LNURL
Community-driven tools for inter-wallet communication
2 Different protocols
| Lightning | HTTP |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin transfer | Information transfer |
| Communication between LN wallets | Communication between Web-Server and Browser/HTTP-client |
For better UX!
Protocol development ordered historically
- HTTP
- LN
- LNURL
Goal
Automating communication processes that were previously done manually
Manual communication - Example
"Hey Alice, I want to send you 21 sats, could you send me an invoice?"
Disadvantage
A set of tools
- Similar in technology
- Different in use cases
Overview
LNURL-pay
Automation:
"Hey Alice, I want to send you 21 sats, could you send me an invoice?"
LNURL-pay
'Static' invoice
- https://lipa.swiss/lnurl-pay?session=08fe6c2...
- URL is static
- Can be requested multiple times
- Actual LN invoices change
Lightning addresses
- gabriel@lipa.swiss
- Uses LNURL-pay
- Url is well defined
- http://lipa.swiss/.well-known/lnurlp/gabriel
LNURL-withdraw
Automation:
"Hey Bob, send me 21 sats"
Security
- User is authenticated
- Withdraw your own funds
- Use with limited funds!
LNURL-pay
Bolt Cards
- They use LNURL-withdraw!
- Payee could take more than expected amount
Not so relevant for us ...
- LNURL-channel
- LNURL-auth
LNURL-channel
Automation:
"Hey Charlie, open channel with me"
LNURL-auth
Using LN node keys to authenticate oneself on a service/website
LNURL playground
- Link
- Information often displayed as QR codes
Bolt 12 - Offers
- Only LN, no HTTP
- Better
- In Development
- Docs