The Bolt Card is a world-first contactless card, powered by NFC and the Bitcoin Lightning Network. It’s a physical card that you can tap to pay via Lightning in person or on a website on your phone.
Each design is inspired by something in Bitcoin’s history - visit our MtSocks website to find out more about the designs.
Danny and Zakk started exploring LNURL functionality.
While buying lunch from M&S, Danny asked Zakk, "Why can't we do this with Bitcoin? - Can we not use lightning for this?". On the short walk back to the office, the guys had figured out a concept using LNURL.
In November, we attended CoinFest in Manchester to get feedback from the industry. While at the conference, Danny demonstrated sending bitcoin to attendees using a wristband prototype.
Real world use
Upon returning from the conference, Danny demonstrated using the wristband to pay for a crepe and a coffee at a real world business that accepts bitcoin.
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While exploring different ways to incorporate Lightning NFC payments, Molly paid for a crepe using (modified) Bitcoin socks from MtSocks.
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After exploring many different concepts and ideas, we came up with a final product prototype.
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The Different Bolt Card Iterations.In March, we attended Advancing Bitcoin in London with an industry-first prototype of The Bolt Card.
Every attendee received a card to use at the conference and in return, we received valuable feedback from this.
In April, we attended Bitcoin 2022 - the world’s biggest Bitcoin conference in Miami. We met with a number of key industry figures to demonstrate the power of the Bitcoin Lightning Network with The Bolt Card. Feedback from the likes of Adam Back and Michael Saylor were positive and highly encouraging!
On 17th May, we announced The Bolt Card - the world’s first contactless Bitcoin Lightning card.
“Using a standard NFC card, the Lightning Network and LNURL, The Bolt Card enables a user to simply tap their card on a Point of Sale (PoS) device displaying a Lightning invoice and the Lightning payment is made in the background, taking just seconds to complete. This transaction takes place over the Bitcoin Lightning Network, with not a single legacy payment system used. This is similar to the likes of a Visa contactless card, but now on the Bitcoin Lightning Network — a completely open, permissionless and decentralised monetary network.”
When developing The Bolt Card, we wanted to make sure it was interoperable within current industry protocols - namely Lightning and LNURL - to make it easy for other Bitcoin payment gateways and wallets around the world to add NFC capability to support it.
BTCPay Server
BTCPay Server was the first Bitcoin payment gateway to add support for The Bolt Card, after CoinCorner Checkout.
In July, Costa Coffee, Hotel Chocolat and Card Factory in Gibraltar started accepting Bitcoin and The Bolt Card.
Breez and VoltPay
In August, Oxford City FC became the first National League football club to accept Bitcoin and Lightning payments, in a partnership with CoinCorner. Matchday goers can pay for food and drink at the stafium with The Bolt Card.
CoinCorner announced a partnership with Seed Group, a company of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, to facilitate Bitcoin transactions in the UAE, which includes - you guessed it - The Bolt Card.
LNbits
LNBits released their own Bolt Card extension, allowing customers to create and manage their own Bolt Card.
We partnered with IBEX for Bitcoin Amsterdam - Europe’s largest Bitcoin conference - to bring contactless Lightning payments to all. Every attendee received a Bolt Card which they could use to pay for food and drink throughout the conference with Bitcoin.
The Bolt Card in El Salvador
CoinCorner announced it was expanding its Bitcoin and Lightning services to El Salvador, making Bitcoin payments in the country more efficient and user-friendly with The Bolt Card.
Adaptations of The Bolt Card
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IBEX added support for The Bolt Card and began rolling out the update to merchants across El Salvador.
We love seeing everyone use The Bolt Card! Tag us - @CoinCorner or @theboltcard - for a chance to be featured!
Follow us on Twitter!
Tweets by theboltcardFind a business near you accepting The Bolt Card.
As of November 2022, we have posted Bolt Cards to a total of 74 different countries. The number of countries you can use our card in currently stands at 36. We have a bit of catching up to do - so, sit tight, stack sats, and rest assured we're working hard to increase this number!
If you own a business (or know someone who does) and would like to accept Bitcoin, contact our team today.
Debit Card Setup
Gift Card Setup
Using the Bolt Card
Bolt Card Explained
Bolt Card Q&A
Lightning NFC Payments Thread
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