Bitcoin is programmable money, and when you take control over your funds, you can program it to do a host of different things, from locking your funds until a future date, providing liquidity for second-layer services or gifting bitcoin in unique ways. Giving someone bitcoin can be as easy as sending funds to a wallet someone has created. You could store it on a cold storage device and hand it over to them, or even create bitcoin gift vouchers that are instantly redeemable and will cost the user such a small fee they won’t even notice it.
Creating bitcoin gift vouchers of your own is pretty easy, and you have the option of using services like LN Bits, Laisee, LN.Cash or Lightning Gifts, each with its trade-offs. We encourage you to review each service and find one that suits you or what you’re trying to achieve; for example, Laisee is a great option for the physical handover of bitcoin due to the design options available. The gift cards are easy to create, and the designs are bright and eye-catching and will surely capture people’s attention and imagination once you hand them over.
What is Laisee?
Laisee is a little red envelope with the hardest money ever created, bitcoin. Lightning Laisee contains bitcoin on the Lightning Network and is a great way to physically gift someone bitcoin either as a gesture of goodwill or to prove that you can conduct a partially signed bitcoin transaction in real life.
Laisee vouchers can exist in both physical and digital forms, meaning you can create one of these gift cards and send a Lightning Laisee to anyone in the world. Laisee leverage the power of the Lightning Network to make it easy to gift money to anyone.
How to use Laisee
To interact with Laisee you have to be Telegram user and start by finding the @laiseebot and iniate a conversation with /Start. You can create a Laisee over 100 satoshi with the command /laisee 100 or by clicking on Create Laisee in the menu.
Alternatively, you can specify any amount, and the bot will give you the instructions or recommendations for creating your preferred gift card. Once you’ve selected the amount, you would like and funded the payment
You will be given an image with a QR code in the chat, which you can save to your device to either be printed in physical form or you can send the image as is to someone or post on your social media accounts. Each QR code can only be given to a single person, as each QR code can only be redeemed once.
You always need to keep enough balance in your wallet for all outstanding Laisee. You can keep track of your current balance with the command /balance or by clicking on Get Balance in the menu.
If you’re using Laisee please note that this is a third-party service, and until the bitcoin is redeemed and withdrawn to a wallet of your or your recipient’s choice, the satoshi you gift is kept on our custodial wallet held by the Laisee service. If you’re uncomfortable with having the custodial risk of the funds you’re using, you can run the service using a Lightning wallet on a Lightning node to which you have the keys.
LNbits is a free and open-source Lightning accounts system that can be installed on your Lightning node. Once installed, you can fund your own LN-URL withdraw invoices tied to your Lightning channel and maintain full control over the funds you send.
To use LN bits to make your own Laisee follow these steps:
- In LNBits, create a wallet and fund it with satoshi.
- Enable the LNURLw extension and navigate to it.
- Using Quick Vouchers you can specify your wallet and the total amount of the Laisee. Always set Number of vouchers to 1.
- In your list of withdrawal links, you can access the QR code, hyperlink and raw LNURL.
- Print the QR codes on a piece of paper, or embed them in an NFC card.
How to redeem Laisee
Each Laisee can only be redeemed once. To redeem a Laisee, you will need a Lightning wallet. You can download a Lightning wallet for all major platforms.
A Lightning Laisee is a digital envelope containing bitcoin on the Lightning Network. Each Laisee can only be redeemed once. To redeem a Laisee, you will need a Lightning wallet. You can download a Lightning wallet for all major platforms.
Scan the QR code with your wallet and follow the instructions on the screen. Some wallets will charge you a fee for the first transaction you receive. Wallets that do not charge such a fee are typically custodial wallets, meaning you trust the operator of the wallet with your funds.
If you received a raw LNURL, you could claim the amounts by copy-pasting the code into your wallet or converting it to a QR code and scanning it. If you received a link, you should find a raw LNURL as well as a QR code by opening the link in a browser.
How are links paid for or claimed?
Once you’ve created the funded Laisee invoice, you can claim immediately; there is no time delay. You can send it to a friend or family member, post it on social media and anyone who sees it first and claims the funds will receive it in their wallet.
To claim the funds, the user will need a Lightning-enabled bitcoin wallet to scan the QR code or paste the LN-URL presented on Lightning Gifts into their wallet of choice.
You can also write the LN-URL to an NFC device like a Bolt Card and transfer the funds to a bitcoin wallet that supports Lightning and NFC; Your device will also need to support NFC too, which is standard for most smartphones, but not so much laptops and desktops. There is no sense in trying to claim using your desktop wallet unless you have an NFC
Get the app
There you have it, another tool you can use to improve your Lightning experience and make your life a little easier and have fun with the Lightning network. If you’re new to the Lightning Network and you’re only getting started with your Lightning wallet or Lightning node and all the things you can and should do, it can be overwhelming but take your time to learn more about each app and why you would want it added to your bitcoin stack.
Applications like Laisee give you a reason to try out Lightning, spend your sats, distribute the coins, support bitcoin adoption and promote bitcoin.
Sources:
If you would like to learn more about Laisee and dive down the rabbit hole, we recommend checking out the following resources.
Are you a bitcoin and lightning fan?
Have you been using Lightning to make micro-payments? Stream sats or engage with apps? Which app is your favourite? Have you tried all the forms of Lightning payments? Which one do you prefer? Let us know in the comments down below.
