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Phoenix Wallet

Self-custodial Lightning mobile wallet

We reviewed Phoenix Wallet using 5 official and public sources. The notes below focus on custody, recovery, and security trade-offs.

Phoenix combines ordinary Bitcoin recovery-phrase custody with an abstracted Lightning node/payment experience; convenience depends on understanding liquidity, channel, fee, and infrastructure tradeoffs.

Phoenix Wallet
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Good fit if you need
  • users wanting a simple self-custodial Lightning experience
  • users who can safely back up a recovery phrase and understand Lightning liquidity

Key specifications

Brand
ACINQ
Role
Payments Wallet
Custody
Self Custody
Platforms
iOSAndroid
Networks
bitcoinlightning
Pricing
Free

Free to download and use

Backup and keys

Phoenix abstracts Lightning operations for users; channel opening, liquidity, splice, fee, and backup details remain important research fields.

Key setup
Seed Based HdGenerated KeysImported Keys
Backup options
offline recovery-phrase backup
Security and privacy

Self-custody mobile Lightning wallet: recovery-phrase loss, mobile compromise, Lightning routing/liquidity/channel state, service dependency, and on-chain fee exposure are distinct risks.

Encrypts keys locally
Unknown
Privacy note
Lightning routing and service interaction may expose operational metadata; no privacy conclusion is made from the repository alone.
Who runs it

Third-party providers can affect uptime, privacy, and recovery. They are documented here for context, not as ranking points.

  • ACINQ (Node; KYC: Not Required)
  • Lightning Network (Relay; KYC: Not Required)
  • Bitcoin network (Node; KYC: Not Required)
Affiliate
No affiliate relationship recorded

Sources we checked

5 sources reviewed, with 8 documented claims tied to specific fields.

  • ACINQ Phoenix repository

    The official repository describes Phoenix as a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet using Lightning and says users hold the keys.

  • ACINQ Phoenix repository

    The repository warns that a new wallet generates a 12-word recovery phrase and that losing it loses access to funds.

  • ACINQ Phoenix repository

    The repository lists iOS requiring 15+ and Android requiring 8+, with an Android APK release path.

  • Phoenix Wallet

    The official product page describes native Lightning support, Bitcoin payments, and non-custodial control.

  • ACINQ Phoenix repository

    The repository is public and identifies Phoenix as Apache-2.0 licensed, with shared Kotlin Lightning/Bitcoin logic and native platform UIs.

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