We’re upgrading our payment backend to a new Lightning service provider so we can handle payments for users more reliably and consistently. This means we will have some regional restrictions for our Wavlake wallet beginning June 1. Since this might present an issue for some users, we’ve built an option for artists to connect a personal Lightning address to their account so they can automatically receive earnings to a wallet of their choice.

If you have any questions or concerns after reading this document or the zine post, please don’t hesitate to send us an email: contact[at]wavlake.com

Why the change?

As we've grown, managing user wallets and Lightning infrastructure has become a larger responsibility that has begun to take time away from our core focus of serving artists and fans. One of our driving principles is to put artists first, and ensuring that we can handle payments reliably and consistently for them is a critical component of that mission. We have decided to upgrade our payment infrastructure to a new Lightning service provider to achieve this.

How does it work?

If you’re in a region we support, your new Wavlake wallet will automatically activate once you’ve gone through the verification process in Studio. Any sats from your old Wavlake wallet will transfer over. Once active, the new wallet will work exactly like the old one.

Users who cannot activate a Wavlake wallet or who want to send their earnings to another wallet can connect any valid Lightning address to their account. Once registered, all earnings will automatically flow to the Lightning address.

What do I need to do?

Go through our new wallet registration process in Studio. We’ll help you connect your Lightning Address and/or get verified for a new Wavlake wallet. Some regional restrictions apply to the wallet, which we will guide you through.

If you have an existing balance on Wavlake and cannot activate a new Wavlake wallet, we recommend you spend or withdraw your sats between now and June 1. Starting June 1, old wallets will be deactivated. If you need to recover any funds after this date, please send us an email at contact[at]wavlake.com.

How will earnings be sent to my Lightning Address?

Earnings will be sent at regular intervals throughout the day. Earnings must total at least 100 sats before we trigger a payment. Any earnings below 100 sats but totaling at least 1 sat will be forwarded within 24 hours.

Wavlake will pay all fees for any earnings payouts so that artists receive the full sum of their earnings (minus Wavlake’s 10% split).