Breez launches Glow: a new Bitcoin app for users and developers

Breez, the Tel Aviv-based Bitcoin software provider, officially launched its new application, Glow, on August 6, 2026. This Breez Bitcoin app aims to serve both everyday users and the developer community. It functions as a streamlined Lightning Network wallet for consumers, while simultaneously providing an open-source toolkit for builders.

The company’s latest offering arrives as the crypto industry continues to grapple with user accessibility and development complexities. Glow represents a strategic move to simplify both aspects, pushing the adoption of Bitcoin and its Lightning Network layer through practical utility and transparent infrastructure.

Streamlining Bitcoin adoption with the Breez app

Glow’s primary objective is to make Lightning transactions straightforward for the average user. This means reducing the technical hurdles often associated with moving Bitcoin, bringing it closer to the ease of traditional digital payments. But its impact extends much further than just consumer convenience.

For developers, Glow acts as a detailed blueprint for integrating Bitcoin functionalities into their own products. It’s an open-source project, allowing anyone to inspect its codebase and understand how crucial features are built. This level of transparency is rare and valuable in the rapidly evolving crypto space.

Developers can specifically see how elements like passkey login, Lightning addresses, and stablecoin transfers are implemented. This insight lets them replicate these successful features with minimal effort, significantly cutting down development time. Essentially, it helps new projects avoid reinventing the wheel.

Empowering developers with a robust toolkit

Breez has designed Glow to empower a wide range of application builders. Developers aren’t just observing; they can fork the entire Glow codebase, rebrand it, and ship it as their own fully functional application. This accelerates innovation by providing a pre-built, tested foundation.

Crucially, the architecture ensures that developers building with the Breez SDK, and by extension Glow, never take custody of user funds. This non-custodial approach is vital for minimizing regulatory burdens and compliance overhead. It lets teams focus squarely on product development rather than navigating complex legal frameworks around asset custody, addressing a significant concern for wider wallet security.

The broader Breez Software Development Kit (SDK) underpins these capabilities, offering various implementations to suit different needs. These include Breez SDK – Spark, and more advanced options like Breez SDK – Liquid and Breez SDK – Greenlight. Each is designed to simplify the integration of instant, non-custodial Bitcoin and stablecoins into virtually any application.

The Liquid SDK provides a nodeless, non-custodial, end-to-end solution. It supports both Lightning and on-chain payments, along with advanced features like LNURL and BOLT12 functionality. This SDK also handles multi-asset support on the Liquid Network, including USDT, ensuring broad payment flexibility.

Users benefit from Lightning address and BIP353 support, multi-app and multi-device compatibility, and real-time state backup for enhanced security. Moreover, it includes a built-in fiat on-ramp and crucially ensures that private keys are held solely by the user. Both the Liquid and Greenlight SDKs are free and entirely open-source, aligning with core Bitcoin principles.

Similarly, the Greenlight SDK offers a cloud-based Lightning integration, leveraging nodes-on-demand from Blockstream’s Greenlight service. This includes built-in Lightning Service Providers (LSP) and seamless on-chain interoperability. It also features third-party fiat on-ramps, further expanding the options for users to engage with Bitcoin.

Strategic partnerships and non-custodial innovation

The Glow app launch follows a significant collaboration Breez announced last month with Turnkey. This partnership directly addresses a major hurdle for large consumer platforms looking to integrate Bitcoin. It allows them to add non-custodial Bitcoin capabilities without needing to completely rebuild their backend architecture.

Under this arrangement, user funds remain secure as keys stay out of reach of the app’s servers, Breez, and even Turnkey. The user retains sole authority to move their funds, bolstering the principle of self-custody. This model enables some of the world’s largest consumer applications to offer Bitcoin functionality responsibly.

It’s a crucial development for firms hesitant about the regulatory and technical complexities of holding user funds. This approach de-risks integration for big players, potentially unlocking vast new user bases for Bitcoin transactions. Such innovations demonstrate a growing maturity in the infrastructure supporting wider cryptocurrency adoption, which can influence broader market trends.

Expanding payment capabilities with stablecoin integration

Beyond its core wallet and developer features, Glow builds on Breez’s recent innovations in payment processing. On June 29, 2026, Breez added a feature to its developer toolkit enabling users to send USDC and USDT across more than 30 blockchain networks. This is done directly from a Bitcoin balance, removing the need for users to convert or hold stablecoins separately.

This functionality leverages the Lightning Network and an automated conversion process. It routes payments seamlessly from Bitcoin (BTC) to USDC or USDT, simplifying cross-asset transactions. Roy Sheinfeld, CEO of Breez, confirmed that this feature relies on robust “interoperability,” meaning it doesn’t require stablecoins to be natively issued on the Lightning Network itself.

Users effectively maintain their Bitcoin holdings until a payment is initiated, and recipients receive stablecoins on their chosen blockchain. This hybrid approach offers flexibility and efficiency. While currently supporting only outbound stablecoin payments, Breez has indicated that inbound support is planned for a future release.

The utility of Breez’s SDK is already evident, with more than 75 applications having integrated it into their platforms. Notable adopters include Deblock and Cake Wallet, underscoring the SDK’s versatility and broad appeal within the crypto ecosystem. This widespread integration reflects the demand for user-friendly, non-custodial solutions.

Breez’s broader vision and funding landscape

Roy Sheinfeld, co-founder and CEO of Breez, has a clear vision for the future of Bitcoin. He believes the Lightning Network will eventually be integrated into mainstream applications, envisioning a world where platforms like Uber and Spotify seamlessly incorporate Bitcoin payments. Glow moves the industry closer to that future.

Breez, founded in Tel Aviv in 2018 by Sheinfeld, Yaacov Akiba Slama, and Roei Erez, has been steadily building towards this goal. The company operates as a “self-custodial Lightning-as-a-Service company,” also offering app-based point-of-sale (POS) software for crypto payments. Their commitment to self-custody has been a consistent theme since its inception.

The company has secured significant backing, raising a total of $10 million in funding across three rounds. This includes a $4.5 million fundraising round in December 2022, followed by a Series B round on January 24, 2025, which brought in $5 million. This financial support underscores investor confidence in Breez’s long-term strategy and its role in fostering innovative payment solutions.

With Glow, Breez isn’t just releasing another app; it’s providing a crucial piece of infrastructure. The dual focus on ease-of-use for consumers and a transparent toolkit for developers positions the company at the forefront of driving practical Bitcoin adoption. It’s an example of how underlying technology can democratise access and innovation in the digital economy.