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Learn how to link your Blink API with Alby Wallet and start zapping across the internet
Did you know you can use Blink on the web? That's right, it's happening! Now, you can send and receive Zaps all over the Nostrverse directly from our Blink wallet using Alby.
If you don’t want to miss out on the fun, check out this blog post to learn how to connect our Blink wallet to the Alby browser extension.
To integrate the Bitcoin or Dollar account from our Blink Wallet, start by accessing dashboard.blink.sv/ and logging into the wallet. This interface functions as the web version of our Blink mobile app.
After logging in, we navigate to the “API Keys” page on the left side and create a new API key. We can do this by clicking the blue "+" icon at the top right.
A modal will open where we have to set the permissions of the API key we want to create.
Here, we'll create a name for the key for easier identification, because we can have more than one and we don’t want to mix them. Secondly, we choose an expiration duration to automatically revoke access after a certain period of time. This feature is useful if we’re unsure about how a browser extension works, we don’t want it accessible on our computer all the time or we don’t expect to use it again and don’t want to waste time revoking access. These options include 1 month (30 days), 3 months (90 days), or we can choose no expiration (Never), and remember to choose wisely and consider the use case we want to give it. Next, select the Read and Write Scope, and then click on “Create” to proceed.
After creation, we will be able to access and copy our API key. Do not close this page until the process is finished, as we will not be able to access it again; the API key is shown only once.
Next step: open the Alby extension, and click on the dropdown menu in the top right corner, then select “Connect a Wallet”.
A new page will open, giving us the option to connect an Alby account or our own wallet. Here, click on “Connect” on the left.
Then scroll down and select “Blink Wallet”.
Here, we will need to paste the API key into the first input field, select the “BTC” wallet, and then click on “Login”. If we want to use both bitcoin and dollar from our Blink wallet, just connect it twice to the extension: first choosing BTC and next time Stablesats
After this, our Blink Wallet will be connected to the Alby extension, and we can begin exploring the apps compatible with the extension by visiting the “Discover Apps” page.
Want to learn more about the Blink API? Take a look at: blink.sv/api
Alright, but what exactly is Alby Wallet, and why would I want to connect my Blink Wallet to it?
In simple terms, Alby is a Lightning wallet designed for use in a web browser. This open-source tool makes sending and receiving Bitcoin on your favorite bitcoin-friendly web apps easy.
Recently, we've witnessed a surge in bitcoin-friendly web applications that allow users to interact with them using a lightning wallet. This becomes particularly exciting when engaging with Nostr clients, where you can send Zaps to posts, music, text—virtually anything that can receive a lightning payment. It's also a valuable tool for bitcoin-friendly websites like Stackernews, where you can send and earn Sats within the forum. We're likely to see more of these applications emerge, where 'value for value' is the norm, making it worthwhile to explore them.
If you want to learn more about Nostr or Alby check out these videos:
