What is Phoenix wallet and how do its Lightning fees work?

Phoenix wallet is a self-custodial Lightning wallet built by ACINQ, a company that also develops Lightning node software. You hold the keys through a 12-word recovery phrase, while the app manages channels and liquidity for you in the background. If you are new to Lightning itself, start with what the Lightning Network is.

How does Phoenix wallet work on Lightning?

According to ACINQ's FAQ, Phoenix is a self-contained Lightning node that runs on the phone, so you do not need to run a separate node at home. Your channel is opened with ACINQ, which acts as your counterparty and supplies incoming liquidity.

Since version 2.0, released in July 2023, Phoenix uses a single dynamic channel per user. ACINQ's announcement explains that older versions could open many channels for one user, which made the cost of receiving hard to predict. Splicing lets the app add bitcoin to that one channel or take bitcoin out of it with an on-chain transaction, without closing it. Sending to a regular bitcoin address works as a "splice-out" from the channel. Recent releases, such as version 2.7.0, also added taproot channels and support for more than one wallet in the app.

What are Phoenix wallet fees?

ACINQ's FAQ lists the fees as of November 2026:

• Sending over Lightning costs 0.4% plus 4 sats, shown before you confirm.
• Receiving over Lightning is free when your channel has room.
• Receiving when the channel lacks room, or requesting extra liquidity, costs 1% plus mining fees.
• Sending or receiving on-chain costs mining fees, and you choose the fee rate when sending.
• Creating the channel has a one-time 1,000 sat fee.

By default the app refuses an incoming payment if the fee would be above 5,000 sats or above 50% of the amount, and you can change this in the channel settings. For a wider comparison, see how much Lightning Network fees are.

How do you get and set up the Phoenix wallet app?

Phoenix is available for iOS 15 or later and Android 8 or later. The code is open source under the Apache 2.0 license on GitHub, and Android users can also install it from the releases page. On first launch the app creates a standard BIP39 seed. To restore, you reinstall the app, choose to restore a wallet and enter the 12 words. ACINQ notes that the seed uses a standard derivation path, so other wallets such as Electrum can recover funds from a force-closed channel.

What should you know before using ACINQ Phoenix?

Phoenix is not custodial, but it is not fully private either. ACINQ's FAQ says the company knows the final destination and amount of your payments, and that the current version offers no privacy gain over a hosted wallet. Your channel also depends on ACINQ as the only peer. Losing the recovery phrase means losing access, so back it up offline. The trade-offs between holding your own keys and letting a company hold them are covered in custodial vs non-custodial wallets.