LNURL
Also covering Lightning Addresses
LNURL is a set of protocols for communicating information using URLs and HTTPS. Perhaps the most common use of LNURL is transferring BOLT11 invoices. A related protocol is Lightning Addresses which allow transforming a static identifier that looks like an RFC822 email address into a BOLT11 invoice.
An upside of LNURL is their flexibility and use of widely understood HTTP: a web developer can use their existing skills to interact with LN clients. This allows web developers to handle business logic on the web side of their application and only use a LN node to send and receive payments. It also makes it easy for web developers to use LN node capabilities in new and interesting ways, such as LNURL-based authentication.
A downside of LNURL is that hosted LNURL services may learn information about their users’ payments and other actions. For example, many Lightning Addresses are managed by centralized services that have the capability to intercept payments and potentially track how much a user receives through their Lightning Address. For this reason, alternatives to LNURL or additional layers on top of it have been proposed.
Primary code and documentation
Optech newsletter and website mentions
2023
2022
- BTCPay Server #3709 adds support for pull payments to be received via a LNURL withdraw
- Large size of blinded paths may make them dependent on invoice protocols like LNURL or offers
- Dicussion about how to make LNURL and offers compatible
- C-Lightning #5121 updates its
invoiceRPC for improved LNURL compatibility - BTCPay Server #3083 allows administrators to log in using LNURL authentication
2021
- Lightning Address identifiers announced based on LNURL
- Stacker News launched with LNURL authentication
- Phoenix v1.4.12 adds support for the LNURL-pay protocol
- Discussion about a BIP70 replacement, including a version that works with LNURL
See also
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