Muun wallet is perhaps the most user-friendly mobile Bitcoin & Lightning wallet at the moment. With minimal settings, hardly any restrictions, cheap fees and one shared balance, Muun wallet makes Bitcoin and Lightning simpler than ever before. Muun wallet just works well, fast and simple. Read our review here.

Bitcoin wallets are developing at a rapid pace. A few years ago, it took quite a bit of knowledge to manage a normal bitcoin wallet and Lightning Network wallets were mainly for advanced users. Today it is completely different.

A new generation of easy-to-use Lightning wallets make Bitcoin and the Lightning Network easier than ever. New in the race for the most user-friendly wallet app is Muun wallet – perhaps the easiest wallet app at the moment.

Muun wallet is an open source Bitcoin & Lightning wallet for Android and iOS. The goal of the Muun wallet team is a simple and user-friendly wallet app based on self-custody, which everyone can use.

Self custody

The wallet app is being developed by a team from Argentina. That country has been struggling for years with economic problems, bank runs, limited access to savings and other restrictions in the payment system. The team therefore see Bitcoin as a solution and alternative, with which people can get rid of banking risks and other dependencies.

Self-custody, where you manage your own bitcoins without a service provider, is naturally desirable for Argentines, explains Dario Sneidermanis of Muun wallet. With Muun wallet, the intention is to bring that within reach for normal people.

User experience

The emphasis at Muun wallet is therefore on the user experience. That is where Muun wallet excels. It is one of the easiest and most accessible wallet apps to date.

You will notice this immediately after installing the wallet app. You then secure the app with a pin code, but after that you can immediately start sending or receiving transactions. You don’t need to open or fund any Lightning payment channels, and the usual writing down of the seed phrase isn’t involved.

Muun wallet looks simple. The user interface is simple and there are only a few different screens with a minimal amount of settings that are largely self-explanatory. There is only one technical setting. On the main screen you will simply find one balance and a button for receiving and sending.

Sending a transaction couldn’t be easier. You have one screen for sending and Muun wallet itself recognizes whether it is a normal bitcoin address or a Lightning invoice. As a user, you don’t actually need to know or understand the difference.

Receiving a transaction is almost as easy, only you have to indicate whether you want to receive a normal bitcoin transaction or one via the Lightning Network. In one case you generate a bitcoin address that you send to the sender and in the other case it is a Lightning invoice. It’s easy to copy and paste from the app.

No restrictions, low costs

Muun wallet seems better in some areas than other user-friendly Lightning wallets, such as Phoenix, Breez or BlueWallet. For example, if you make an on-chain transaction via Muun wallet, there is no minimum amount and the fees seem relatively low. This is especially noticeable in the interaction between the normal Bitcoin network and the Lightning Network.

For example, the transaction costs for a regular bitcoin transaction of ???????5 euros at Muun wallet were only 402 sats (???????0.13) at the cheapest during our test. Phoenix wallet charged 2820 sats (??0.95) for the same transaction. Breez wallet does not support such low on-chain transactions and with BlueWallet such a transaction is only possible from the on-chain balance.

However, it is no problem for Muun to pay from one balance and the costs are very acceptable. Lightning Network transactions are of course always cheap, just like with the other Lightning wallets.

Under the hood

It doesn’t seem very impressive, because as a user you don’t notice the technical magic that takes place in the background. A layman might think that it is a fairly simple app. However, the Lightning Network works completely differently from the underlying Bitcoin network, which is why the simplicity of Muun wallet is quite an achievement in reality.

Muun wallet takes care of the complete management of Lightning payment channels. Muun wallet immediately opens payment channels for you when you create a new wallet and ensures that they are financed and balanced. Muun wallet also provides the submarine swaps to move funds between the Bitcoin network and the Lightning Network. As a user you will not notice this.

Thanks to Turbo channels you can get started immediately after creating the wallet and you don’t have to wait until the channel is opened in the next block. Turbo channels temporarily require a little bit of trust, but you can disable the option if necessary. The chance that Muun will misuse it is small, says the Muun wallet team, because that would be visible on the blockchain and therefore lead to irreparable damage to reputation.

Muun wallet is essentially a 2-of-2 multisig wallet, with Muun wallet signing as a second party for security. That makes it extra difficult for hackers and other malicious parties to steal the necessary private keys .

Self-custodial, no seed phrase

However, you do keep all the strings in your own hands, because you are the only one who has access to both sets of private keys via the backup mechanism. It is therefore a self-custodial bitcoin wallet, because you are free to import your bitcoin wallet into another wallet app.

Backups work differently with Muun wallet than with other wallet apps: you do not get a seed phrase with Muun wallet. That would also not be enough, because Muun wallet is also a Lightning wallet and the payment channels must also be saved for this. The general public already considers storing a seed phrase a hurdle, and backing up a Lightning wallet is probably going too far for many. Muun therefore tries it in a different way.

As a new user at Muun wallet you are not immediately forced to make a backup, but on the main screen a subtle but effective message reminds you that you do not have any backups yet. That introduces a small risk for new users, but it also removes a barrier.

Perhaps there is something to be said for this: an average user will eventually realize the importance of backups as soon as there is a substantial amount on the wallet.

Innovative backups

Muun supports three levels of backups that you can set in turn. The first and most basic backup is email-based. Muun will ask you for an e-mail address and a self-chosen password. Then the first backup is arranged.

If you want to import your bitcoin wallet after a new installation of Muun wallet, you can do so by entering your e-mail address, clicking on a verification link in the e-mail you receive and then entering the password of your choice. After that your wallet is restored.

The process feels familiar and a bit like the old fashioned and common way of resetting accounts. Of course you must keep the e-mail address and do not forget the password.

The second backup builds on this further. Muun generates a special ‘Recovery Code’ based on the e-mail address provided. The combination of the two provides an additional way to restore the wallet through a verification link in an email.

The third backup is the most advanced. Muun wallet creates a special Emergency Kit, with which you can also import the bitcoin wallet into other wallet apps. It is actually a PDF file on which all the necessary information is encrypted. Using your Recovery Code and the open source Recovery Tool you can decrypt the information. That requires more technical knowledge than the rest of Muun wallet.

You can save the Emergency Kit via the app to Google Drive or have it sent to you via email, but you can also save it manually. Since the important information can only be deciphered with the recovery code, you can basically store the Emergency Kit how and where you want.

What can Muun not do?

There are also things that Muun wallet does not excel at. Muun wallet, for example, does not (yet) offer options for Replace-By-Fee (RBF) or message signing . In addition, you cannot connect your own Lightning node to Muun wallet. There is also no support for hardware wallets, because it is a Lightning wallet.

You might also ask yourself whether Muun wallet is the best choice for long-term savings. Mobile wallets may not be the best choice for this anyway. And although Muun wallet’s backup mechanism is innovative, it does depend on an email address or a Recovery Tool.

Conclusion

However, muun wallet is excellent as a ‘hot wallet’ for everyday spending. It is probably the simplest and most user-friendly wallet app out there right now.

Muun wallet seems to compete mainly with Phoenix wallet and Breez wallet, both of which also focus strongly on user-friendliness. Muun wallet goes the extra mile and also seems cheaper to use. The innovative email-based backup mechanism is an interesting addition, as it further reduces accessibility for new users.

Especially for beginners and people who find Bitcoin and the Lightning Network complicated, Muun wallet offers an excellent first experience. Advanced bitcoiners looking for a mobile wallet will also appreciate the convenience and simplicity. Only if you have high expectations regarding the technical possibilities, Muun wallet may disappoint, but it is simply not intended for that.

Is Muun wallet finally the wallet that even your grandparents can use? Maybe not just yet. But your parents, they probably get along just fine. Muun wallet is therefore recommended for anyone looking for a Lightning wallet for daily spending. It just works well, fast and simple – and that’s great for every user.

Advantages

• Extremely simple
• Self custody
• One balance for Bitcoin & Lightning
• Innovative and simple backups
• Favorable parties

Cons

• No own Lightning node
• No additional or advanced functionality
• Backups work differently

Also read our reviews of Phoenix wallet and Breez wallet! Are you new to Bitcoin? Check out our quick guide to Getting Started with Bitcoin!