Bitcoin node connection shuts down: BlueWallet users urged to withdraw funds

BlueWallet is sunsetting its lightning node connection to Lndhub.io according to an official statement. BlueWallet will cease custodial Lightning operations–meaning that BlueWallet users of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network must connect to nodes to continue using BlueWallet lighting services.

What does BlueWallet sunsetting LndHub mean for you?

– If you use BlueWallet for on-chain bitcoin: ✅ nothing

– If you use other LndHub services (like LightningTipBot, LNbits, Alby): ✅ nothing

– If you use the Lightning account hosted by them: ⚡️ Move your sats out

Read on

— calle ⚡️ (@callebtc) February 23, 2023

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 on-chain funds or wrong lightning balances.”

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment solution built upon Bitcoin. The LN is used for sending small amounts of Bitcoin around, called Satoshis or Sats, often using a lightning wallet.

Blue Wallet is a popular LN wallet that has over 42 BTC ($1 million) liquidy and its largest channel has 4 BTC ($95,000) capacity according to data from Amboss. BlueWallet a popular lightning wallet, often recommended by well-known 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 shutting down, 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 sats, creating new or refilling existing Lightning wallets on LndHub node will no longer be possible. BlueWallet publicly stated that users with sats connected to BlueWallet’s Lightning node, they should move them as soon as possible.

The service will be shut down on April 30th, so it is crucial that BlueWallet users move their sats 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 view the change as a thorn in the side of LN adoption, it is important to note that BlueWallet will “only support self-custody solutions,” according to the website. The change seeks to promote decentralized solutions and self-custody.

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