We’re thrilled to announce the release of Liana v13, a version that marks a major step forward for Bitcoin self-custody.

This release tackles one of the most overlooked challenges in the Bitcoin space: how to securely and privately back up wallets with non-trivial spending policies, and in particular their so-called “descriptor”.
Alongside this breakthrough, we’re also introducing optional fiat conversion, a refined key setup flow, and several usability improvements based on your feedback.

Let’s explore what’s new and how these features make self-custody simpler, safer, and more resilient.

🔐 Encrypted Descriptor Backups – Solving a Longstanding Problem in Bitcoin

The Problem

In Bitcoin, holding your keys is often not enough.

If your wallet uses a non-trivial setup — multisig, timelocks, or advanced policies — you also need to back up its descriptor, the piece of data describing how to locate and spend your coins.

Descriptors tell your wallet where your addresses are. Without them, even with all your seed phrases safely stored, you will lose access to your coins forever.

However, storing descriptors introduces privacy concerns. A descriptor, by design, can be used to reconstruct all your wallet addresses and reveal your entire set of coins. If exposed, it may allow third parties to view your balances and transaction history.

This has long been a barrier to safe and private self-custody.

The Solution – Encrypted Descriptors

With v13, Liana introduces a breakthrough: encrypted descriptor backups.

This feature is based on discussions in the Bitcoin dev community (Delving Bitcoin thread) and a new BIP draft (GitHub PR #1951) co-authored by our own developer @pythcoiner.

Liana is among the first wallets to implement this scheme in a versioned, retro-compatible way, ensuring that if the BIP evolves, we can adapt seamlessly.

How It Works

Liana now encrypts the descriptor using all the public keys it contains. Only those with access to at least one of the xpubs can decrypt it.

This means that if you can spend, you can also decrypt your descriptor — because spending requires at least one private key, which corresponds to one of the xpubs used for encryption.
In other words, the only situation in which you wouldn’t be able to decrypt your descriptor is the same one in which you’ve lost all your private keys, making your funds unspendable anyway. The advantages brought by this solution are major:

✅ You can now store the backup safely in multiple places (even cloud or public storage)
✅ No privacy leakage to third parties
✅ Significantly reduced risk of losing critical recovery data

This upgrade makes descriptor management both safer and simpler, addressing a key weakness in current wallet backup practices.

How It Works in Liana

In v13, encrypted descriptor backup is now the default option.
When creating a wallet, Liana will generate a .bed file — a Bitcoin Encrypted Descriptor — that you can download and store in multiple locations.

You’ll still be able to copy the plain-text descriptor if you wish, though this is no longer recommended.

During wallet recovery, Liana automatically detects if you upload an encrypted descriptor:

• It will prompt you to connect one of the hardware wallets from your setup
• Liana will fetch the xpub and decrypt the descriptor automatically

Alternatively, you can:

• Upload or paste an xpub manually
• Or, as a last resort, input a seed phrase to derive the xpub and decrypt the descriptor

This process ensures a smooth and secure recovery flow, greatly improving the user experience of advanced wallet setups.

Why This Matters

This innovation moves us closer to a world where backing up complex Bitcoin wallets is both simple and secure.

We invite the Bitcoin community to:

• Review the BIP draft
• Share feedback on this proposal
• And for other wallet providers to adopt it, helping to standardize safer descriptor storage across the ecosystem

This is how we build stronger, interoperable, user-friendly self-custody tools together.

💱 Optional Fiat Value Display

Another key improvement in Liana v13 is the optional conversion of bitcoin balances and amounts into fiat.

We understand that many users want to visualize values in their local currency, but we also value privacy and sovereignty. That’s why this feature is disabled by default. You’ll have full control over whether to enable it and which data sources to use.

You can configure this in Settings → General, choosing:

• The exchange rate source: currently CoinGecko or mempool.space
• The fiat currency: from a list of the supported options

Once enabled, fiat values appear in three places:

1. In the Home Page, to see your current balance (including unconfirmed funds) converted to fiat.

2. In the Send Page, to view the fiat equivalent for both the amount and the fee fields. You can also input a fiat amount directly, and Liana will automatically calculate the corresponding BTC amount.

3. In the Recovery Section, when spending via a recovery path, to see the fiat value of the recovered amount.

This gives users more flexibility while ensuring transparency about privacy implications.

🔑 Refined Key Setup Flow

We’ve also redesigned the “Set Keys” modal during wallet setup to make it more intuitive.

Now, it’s easier than ever to:

• Understand when to plug your hardware device
• Choose how to set a specific key (hardware, xpub, or seed)
• Edit aliases and easily replace keys
• Select the appropriate account (derivation path) when supported

This refactor makes complex configurations more approachable and less error-prone.

🧭 Other Notable Improvements

• Testnet4 Support: by user request, you can now create test wallets on testnet4. Existing testnet3 wallets remain functional.
• Home Page Auto-Refresh: balances now refresh automatically every 10 seconds, plus manual refresh by scrolling to the top.
• UI Polishing & Bug Fixes: a range of visual improvements, stability fixes, and code refactoring.

See here for the full list of changes included in Liana 13.0.

🚀 Get Started with Liana 13.0

Liana Wallet v13 is now available for download!
Whether you’re upgrading from a previous version or trying Liana for the first time, this release is designed to make managing your bitcoin even more seamless, private, and secure.

We’d love for you to test out the new features — especially the encrypted descriptor backups — and share your feedback.
Your experience helps us continue refining Liana and pushing forward the standards of secure Bitcoin self-custody.

💬 Join the conversation and connect with our team:

• Telegram and Discord to chat directly with the team, support, and community feedback
• X (Twitter) and LinkedIn – follow us for announcements, updates, and discussions

We’re continuously working to improve the self-custody experience — with an unwavering focus on security, transparency, and usability.

👉 Download Liana Wallet v13 now and take control of your bitcoin — securely, privately, and with confidence.