Lightning Address vs. ZBD username

Establishing your own identity when gaming, chatting or Tweeting is crucial if you want to be taken as a serious member of an online community. That’s where Internet Identifiers come in. In this article, we’ll explain what Internet Identifiers are and take a look at two crucial ones when it comes to easy worldwide Lightning transactions and Bitcoin gaming: the Lightning Address and the ZBD username (previously called ZBD Gamertag).

tl;dr

• The Lightning Address is an internet identifier that looks just an email address
  → It stands for your address on the Lightning Network and can be used to send Bitcoin to you
• The ZBD username is your gaming ID, Bitcoin “bank account number” and ZBD nickname all at the same time
  → It is used to identify you in games and the ZBD community, and comes with the ZBD app
• When you chose a username, you automatically get the corresponding Lightning Address

What is an Internet Identifier?

Sometimes you want to be anonymous on the internet, but most of the time, you gain a lot by people recognizing who you are – through your Twitter handle, your Twitch profile, your Patreon page, your email address and so on. These are all Internet Identifiers, which means that they’re intended to represent who you are and identify you, or your internet personality. This way, you can easily interact with other people who have similar identifiers.

The Lightning Address and the ZBD username are Internet Identifiers with specific purposes. Their field is Bitcoin Lightning Network transactions, but each in its own specific way.

The Lightning Address

While on-chain Bitcoin transactions are a great way to move money, they can be a bit slow and sometimes costly. The Lightning Network is neither – it’s (almost) instant and (almost) fee-free. But while this makes it fantastic for everyday use, it hasn’t been that user-friendly. Or at least, not until recently.

Enter the Lightning Address. An incredibly simple way to send Bitcoin or use it to tip or pay someone. It consists of a simple alphanumeric identifier that looks very similar to an email address – your chosen name separated from your domain with an “@” – something we’re all familiar with. So, when you want to transfer some sats to another Lightning user, all you need to do is input their Lightning Address in a wallet or app that supports this protocol (see a full list of apps with support here).

The ZBD username

While Lightning Addresses can easily handle sending Lightning Bitcoin, there is an even simpler way within the ZBD ecosystem: The ZBD username – your nickname in ZBD. The username’s main purpose is to identify you while you’re playing ZBD-powered games or simply chatting on Discord or Telegram, so anyone can easily send you some sats or tip you as soon as they see your handle.

Your ZBD username comes with its own webpage on zbd.gg (zbd.gg/YourUsername) where you can host your profile and display a static QR code that corresponds to your username.

But the best thing is that your ZBD username is the same as your Lightning Address! In other words, when you create a username, you’ll automatically get a Lightning Address for the same name. For example, if you choose “NatoshiSakamoto” as your username, you’ll get a Lightning Address natoshisakamoto@zbd.gg (and a https://zbd.gg/natoshisakamoto profile page).

How can I get a ZBD username or a Lightning Address?

Getting your own username and Lightning Address is really simple. Get the ZBD app. When you create an account, you’ll be able to choose your username, and we’ll automatically generate a Lightning Address for you. Registering is free, and so is playing Bitcoin games powered by ZBD.