S13 E10: Hampus Sjöberg On Blixt Wallet & Improving Bitcoin

Blixt wallet is the new cool kid on the Lightning wallets block – and Hampus Sjöberg is the mastermind behind this ambitious project. Why does the world need yet another Lightning network wallet when the non-custodial market is controlled by Phoenix and Breez? Because there’s genuine demand for power user features and sometimes simplifying the interface for the sake of user experience just won’t satisfy everybody.

While Breez and Phoenix do a great job keeping it simple and minimizing the amount of information that the user sees about what’s going on, Blixt proudly provides in-depth data and stats. Want to easily read logs about your transactions? That’s something that Blixt facilitates. Want to have more control during automatic channel creation? You can’t go wrong with Blixt.

Currently, Hampus Sjöberg is also in the process of perfecting the Nostr zaps experience. Thanks to Blixt’s “persistent Mode”, users can receive zaps (aka financial incentives for their posts) within the interface of a non-custodial wallet like Blixt. This requires some technical wizardry to keep the application running in the background without draining much of the phone battery. In some ways, it sounds suboptimal and it’s definitely less convenient than settling for a custodial solution like Wallet or Satoshi or Alby. But Hampus believes that this non-custodial approach is worthwhile from both a practical and ideological perspective. After all, a real bitcoiner should never trust custodians. 

Blixt also makes use of BIP 157/158 to download block filters and technically mimics the full node experience on your phone. If you add the Tor integration for IP address obfuscation, you get a pretty good privacy wallet experience. Arguably, Blixt offers one of the best ways to use Bitcoin privately on a mobile phone. The most exciting part about it is that all the features run in the background and are enabled by default.

Something really fascinating on which Hampus Sjöberg is currently working is called Lightning Box. With it, users can receive Lightning payments in a non-custodial way even when they’re not connected to the internet. It makes use of a pretty smart workaround which puts this inbox in the middle of the operation – once user nodes or clients come back online, they’ll be able to use authentication and withdrawal features to claim the funds that are rightfully theirs. Lightning Box is not an entirely trustless solution, but it’s trust minimized and pretty promising. After all, Lightning is Bitcoin and Bitcoin should also be used by people who don’t have a permanent internet connection.

During my interview with Hampus Sjöberg, we also talked about his Bitcoin maximalist views. He is a fan of Drivechains and believes that the Bitcoin base layer still requires improvements. After all, what should we expect from the creator of Taproot.watch? 

Listen to Hampus Sjoberg on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube!

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Time Stamps:

Introduction [00:00:51] Vlad introduces the podcast and the guest, Hampus Sjöberg, the creator of Blixt Wallet.

Blixt Wallet Overview [00:02:16] Hampus describes Blixt Wallet as a private node wallet with features such as automatic channel creation and the ability to read LND logs.

Opening Channels [00:05:00] Hampus explains how Blixt Wallet allows users to open channels on demand when receiving payments larger than their current channel capacity.

Comparison with Competitors [00:06:14] Hampus compares Blixt Wallet to competitors such as Breeze, Phoenix, and Moon, highlighting Blixt’s flexibility and coverage of LND features.

Unique Feature [00:08:23] Hampus mentions Blixt Wallet’s ability to set a custom name for payments, making it easier to keep track of transaction logs.

Integration with Noor [00:09:29] Vlad praises Blixt Wallet’s integration with Nostr, allowing users to receive lightning payments without setting up a node.

Lightning Box [00:10:22] A concept of a lightning address server that allows for non-custodial services by requesting an invoice from the wallet app on the phone.

Persistent Mode [00:11:33] An upcoming feature in Blixt Wallet that allows the app to always be active and available to take incoming payments without significantly impacting battery life.

Privacy Features [00:13:53] Blixt Wallet uses BIP 157 (Neutrino) and allows users to connect their own nodes, making it a private non-custodial wallet. It also has built-in Tor functionality and the option to tunnel all Bitcoin and Lightning traffic over Tor.

Test Flight Mode [00:16:52] Blixt Wallet is currently in Test Flight mode for iPhone users and is being tested and scrutinized before being released in the App Store.

Tor Integration [00:15:27, 00:18:24] Blixt Wallet has built-in Tor functionality and plans to support Orbit in the short term. The difference between using Orbot and enabling Tor integration in Blixt Wallet is mainly a convenience factor.

Blixt vs. Blue Wallet [00:19:07] Blixt Wallet is compared to Blue Wallet as a potential alternative for non-custodial Lightning services, as Blue Wallet is dropping support for its custodial Lightning side and is not being maintained as much.

Blixt Wallet’s audience [00:19:54] Description of Blixt Wallet’s audience, including users from other wallets and those interested in Lightning Network.

Why use Blixt Wallet? [00:21:25] Explanation of why Bitcoin users should choose Blixt Wallet, including its user-friendly interface and deeper learning possibilities.

Sponsorship ads [00:22:24-00:25:27] Ads for Wasabi Wallet, Cryptosteel, BumBee, and ShopInBit.

Upcoming features for Blixt Wallet [00:26:52-00:29:05] Discussion of upcoming features for Blixt Wallet, including a persistent mode and a private pillar of the Lightning Box service, as well as plans to expand to desktop OS. Mention of drivechains technology.

Drivechains [00:31:20] Discussion on the potential use of drivechains in the long term for Lightning Network.

Developing Blixt Wallet [00:32:42] Hampus Sjöberg discusses his motivation for developing Blixt Wallet and how he is developing it to meet his personal needs.

Lightning Network Progress [00:33:38] Vlad and Hampus discuss the progress of Lightning Network and how it has become more user-friendly with the development of mobile applications.

Professionalization of Routing Nodes [00:36:21] Hampus predicts that routing nodes will become a professional industry similar to mining, and that most users should use a lighting wallet on their phone instead of becoming a routing node.

Issues with Slow Nodes [00:39:16] Discussion on how slow nodes can cause issues for the reliability of Lightning Network and how it can sometimes be slow as a result.

Channel Management in Blixt Wallet [00:40:19] Hampus discusses how he has minimized the need for channel management in Blixt Wallet, but users still have the option to manage their channels if they wish.

Lightning Network [00:41:22] Explanation of the trade-off between on-chain and Lightning transactions for saving block space.

Bitcoin’s Imperfection [00:43:15] Discussion on the prevalent opinion that Bitcoin is perfect.

Mentions:

• Blue Wallet (00:19:54)
• Wallet of Satoshi (00:19:54)
• Simple Bitcoin Wallet (00:19:54)
• Muun (00:19:54)
• Blixt Wallet (00:21:39)
• Wasabi Wallet (00:22:24)
• Cryptosteel (00:23:25)
• Bumbee (00:25:09)
• ShopinBit (00:25:27)
• Telegram (00:28:03)
• Electrum (00:29:05)
• ACINQ (00:29:21)
• Github: Issue regarding trampoline support for LND (00:31:20)
• OpenBazaar, Andre Neves, Breez, and Phoenix: Lightning nodes in the phone (00:34:54)
• Wasabi Wallet: a free and open source wallet solution which makes use of mega coin joints to mix your coins with those of hundreds of other strangers. Timestamp: 01:43:08
• Crypto Steel: innovators in bitcoin cold storage. Timestamp: 01:44:16
• Bumbee: the bitcoin way to monetize your content. Timestamp: 01:46:06
• ShopinBit: Europe’s biggest bitcoin store with over 800,000 products. Timestamp: 01:46:18