Reference Wallets / 2026 Initiative

[GBKS]

This is a tracking issue for the Reference Wallets initiative. The goal and ambition is to level-up the UX of 1-3 wallets to the absolute best UX & execution possible. The Bitcoin Design Guide has a lot of great guidance that we have not really seen implemented broadly. Let's change this, in a focused and methodical way.

For a more complete project outline, check out this document and leave comments.

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I (Christoph) am personally already deep into doing this work. With the Bitcoin Core App, we are building a reference for onchain wallets, and with Arké I am vibe-coding a mobile app for the Ark protocol. I'd love to see someone also tackle a mobile lightning wallet (like Monday). That would be a pretty involved task. Less involved, but also incredibly helpful, is help with testing and giving feedback.

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If this sounds interesting, leave a comment or contact me in Discord via @GBKS. Regular updates will also be posted in the Bitcoin Design Discord, as well as the newsletter.

[yashrajd]

The Bitcoin Design Guide has a lot of great guidance that we have not really seen implemented broadly. Let's change this, in a focused and methodical way.

Love this, and love the initiative!

The goal and ambition is to level-up the UX of 1-3 wallets to the absolute best UX & execution possible.

This one confused me a little, since this talks about tackling 1-3 separate wallet apps... whereas the initiative description mentions "a mobile bitcoin wallet". I do think this approach is pretty interesting though, since it might help break down possibly HUGE scope for a single app, which could be a challenge to nail down.

With the Bitcoin Core App, we are building a reference for onchain wallets

I wonder how suitable this is for an on-chain reference wallet candidate, as it's supposed to be a node+wallet application following Bitcoin Core, but I guess you could use the wallet part itself as a starting point.

Anyway, curious about your thought-process around this, definitely open to it!

[yashrajd]

Here I'll share a few thoughts rolling around in my head regarding the reference wallet:

• interaction model: it should be based on the contacts-based interaction model, which works pretty well with both on-chain and lightning (and IIUC even Ark or ecash) and is the defacto standard across consumer-level applications and protocols
• format: it could leverage the "graduated wallet" concept blending various protocols we already have today in an optimum package
• privacy: it should set the standard for privacy UX on bitcoin, integrating silent payments, payjoin, coin control (BDC guidance on coin selection is inadequate) but also possibly with ecash stuff – let's build the reference privacy UX as a part of the reference wallet (edit: personally super-interested in contributing to this aspect)!
• risk: biggest challenge I see for reference wallet up-front is scope management, as it could spiral out or creep over time (which is where I like the 3 separate wallet apps part, but doable in a single wallet app design too!)

What do you (everyone) think!?