Breez SDK launches Liquid Network integration in addition to its support for the Lightning Network. The Breez SDK has been very successful in making it easy for developers to integrate Lightning support. It is used by Relai, Cake Wallet, CrowdHealth, and many other companies that have built support for the Lightning Network.
Liquid support represents the next phase of a major expansion of the Breez SDK. Liquid is a federated sidechain that uses L-BTC, a Bitcoin-backed token held by members of the consortium that runs the Liquid network.
It is important to note that while people using the Liquid Network hold their L-BTC themselves, and are able to freely transfer it on Liquid however they want, the BTC that backs it is held by consortium members on the main chain. This means that, strictly speaking, while internal use of the network itself is self-custodial, entry and exit to and from the network is allowed to some extent.
Why the liquid?
The Breez SDK integrates Liquid support to provide more options for developers and users. Each different way to use Bitcoin comes with different trade-offs, both positive and negative.
Liquid does not require the use of payment channels, which means that users do not have to deal with setup fees, liquidity management, or ask a liquidity service provider to manage the friction and complexities associated with using Bitcoin. This also eliminates the possibility of channels being closed unexpectedly and the fees that may arise for the end user.
This also removes a lot of the complexity on the developer side, leaving fewer moving parts for them to manage when integrating Liquid support into a product or wallet. There is no channel management, no routing management, just basic on-chain money management with basic sending and receiving support. Since the devkit is designed specifically for developers, this is a new option for devkit users with minimal implementation complexity.
Interact with lightning
Any wallet that integrates Liquid through the Breez SDK can also seamlessly interact with the Lightning Network to maintain a streamlined and interoperable user experience. Powered by Boltz technology, the SDK supports indirect swaps. This allows any user holding their funds on the Liquid Network to seamlessly send and receive Lightning payments by leveraging the atomic swap between the Liquid Network and the Lightning Network.
The Lightning swap feature supports LNURL-Pay, LNURL-Withdraw, and LNURL-auth, and plans to integrate support for fiat payments soon. Additionally, support for multiple devices and multiple apps will be added in the future, allowing users to integrate a single wallet balance across different devices and apps.
Where to find
To learn more, you can find the technical documentation for Breez SDK Liquid support. here.