One of the biggest concerns for anyone new to the world of Bitcoin is choosing a safe and reliable wallet to store their coins. The industry recognizes the importance of this aspect, and in recent years, it has improved considerably in hot and cold wallet options.
One of the companies that has stood out most in developing solutions for Bitcoin self-custody is Blockstream, with its Jade and Green Wallet.
In this article, you will learn about the main attributes and differences of Green Wallet, its history, and features, and understand why it is one of the best options in terms of a hot wallet today.
Table of Contents
The company behind Green Wallet
Blockstream emerged in 2014 and is one of the leading companies in innovation and technology development in the Bitcoin industry, having launched a variety of software, hardware, and services in this area.
Its CEO is Adam Back, a British cryptographer and one of the precursors of the cypherpunk movement, which advocates the use of encryption and similar technologies as a means of promoting personal privacy and security.
Adam Back was responsible for the invention of Hashcash, a Proof of Work system originally designed to combat email spam, which later became a key influence on Bitcoin’s mining algorithm.
Although Hashcash did not gain much visibility, it was one of the technologies that caught the attention of Satoshi Nakamoto, to the point that Satoshi and Back exchanged messages during the creation of Bitcoin.
Many believe that Adam Back could be Satoshi Nakamoto himself, a hypothesis that has been denied by him several times. However, for all this contribution, Back is one of the most respected figures in the Bitcoin industry, and this reputation extends to his company Blockstream.
In 2016, Blockstream purchased GreenAddress, a leading European-based provider of Bitcoin wallet software. After the acquisition, the wallet’s founder, Lawrence Nahum, was brought to join the Blockstream team and is now the company’s chief architect.
An interesting fact is that GreenAddress was the first wallet to implement some features such as:
- Multisig
- 2FA
- and dynamic fees on Bitcoin wallets.
With Green Wallet, the Blockstream team’s focus is to offer a practical and secure solution to meet the needs of everyday users, bitcoin investors, and developers. Ideal for everyday life, this hot wallet is a great choice for those looking for an efficient way to transfer and store Bitcoin.
Now that you know about Blockstream and its founder, let’s understand more about the Green Wallet.
Features of Green Wallet
The first thing you should know is that Green Wallet is a hot wallet, that is, it is the type that is online all the time.
Therefore, it is available for both desktop and iOS and Android cell phones.
The main features of this wallet are:
- Open Source
- Non-custodial
- I’m KYC
- Support for Bitcoin, Liquid network, and testnet
- Multilingual
- Integration with Jade, Ledger, and Trezor wallets
- Fee control
- 2FA authentication
- Multisig address support
- SPV Sync
- Connection via TOR
- Lightning Network support (in the testing phase)
That said, let’s understand each of these aspects and others that are relevant about Green Wallet in more depth.
Blockstream Green Wallet Usability
Let’s start by breaking down the usability aspects of this powerful hot wallet.
Multi Platform
Blockstream Green Wallet can be downloaded on all major mobile and desktop operating systems such as Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. There is no cost to purchase it as it is a free bitcoin wallet.
Available in several languages
The wallet app is available internationally and has been translated into 31 languages such as Danish, Russian, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Catalan, Arabic and many more.
Supported currencies
Blockstream’s focus is on the Bitcoin ecosystem, and, therefore, in its portfolios, this focus would be no different.
The green wallet is a Bitcoin-only hot wallet, with support for Bitcoin, the Liquid network (a Bitcoin sidechain), and all tokens created on this network, as well as support for the Lightning Network (in the testing phase), a security solution second layer for fast and cheap bitcoin transactions.
Testnet Wallet
A very interesting feature that is rarely seen in other Bitcoin wallets is that the Blockstream Green Wallet has a Testnet wallet. These wallets work on a distinct network, separate from the main Bitcoin blockchain, and are used exclusively for testing, allowing developers and users to carry out experiments, without the risk associated with using real Bitcoin.
Currencies transacted on a Testnet wallet have no effective monetary value and bitcoin visible on Testnet cannot be “activated” or “converted” into Mainnet bitcoin.
Even if you try to send Bitcoin from Testnet to your main wallet, an “invalid address” error will appear. Testnet Wallet can be a good way to practice sending and receiving Bitcoin, especially for those who are just starting out and feel insecure handling a wallet.
Address types
The type of Bitcoin address that Green supports is Native Segwit, also known as ‘bech32’. This is a type of Bitcoin address that emerged as an improvement to the Segregated Witness (SegWit) protocol.
This type of Bitcoin address starts with “bc1”.
The main advantage of Native SegWit addresses is efficiency, as they allow for lighter transactions in terms of data size, resulting in generally lower transaction fees. However, despite these benefits, not all Bitcoin wallets and services support bech32 addresses, which may limit their usability in some situations.
In Green Wallet, Native Segwit addresses are created by default; It is not possible for the user to choose to switch to another type of address, such as legacy, for example. And unfortunately, this is one of the few disadvantages of the wallet.
Transaction fee control
Autonomy is something that Green Wallet provides to users. Therefore, it is possible to adjust transaction fees when sending, using the custom fee option.
This rate is measured in satoshi per vbyte, allowing choices from low values to save, to high values to speed up confirmation.
*Always remember to check mempool.space to check real-time rates on the Bitcoin network.
RBF (Replace By Fee)
Green Wallet also includes, by default, the Replace-By-Fee (RBF) feature, which makes it possible to modify transaction fees after they have been sent, even if they have not yet been confirmed by miners.
RBF is useful when the user realizes that they have placed a fee too low and their transaction remains unconfirmed, especially during periods of high activity on the network, which can result in long waits.
Furthermore, it is useful in situations where it is necessary to speed up the sending of the transaction by replacing the original fee with a new one and paying a higher fee.
Hardware wallet support
The Blockstream Green Wallet is compatible with the most popular hardware wallets, including Blockstream’s own Jade, As well as the Ledger Nano S/X and Trezor One/Model T.
It is important to note that some Green Wallet accounts, such as those from Testnet or Liquid, may not be supported by all hardware wallets. In other words, compatibility between Green Wallet account types and different hardware wallets may vary.
To help you, check out the support offered by Green on each hardware wallet (Trezor, Ledger, and Jade) below:
Watch Only
It is also possible to use the Blockstream Green Wallet as a ‘Watch Only’ wallet. In this mode, this feature is called “watch-only mode” and offers access to the wallet with restricted functionalities.
This mode is useful for:
- Receive funds securely, knowing that even if your device is stolen or compromised, you won’t be able to spend the funds.
- Allow others to manage the wallet and accept transactions without the ability to spend the funds, like in a shared trading wallet.
In “observation only” mode, you can:
- View all wallet accounts and transactions.
- Generate addresses and receive new transactions.
- Scan private keys.
On the other hand, in “observation only” mode, it is not possible:
- Send wallet transactions.
- Access the recovery phrase.
Green Wallet Security
Now that you know the main usability features of this wallet, let’s understand the security aspects.
Open Source
The Green Wallet code is available on GitHub for anyone to audit and suggest improvements.
Furthermore, the fact that it is open source allows developers to create new solutions and integrations from its code.
Seed recovery
Green is a non-custodial wallet, that is, during configuration, the wallet generates a seed of 12 or 24 words. This way, the user is the one in possession of their balances.
These seed words are your wallet’s backup password and should be kept in a safe place in case you need to recover your wallet later at some other time.
2FA authentication
This is a way for users to strengthen the security of their funds by implementing an additional layer of security with two-factor authentication (2FA).
Therefore, for each transaction carried out, it will be necessary to enter a six-digit 2FA code, which can be received through an authentication application, email, SMS, or phone call.
This measure ensures that even if the main recovery phrase is accessed improperly, funds can only be moved with 2FA validation.
Multisig
Multisig wallets created at Green use a 2 of 2 multiple signature system by default, increasing security. One key is kept on the user’s device and the other on Blockstream Green’s servers.
When sending funds from your wallet, you need two key signatures:
- Key 1: On your device, protected by a PIN.
- Key 2: On Blockstream servers, protected by 2FA.
To enhance security, a hardware wallet such as Jade can be used to store the first key of 2-of-2 multi-signature wallets instead of storing it on the user’s device.
SPV Sync
SPV, or Simplified Payment Verification, refers to wallets that do not directly verify the Bitcoin blockchain. Instead, these wallets rely on an external Bitcoin node to validate the authenticity of each block and its transactions.
Basically, they trust this node to ensure they are following the rules of the Bitcoin protocol, only checking whether a specific transaction is included in a block on the blockchain maintained by the external node to confirm its validity.
Most wallets adopt this mechanism to simplify the user experience.
Running a full node requires technical knowledge and can be a hurdle for those just starting out. SPV wallets reduce this complexity , but this implies a certain degree of trust between the wallet user and the SPV node.
The Blockstream Green Wallet is an example of an SPV wallet, which by default connects to a Blockstream Bitcoin node for validation. Its SPV synchronization feature allows users to choose other validation sources, being able to connect to different nodes, and even their own. This feature is designed to reduce user dependence on the Blockstream node.
In short, all these features make Green one of the most advanced mobile and desktop wallets in terms of security.
But it doesn’t stop there, for those looking for privacy, Green Wallet also works very well, as we will see below.
Wallet Privacy
No KYC
Many users look for wallets that do not request data such as name, telephone number, email, or document, among others, as this type of information compromises the user’s privacy.
Such data is not necessary to use the Bitcoin network, much less to use the Blockstream Green wallet.
Connection via Tor
Tor is a peer-to-peer network designed to offer private browsing by hiding your IP address by routing internet traffic through a series of servers known as onion routings.
If you notice, the Tor symbol is an… onion!
This functionality is essential for any wallet that cares about user privacy.
Blockstream Green Wallet makes it easy to activate Tor. There is no need to configure anything or install additional software, as everything is already integrated into the application.
Additionally, it is highly recommended to activate Tor whenever you use your wallet in order to ensure greater privacy.
The only drawback to using Tor is that it slows down login times as requests have to pass through nodes in the Tor network. However, this is a small price to pay for improved privacy.
Does Green support Lightning Network?
Yes, users can now use the lightning network on Green, however, this service is still in the beta phase.
Green Wallet is incorporating Greenlight into the wallet, an on-demand node service that will make it easier for users to use the Lightning Network while maintaining the premise of self-custody of funds.
With the integration of Greenlight, Blockstream Green Wallet will be the first wallet on the market to support both payments on the main Bitcoin blockchain and its main layer two solutions such as Liquid and Lightning.
Step by step on how to use lightning on Green Wallet
- Open Green and go to the app settings in the bottom right corner of your wallet list.
- On the app’s Settings page, enable experimental features by turning on the toggle and clicking Save.
- Go to your wallet, and click on the settings icon in the top right corner and then click on Create account.
- You can now see the Lightning Account option in addition to the standard and 2FA-protected options.
This is one of the most anticipated features of Green Wallet, and with its implementation, it should make this wallet one of the most complete and used by Bitcoiners.
Is it worth using Green Wallet?
For all these reasons, yes, it is worth using the Green Wallet. And the best part is, it’s free, so it doesn’t hurt to download and test it to see if you like it and if it suits your needs.
After seeing all the features this wallet offers, it is difficult to deny that it is one of the best hot wallets available on the market.
In addition to being easy to set up (takes less than 10 minutes), it is a simple wallet, but with robust security and advanced features. Simply everything you would expect from a cell phone wallet is in it.
It will certainly be preferred by those who were orphaned by Blue Wallet after the team discontinued its custodian lightning node.
It appears that Green has managed to resolve the complexity of self-custody in Lightning so that beginners can use it without friction. But only with time will we know for sure.
I hope this article helped you choose your mobile and desktop wallet! If you have any questions, be sure to contact us on Instagram and share with friends who will also like this wallet.
Until the next article and opt out!
Share on your social networks:
Founder of Area Bitcoin, one of the largest Bitcoin education projects in the world, she is a marketer, passionate about technology, and a full-time hands-on professional. She has participated in major Bitcoin conferences such as Adopting Bitcoin, Satsconf, Surfin Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Conference.
Enjoyed this article? Donate some sats so we can grab a cup of coffee and keep writing. ☕
