About Lightning Piggy
An open source electronic piggy bank that accepts Bitcoin over the Lightning Network and displays savings in satoshis.
Why we exist
The majority of the world's 2.4 billion children are growing up on a fiat standard. Even in the US, the issuer of the global reserve currency, the dollar has lost the vast majority of its purchasing power against Bitcoin in the last ten years. Kids' fiat money savings become worthless by the time they reach adulthood.
purchasing power lost in 10 years
Feb 2016 — 1 BTC = $421
Feb 2026 — 1 BTC = $66,132
From an early age, we're programmed to think in fiat terms. Depending on our cultural upbringing, in many parts of the world our first encounter with money is when the "tooth fairy" visits, followed by being gifted a piggy bank that gets filled with coins for doing good deeds. This money is rapidly losing its purchasing power, and is therefore useless at storing value.
Lightning Piggy was created to change that. By saving in satoshis from an early age, children grow up understanding sound money. This is a golden opportunity to give the children of the world a head start in life, and to onboard the next generation of bitcoiners and builders.
What Lightning Piggy does
Lightning Piggy is an electronic piggy bank for children that accepts Bitcoin sent over the Lightning Network. It displays an onscreen QR code for receiving payments, shows the satoshi balance, recent transactions, and messages. Balances refresh automatically when new payments arrive.
The device is simple and low cost, with no subscription fees. It supports flexible wallet backends: you can choose a full self-custodial LNbits setup or connect to a Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) compatible wallet. It runs on low power and can even be battery or solar powered.
Setup is straightforward with a browser-based installer. No app downloads, no accounts to create. Just connect to WiFi, enter your wallet details, and you're ready to stack sats.
How kids earn and save
Lightning Piggy creates practical opportunities for children to earn and save Bitcoin:
Receive Bitcoin instantly
Share the onscreen QR code with family and friends.
Printable QR codes
For chores, rewards, homework goals, achievements, and visual reminders around the house.
Recurring pocket money
Payments in sats, set up by parents.
Auto-swap savings
Thresholds from Lightning to on-chain for long-term hodling.
Learning by building
Beyond saving, Lightning Piggy is a hands-on STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Money) learning platform. The project uses a beginner-friendly open source codebase, with a MicroPython based OS and app introduced in Lightning Piggy MPOS. Kids and makers can explore the code, modify it, and learn real programming skills.
The hardware side is equally accessible. Builders can make their own enclosure using card, cardboard, LEGO, repurposed objects, or 3D print and laser cut a custom housing. There are self-build options for those who want the full maker experience, or you can buy a ready-made device from the market.
Our mission
Make sats the savings standard for every child.
Our vision is enabling every child to save for their future on a Bitcoin standard in a fun, friendly, and educational way. Lightning Piggy is bringing the adoption of Bitcoin to young people in a real and meaningful way. Later in life, Bitcoin will be the obvious first choice of money — anything else will simply not make sense.
Bitcoin only
We believe in sound money. No distractions.
Open source everything
Hardware, software, and education. Inspect it, modify it, make it yours.
The road ahead
Lightning Piggy is an active and evolving project. Here's what we're working towards:
- → Integrated cold storage wallet link enabling both spending and saving account balances.
- → Custom open source PCB hat for additional maker capabilities.
- → Workshop kit collaboration with the Plan B Network team.
- → Simplified onboarding: enabling manufacturers to pre-flash devices for plug-and-play field configuration.
- → Global distribution strategy to reach families everywhere.
- → Partnerships with community hubs to onboard more households to Bitcoin.
Community powered
Lightning Piggy is supported by a thriving global community of bitcoiners, makers, educators, and families. It is built with love by bitcoiners, for young newcoiners. Everything is free and open source as standard.
Want to get involved? Join us on Telegram, contribute on GitHub, or check out the community page.
The Lightning Piggy Foundation
Lightning Piggy is developed and maintained by the Lightning Piggy Foundation — a small team of bitcoiners committed to open-source education and sound money for the next generation.
The Foundation stewards the project's development, coordinates with contributors, and ensures Lightning Piggy remains free, open source, and accessible to families worldwide.
Meet the team on the credits page, or get involved by joining the community.
Once upon a time...
The Origin Story
How Lightning Piggy found freedom down the rabbit hole.
Read the storyReady to get started?
Build your own Lightning Piggy or buy one ready-made.