RoboSats isn’t just about cute randomly generated avatars. It is leading the way for faster and cheaper peer-to-peer exchanges built on Bitcoin’s Lightning network.
In this article we decided to take a look at RoboSats and show you how we bought some sats from a fellow robot.
Built on Lightning ⚡
RoboSats is a Bitcoin exchange where users can exchange fiat currencies for bitcoin in a private way using any payment method of their choice. The app is open-source and everyone can use it within seconds without any account creation. Users interact with the network as their own robot avatars which are generated from a random seed.
RoboSats has been around since 2022 and innovates by integrating an escrow system that makes use of the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s second layer that enables transactions with instant settlement at very low-cost.
Rather than using on-chain multisig transactions for the escrow contract, good behaviour is incentivized through the use of Lightning HODL invoices. Users post a bond in sats that will be locked during the transaction and returned to them when the transaction is successful.
Visit learn.robosats.com for more information, and make sure you understand how to use the platform before entering a trade.
How to access RoboSats?
- Through the URL robosats.com – note that you will need to use TOR. Clearnet users can browse but will be unable to enter trades in order to safeguard privacy
- The Accessing RoboSats page lists all links and ways to use the service
- Umbrel users can use it as a self-hosted app. Learn how to run a node with Umbrel and get support at Umbrel.com
Generate your robot
When you connect, RoboSats will generate a token and its corresponding robot which will be your avatar when interacting with other users.
You can generate as many tokens as you like by rolling the dice. Tokens are randomly generated by the app and the same token will always result in the same robot. It acts like a temporary password that recovers your ongoing trades in case you close the app or open it in another device.
The Order Book
The Offers tab on the bottom menu will display all of the available offers created by other users. It shows the premium (which may sometimes even be negative) compared to the spot price, as well as the size of the bond you will have to commit to enter the trade. You can set up some filters to narrow down your search by currency and payment method.
If you don’t find what you are looking for, navigate to the Create tab in the bottom menu and make your own offer.
Once you click an offer you will be able to review all the details. Click Take order to proceed with the trade.
Making a trade
Once you enter a trade the app will guide you through these simple steps:
- Pay the Lightning invoice to lock the security bond
- Provide a pay-out Lightning invoice to receive your bitcoin on Lightning, or choose to receive to an on-chain Bitcoin address for a small swap fee (for us this was 1.5%)
- Wait for the seller to lock the trade amount
- Securely chat with the seller to agree on payment details
- Send the payment to the seller and click confirm
- Receive the bitcoin as soon as the seller confirms that they’ve received the payment
Note that you will not be able to receive payments from RoboSats using Muun Wallet. Instead beginners can use Alby and connect to the Zeus mobile app. Visit this page to learn more about which Lightning wallets to use.
Review
RoboSats is fairly new and still in development, but for us the experience was seamless and we look forward to future improvements and updates. The statistics page shows that Bisq’s use has been slowly and steadily growing since launch and the platform now averages more than 0.5 BTC of daily volume. Most of the liquidity is in EUR and USD, but any currency or payment method can be used.
Here are some key points to remember about RoboSats:
- RoboSats uses the Lightning network for a cheaper and faster experience
- You can generate a robot and start using the platform in seconds with no downloads or accounts to set up
- It is ideal if you’re looking to trade small amounts
- It can be used to perform on-chain / Lightning swaps
- RoboSats is private and open-source but centralized which means it could be attacked or shut down
- In a future where on-chain transactions are prohibitively expensive to use, platforms like RoboSats, which are built on Lightning, could become the new standard for private fiat-to-bitcoin exchange
Follow the links to contribute or donate to RoboSats.
Find out about other non-KYC exchanges in these articles:
For questions, comments or support please visit our contact page.
Posted at block 772700
Bitcoin Bumblebee 
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