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33 changes: 18 additions & 15 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,43 +5,46 @@

# Liana

*The missing safety net for your bitcoins*.
*A simple-to-use Bitcoin wallet with advanced security features. Timelocked inheritance, multisig,
disaster recovery, miniscript and more.*.

</div>


## About

Liana is a simple Bitcoin wallet. Like other Bitcoin wallets you have one key which can spend the
funds in the wallet immediately. Unlike other wallets, Liana lets you in addition specify one key
which can only spend the coins after the wallet has been inactive for some time.
Liana is a simple to use, desktop Bitcoin wallet. Like other Bitcoin wallets you have one key which
can spend the funds in the wallet immediately, or a combination of keys if you prefer multisig.
Unlike other wallets, Liana lets you in addition specify one or more keys which can only spend the
coins after the wallet has been inactive for some time.

We refer to these as the primary spending path (always accessible) and the recovery path (only
available after some time of inactivity). You may have more than one key in either the primary or
We refer to these as the primary spending path (always accessible) and the recovery path (only
available after some time of inactivity). You may have more than one key in either the primary or
the recovery path (multisig). You may have more than one recovery path.

Here is an example of a Liana wallet configuration:
- Owner's key (can always spend)
- Any 2 keys from the owner's spouse and two kids (after 1 year)
- A third party, in case [all else failed](https://wizardsardine.com/liana/plans#section-safety-net)
(after 1 year and 3 months)
- A third party, in case [all else failed](https://wizardsardine.com/liana/plans#section-safety-net)
(after 1 year and 3 months)

The lockup period is enforced onchain by the Bitcoin network. This is achieved by leveraging
timelock capabilities of Bitcoin smart contracts (Script).
The lockup period is enforced onchain by the Bitcoin network. This is achieved by leveraging
timelock capabilities of Bitcoin smart contracts (Script), with miniscript.

Liana can be used for **trustless inheritance**, **loss protection** or **safer backups**. Visit
[our website](https://wizardsardine.com/liana) for more information.
Liana can be used for **trustless inheritance**, **loss protection and disaster recovery**, and
generally **safer wallets and backups**. Liana is built for both individuals and organizations, it
is already used to secure thousands of bitcoins. Visit [our website](https://wizardsardine.com/liana)
for more information.


## Usage

Liana is available on Windows, Mac and Linux. To install and start using it see
[`doc/USAGE.md`](doc/USAGE.md). A more accessible version of Liana is also available as a web
application [here](https://lianalite.com/).
[`doc/USAGE.md`](doc/USAGE.md). A demo of a web
application is also available [here](https://lianalite.com/).

If you just want to quickly try out Liana on Bitcoin Signet, see [`doc/TRY.md`](doc/TRY.md).

@pythcoiner pythcoiner Oct 4, 2025

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maybe here we can hint user to ask us signet coins on TG?



## Hacking on Liana

Liana is an open source project. It is [hosted at Github](https://github.com/wizardsardine/liana).
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53 changes: 32 additions & 21 deletions doc/USAGE.md
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# Start using Liana

This documents how to install and start using Liana. If you just want to quickly try Liana on
This documents how to install and start using Liana. If you just want to quickly try Liana on
Bitcoin Signet, check out [this guide](TRY.md) instead.


### Installing the software

The recommended installation method for regular users is to download [an executable software release
from our website](https://wizardsardine.com/liana/). If you prefer to build the project from source,
see [`BUILD.md`](BUILD.md) instead.
The recommended installation method for regular users is to download [an executable software
release from our website](https://wizardsardine.com/liana/). Liana is simple to use and should be
straightforward by just launching the executable on your computer, and following the in-app
instructions.

We recommend you verify the software you downloaded against a PGP signature made by Edouard Paris
using his key `5B63F3B97699C7EEF3B040B19B7F629A53E77B83`. For now the PGP signatures for the
binaries downloaded on our website are only available on the [Github release
page](https://github.com/wizardsardine/liana/releases). Find the `.asc` file in the list
corresponding to the binary you downloaded. Edouard's key is available elsewhere for cross-checking,
such as on [his personal website](https://edouard.paris).
If you prefer to build the project from source, see [`BUILD.md`](BUILD.md) instead.

We recommend you verify the software you downloaded against a PGP signature made by Edouard Paris
using his key `5B63F3B97699C7EEF3B040B19B7F629A53E77B83`. For now the PGP signatures for the
binaries downloaded on our website are only available on the [Github release
page](https://github.com/wizardsardine/liana/releases). Find the shasums.txt and corresponding
`.asc` file in the list corresponding to the version you downloaded. Edouard's key is available
elsewhere for cross-checking, such as on [the Wizardsardine
website](https://wizardsardine.com/pgp_security_ed.txt) or [his personal
website](https://edouard.paris).

For Arch users, a `liana-bin` is also available at the [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/). You can
install it using your favourite wrapper (eg `paru -S liana-bin` or `yay -S liana-bin`), or manually:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -63,14 +68,18 @@ The installer will guide you through a few steps:
- Making sure your backup your descriptor and register it on your signing device
- Configuring the connection to the Bitcoin network

Once you've been through these steps, your Liana wallet will open.
Once you've been through these steps, your Liana wallet will open and be ready to use.

You might have to wait for Bitcoin Core to perform its initial block download. When using Liana, the
connection to the Bitcoin network is established by using a full node. This means you are fully
sovereign: you are not trusting a third party to get your onchain data. This does come with a
drawback: you have to wait for Bitcoin Core to download and validate the historical block chain. But
fear not! This is just a one time cost. Also, the full node is pruned so it will not use more than
20GB of disk space.
You might have to wait for Bitcoin Core to perform its initial block download. When using Liana, the
connection to the Bitcoin network is established by using a full node (recommended), connecting to
an Electrum server you control, or using the Liana Connect service (fastest). This means you can be
fully sovereign: you are not trusting a third party to get your onchain data if you use your own
node. This does come with a drawback: you have to wait for Bitcoin Core to download and validate the
historical block chain, or to have an Electrum server already set up. But fear not! Liana offers you
a one-click option to install and configure a Bitcoin Core node, pruned so it will not use more than
30GB of disk space (currently).
The Liana Connect option is great to be able to use the wallet right away, without any
syncronization time. It comes at reduced privacy compared to running your own node.

#### Using the daemon

Expand All @@ -81,9 +90,10 @@ which is currently possible through the Bitcoin Core daemon (`bitcoind`) or an E

The chosen Bitcoin backend must be available while Liana is running.

If using `bitcoind`, it must be running on your machine for the desired network (mainnet, signet, testnet, testnet4 or
regtest). Note that testnet4 will only be available if Bitcoin Core version 28.0 or later is used. It may be pruned
(this may affect block chain rescans) up to the maximum (around 550MB of blocks).
If using `bitcoind`, it must be running on your machine for the desired network (mainnet, signet,
testnet, testnet4 or regtest). Note that testnet4 will only be available if Bitcoin Core version
28.0 or later is used. It may be pruned (this may affect block chain rescans) up to the maximum
(around 550MB of blocks).

The minimum supported version of Bitcoin Core is `24.0.1` (if you want to use Taproot it's `26.0`).
If you don't have Bitcoin Core installed on your machine yet, you can download it
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -198,7 +208,8 @@ script from our
```
$ ../maintainer-tools/verify-commits/verify-commits.py liana
...
There is a valid path from "9490159e7ca69678bb6995cd56d09b0a65a5b484" to da9149ccde5bf99cb70769b792fd003b079fc9ed where all commits are signed!
There is a valid path from "9490159e7ca69678bb6995cd56d09b0a65a5b484" to
da9149ccde5bf99cb70769b792fd003b079fc9ed where all commits are signed!
```
It's worth mentioning we didn't invent anything here: we're just reusing the [great
tooling](https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-maintainer-tools) developed by the Bitcoin Core
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