Accept Lightning Payments From Phoenix Wallet Users

Yes. Phoenix is a self-custodial Lightning wallet, so Phoenix wallet Lightning users can pay any Lightning invoice, and a business that accepts Lightning through the Amboss Payments API can receive from them directly. Phoenix supports Bolt 12 offers, the reusable payment-request format defined in the BOLT 12 offer-encoding specification, so accepting Lightning lets you receive from these users with no per-wallet work.

Does Phoenix support Lightning?

Yes, natively, for both sending and receiving. Phoenix is built on Lightning by ACINQ rather than bolting it on, and a Phoenix user pays you by scanning the Lightning invoice your checkout displays. It is self-custodial, so the user holds their own keys, which does not change anything for you as the payee.

The ACINQ Phoenix repository describes the wallet directly:

Phoenix is a Bitcoin wallet developed by ACINQ, that allows you to send and receive bitcoin securely over the Lightning Network.

US availability has shifted over time. ACINQ pulled the wallet from US app stores in May 2024 over regulatory uncertainty, as Bitcoin.com News reported on the withdrawal, and it later returned, so confirm current US availability before relying on it for a specific market.

How do you receive payments from Phoenix users?

You accept Lightning once and every Phoenix user can pay you. The flow is four steps:

1. Integrate the Amboss Payments API and create a Lightning invoice for the order amount.
2. Display the invoice at checkout as a QR code or a copyable string.
3. The Phoenix user scans or pastes it and confirms the payment in the app.
4. The payment routes over Lightning and settles to you in seconds.

The payer never chooses a network and never needs an account with you. Live Lightning capacity and routing data are published on the Amboss Space Lightning explorer.

How do you integrate Phoenix receiving into checkout?

Receiving from Phoenix is the standard Lightning receive flow: create an invoice, then confirm settlement. The invoice format is defined by the BOLT 11 payment-encoding specification, so one integration accepts Phoenix, Cash App, and every other Lightning sender.

The Amboss Payments API is GraphQL. A single create_receive mutation returns the BOLT 11 invoice you show the customer:

mutation CreateReceive {
  payment {
    transaction {
      create_receive(
        input: {
          wallet_id: "your-wallet-id"
          amount: "50000"
          description: "Order #1234"
        }
      ) {
        status
        payment_request
        payment_hash
      }
    }
  }
}

Send it to the https://rails.amboss.tech/graphql endpoint with your x-api-key. The payment_request field is the lnbc... string you render as a QR code, and you confirm settlement with the payment.completed webhook, as documented in the Amboss Payments API documentation. For recurring or donation use cases, Phoenix users can also pay a Bolt 12 offer, which the specification describes plainly:

Offers are a precursor to an invoice_request: readers will request an invoice (or multiple) based on the offer.

Where does Amboss Payments fit?

Lightning is an open standard, so the same integration receives from a self-custodial wallet like Phoenix and from a custodial exchange the same way. Amboss Payments provides that integration as a managed API on the Lightning Network, with no node to run. To talk through volume, settlement timing, or pricing, contact the Amboss team.