Satoshi’s Wallet, a Bitcoin and Lightning Network (LN) wallet, has blocked its custodial services in Spain and other countries in the European Union, leaving the self-custody version the only alternative available to affected users.
A custodial service is one in which a company maintains control of its private keys, the cryptographic credentials that enable the movement of funds.
In that plan, Users do not directly manage their Bitcoinsbut delegates that function to a third party.
In the case of Wallet of Satoshi, the custodial model ran on LN, Bitcoin’s Layer 2 (L2) network designed for fast, low-cost payments.
Under this modality, Apps built using Lightning are simple By assuming control of the infrastructure and keys at the cost of the user relinquishing control of their funds.
The self-custody version also uses Lightning, but changes the responsibility scheme. Control of the keys is passed to the users, who must protect their credentials and directly manage the payment channels needed to operate on the network.
As reported by CriptoNoticias, Wallet of Takeshi adopted this self-custody method last October.
MiCA Law Points and User Reactions
The action was not accompanied by an official statement. However, user reports on social networks provided data related to this change.
The Lightning News account claimed that Satoshi’s wallet blocked custodial services “across the EU,” including countries such as: Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands.
The same account published an image reflecting Satoshi’s wallet interface, which prevents EU users from accessing custodial services on LN.
On Reddit, one user noticed that the app was notifying him that his region was not supported and suggesting he switch to self-administration mode. Other participants said this decision was due to regulatory requirements.
Attention has turned to the European regulatory framework, the MiCA Act. Establish licensing, capital, and compliance requirements For cryptographic service providers. In particular, escrow services are subject to strict KYC/AML (Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering) regulations, increasing costs and operational complexity.
Although Wallet of Satoshi has not confirmed this interpretation, the temporal coincidence reinforces the hypothesis that the company has chosen to restrict storage access in Europe. To avoid regulatory risks While maintaining the self-management features of that version.