in cryptocurrency. I say it is even the easiest for a new user. The registration is easy in 5 minutes, it’s already done your wallet is ready and the exchanges are done very fast. Isn’t it fantastic!
Madusanka –
Phoenix Wallet is a Lightning Network wallet that is simple, visually appealing, and fast with payments. It is easy for newbies in cryptocurrency, with registration taking 5 minutes and exchanges done quickly. Highly recommended for BTC LN enthusiasts.
Levi5 –
Very simple and intuitive to use. As a non-custodial wallet, users are in charge of their money and responsible for keeping recovery phrase safe. However, it may not be for first time user as it requires 3,000 sat fee for opening one new channel plus % fee for transactions. Phoenix has a telegram discussion group, but users posing questions must be cautious against scammers sending DMs faking as admin support. Support is not much, meaning you do your own research besides the discussion group on telegram.
I don’t know why, but my Phoenix app once refused to receive funds from ln.tips, Wallet of Satoshi even though I still have capacity. Minus 1 point here.
Overall, as a non custodial wallet, it works for daily casual transactions but the experience wasn’t so smooth.