Breez is one of the most accessible Lightning Network bitcoin wallets for mobile phones, with nice innovative extras. In addition to ease of use, Breez offers a handy Point of Sale terminal to pay for products or services and a podcast player based on Podcasting 2.0 with which you can make direct donations and stream sats to your favorite podcast channel.

Gone are the days when the Lightning Network was complicated, because there is a new generation of bitcoin wallets that makes it child’s play. Among this new generation of wallets, the Breez wallet is one of the most user-friendly.

Simple User Interface

Breez is an open source wallet application for mobile phones (iOS/Android), which is primarily a Lightning Network wallet. At Breez, the Lightning Network is the main thing and the usual on-chain functionality is an afterthought.

Above: The overview in the Breez wallet

As a user you hardly notice this, because the user experience of Breez is excellent. Breez takes all the complexity out of your hands and presents you with a simple and accessible user interface , which is pretty close to what you would expect from mainstream apps. ‘N00b-accessible’ , as CEO Roy Sheinfeld calls it.

With Breez you ‘just’ have one wallet with one balance, with which you can do both Lightning transactions and normal on-chain transactions. When you make or want to receive a transaction, you can choose between a normal bitcoin transaction or Lightning transaction, but beyond that, the software takes care of the rest.

For example, you don’t have to open, close, or balance Lightning Network payment channels yourself. Also worth mentioning is that you can immediately receive funds via the Lightning Network after creating the wallet. Some other wallets require someone to open a payment channel to you, but with Breez, the Breez Lightning Hub automatically opens and funds a channel to you.

Only when you do normal on-chain transactions do you notice that Breez is really a Lightning Wallet. For example, to receive an on-chain transaction, a setup fee of 0.1% is applied for the Submarine Swaps.

This is not unusual with these types of Lightning wallets, because Phoenix wallet also charges costs for this, for example.

Above: With the POS terminal, you can pay for products at the touch of a button

point of sale

Notably, Breez also includes additional functionality, such as a built-in Point of Sale (POS) terminal; some sort of checkout system. The interface at the POS terminal has been optimized so that it is easy to use to pay for products or services.

You can use it to set up products or services in advance, which you can then simply pay for at the touch of a button. The prices can be entered in bitcoin or satoshis, but also simply in euros. In addition, you can also simply enter a price manually with a numerical keyboard on the screen and generate an invoice from it.

Because of the POS terminal, Breez can be interesting for small entrepreneurs who want to use Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, but did not yet have the resources or know-how to do so. In principle, you can get started right away with the Breez POS terminal. Provided you also arrange the administrative and accounting part, because Breez does not do that. There is an export function on the balance overview to help you with that.

Streaming sats with Podcasting 2.0

More exciting is that Breez supports Podcasting 2.0. This is an initiative started by ‘podfather’ Adam Curry, with the aim of decentralizing the world of podcasts. That world is now dominated by all kinds of intermediaries such as iTunes, Spotify and also donation platforms such as Patreon. They snatch part of the earnings and censorship is also an increasing problem.

With Podcasting 2.0, podcasters can get rid of such intermediaries by subscribing to the podcast index. Podcast apps can take advantage of that to offer users a list of podcasts. The addition of the Bitcoin Lightning Network completes the picture, as listeners can donate directly to their favorite podcast.

Above: Podcasting 2.0 in Breez

This creates a podcast ecosystem completely outside the big tech giants, where podcasters can keep most of their earnings and regain a large part of their independence.

After Sphinx, Breez is the second wallet application to support Podcasting 2.0. You can easily switch to the built-in podcast player via a menu in the wallet.

That works just as easily as the rest of the app. You will immediately see a list of podcasts, including some about Bitcoin, which you can click to listen to the podcast. A great alternative to existing podcast apps, although the range of podcasts is still somewhat limited in this initial phase.

Everything is completely free unless you voluntarily decide to donate. You decide whether, when and how much you think it’s worth; “Value for value” is what Adam Curry calls it. The idea is that if people find something valuable, they naturally tend to want to support it.

You can donate by means of a ‘ boost ‘, which is a one-time donation, where you can set the number of satoshi’s you donate from 100 sats (???????0.04) per boost . You can also donate per minute. You then enter an amount in satoshis, which is then transferred to the podcast every minute. That way you donate as you listen and never more or less. You can donate in this way from 10 satoshis (???????0.004) per minute.

Self-custodial but no seed phrase

Breez is not a ‘normal’ bitcoin wallet. Breez is trust minimized and self-custodial , but you don’t get a seed phrase , for example . Since Breez is a Lightning wallet, you need a backup of the payment channels.

Breez solves that by automatically backing up the wallet to the cloud storage of your Android or iOS account. You have the option to encrypt the data. If you ever buy a new phone and restore your Android or iOS account on it, the Breez app can restore your wallet from the backup in your cloud storage upon reinstallation.

That is very user-friendly, because you do not have to worry about saving your private keys or seed phrase. This prevents errors and removes a time-consuming barrier for new users.

Of course, that makes you dependent on Google or Apple’s cloud storage, but since you already use the wallet on one of their devices, that might not be such a bad thing. Moreover, there are also some advantages to using the reliable cloud storage of an established party.

There is a risk that you will ever lose access to your Google or Apple account, for example as a result of SIM swapping. Then you will (temporarily) no longer have access to the backup in the cloud that Breez needs to restore the wallet. Breez does not currently offer any other backup options. So make sure you protect your phone and account well and set up Two-Step Authentication (2FA).

Conclusion: a wallet for spending

Breez is an excellent Bitcoin and Lightning wallet for everyday spending. The app makes Bitcoin and the Lightning Network incredibly easy and accessible. No hassle, just a payment app with a modern look that does what it should do. If you regularly make or receive bitcoin payments, especially via the Lightning Network, Breez is recommended.

Entrepreneurs can also benefit from the POS terminal, although it is mainly suitable for extra income and small-scale operations. However, for freelancers or sole proprietors who want the option to accept Bitcoin payments ‘occasionally’, Breez can be a useful addition.

If you are interested in Podcasting 2.0, Breez is a must have . The podcast player is a great alternative and gives you the opportunity to easily support podcasts, even for less than a penny, through direct donations without intermediaries. In addition to your donation, you also support a new kind of ecosystem for independent podcasts.

Breez is less suitable for some things. If you want to do more advanced things on Bitcoin or the Lightning Network, such as multisig transactions or rent liquidity via Lightning Pool, Breez is of course the wrong place for you. Breez is simply not intended for that. Breez is also not a wallet to put all your savings on. It is better to use a hardware wallet or smart multisig solution for this.

Breez is more like the wallet in your bag or pocket: a wallet for everyday spending and a smaller amount of money, which you occasionally top up from your savings. And Breez is a great choice for that. The extra gadgets also make it just a little more than just a wallet.

Advantages

• Extremely accessible
• Sleek design
• Open source
• Podcasting 2.0
• POS terminal

Cons

• Backup restore only via Breez app
• Backup only via Google/Apple cloud storage
• Small extra fee for on-chain transactions

Also view the Breez website or the Github, or download the Breez wallet application directly from the Apple Appstore or Google Playstore. You can read more about Podcasting 2.0 in our previous article.