#Phoenixwallet has release a new major feature on Android/ios/server now support BOLT12 ;👇🏽👇🏽

- reusable, non-expiring payment requests

- contact list (Android for now, iOS soon)

- attach messages to payments

More info: bolt12.org

#Bitcoin    #LightningNetwork

Source; Twitter [X]

👉🏽https://x.com/PhoenixWallet/status/1808547081214439494?t=BaPg5ZKgHIrx43zuO8GvUQ&s=19

What Is BOLT 12?

BOLT 12 (Basis of Lightning Technology 12), a newly-proposed Lightning Network specification for “offers,” a type of “meta invoice” designed by c-lightning developer Rusty Russell.

BOLT 12 offers is an attempt to achieve some of the core functionality that LNURL provides without requiring the use of a web server. Using BOLT 12 offer encodes the data necessary to reach a node to request an invoice to make a payment, either a node_id, or a blinded path (the last few hops in an onion route, pre-computed and encrypted) to that node using onion messages.

It also can encode a minimum amount for a payment, the currency being paid in, an expiry time and minimum/maximum quantity numbers (for purchasing multiple items).

This is all of the information necessary to fetch an actual invoice from the node that issued the offer. Someone who wants to pay an invoice does so over onion messages, one of the core features of BOLT 12.

Advantages of BOLT 12

It allows Lightning nodes to make a direct, end-to-end-encrypted connection between each other that does not involve a Lightning channel. Just like Lightning payments, these can be used to onion route messages. After obtaining an offer, a payer will use the information encoded in it to send an invoice_request message. The creator of the offer will then respond back with an actual invoice.

There is also support for generating unique per user offers that allow the receiver to request a payment from the creator of the offer, similar to LNURL’s withdrawal request feature. BOLT 12 invoices commit to a unique payer key — this can be used in the case of issuing refunds to prove you are the person who actually paid the invoice.

This can also be used in combination with the withdrawal offer to guarantee that only the correct person can succeed in getting an invoice paid by the creator, as opposed to whoever is able to get a copy of the offer. These two uses of offers effectively fulfill the same functionality as the invoice and withdrawal requests of LNURL, without the need to run a web server.

How BOLT 12 works?

A BOLT 12 “offer” has enough information for you to reach out and fetch a real invoice from the vendor through the Lightning Network itself, just like it would send a payment: but with no web server needed.

Your wallet then pays the actual invoice (or, for a “send invoice” offer, your wallet sends an invoice which the vendor pays, as an ATM or refund would use). This means that offers can be much smaller than invoices and contain more information (currency, vendor name, quantity limits, blinded paths to reach the vendor).

Improvements to anonymity

In cases where anonymity is concerned when it comes to the payee has to be preserved, an URL scheme has to be used which protects this anonymity.

An example of this would be an URL that points to a TOR hidden service. To not reveal the payee node ID to the payer, the payee can send an invoice to the payer, which has a partial onion route as a destination instead of a node ID.

The partial onion route ends at the payee, but it can start at some other node. All the payer has to do is prepend this partial route with extra hops, so the complete route starts at the payer. Note that this makes the invoice considerably larger; this would have been infeasible in BOLT #11.

Making lightning refunds easier

BOLT 12 also allows for convenient and potentially anonymous refunds since the communication channel can be kept open, and the payer can send a refund invoice through the same communication channel, making it far cheaper and easier for merchants to operate on Lightning. The ability to do HODL invoices and process refunds on your end at a fraction of the cost it takes to do it in traditional finance could be a major drawing card for further merchant adoption.

Learn more about Bolt 12

To get a better idea of how you can use Bolt 12, check out the following discussion on LN-URL vs Bolt 12

HERE IS ANOTHER DEFINITION ABOUT BOLT12

BOLT12 is a new payment protocol for Lightning that offers enhanced privacy, reusable payment codes, refunds, and much more, all natively over the Lightning Network. No additional servers are required. This is all possible using new technologies like onion messages and route blinding.

What is the difference between bolt12 and Lnurl?

The main difference between BOLT 12 “offers” and LNURL Withdraw is that the first wants to solve the issue using only the Lightning Network, without the need to use a server to handle the coordination between peers.

Introducing BOLT 12:

BOLT 12 is a new specification for Lightning invoices that introduces a new type of invoice called an "offer." Offers can be thought of as 'meta' invoices—an invoice on top of an invoice. Offers can be scanned and paid just like BOLT 11 invoices, but they can also be used to send money, as a push payment.

Advantages of BOLT 12 over LNURL:

While BOLT 12 offers may seem similar to LNURL, the primary difference is that BOLT 12 offers are Lightning-native. They do not require a web server, TLS certificate, or a domain name, which means they have better privacy, less centralization risk (DNS), and improved user experience for non-technical users.

Potential Uses for BOLT 12:

Subscriptions: BOLT 12 offers can be used to request payments on a recurring basis, such as daily, weekly, or monthly, denominated in USD or sats. Wallets will need to build out this functionality, but the infrastructure will be in place.

Bitcoin Lightning ATMs: Offers can send money in the form of a credit invoice, allowing for better user experience and increased adoption.

Private Refunds: Instead of creating and sending an invoice for a refund, users can scan a 'refund' offer and receive their sats without generating their own invoice. This is more private for the receiver and offers a better overall user experience.

Conclusion:

BOLT 12 is a draft specification for a new 'meta' invoice called an offer, which allows users and merchants to both send and receive payments. Offers are persistent and can be denominated in USD, mitigating BTC volatility for merchants. BOLT 12 also includes many other features, such as privacy enhancements, that were not covered in this article. With its potential to revolutionize the Lightning Network, BOLT 12 is a sleeping giant in the Bitcoin space.

One advantage of BOLT 12 offers is that they do not rely on web servers or HTTP requests. Instead, they use onion messaging. Furthermore, the offer can use a BIP 353 payment identifier, which looks like an email address and is easy to remember and share.

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