A wallet for the Bitcoin Lightning Network called Alby has started charging dozens of users. People began reporting unexpected withdrawals from their accounts that they did not authorize. These deductions are described as inactivity fees.
The story resonated on June 10 after the SlowMist company’s co-founder, Yu Xian reported that almost $192 worth of bitcoins were withdrawn from his Alby account without his direct approval. According to Xian, the funds were withdrawn from the wallet on May 26.
He later discovered that Alby updated its terms of service a few weeks ago, adding a clause that allows withdrawing fees from inactive wallets created in 2023 or earlier if there has been no activity in the account for 12 consecutive months.
The updated policy, which was mentioned in the email, was sent to Xiang on May 1. He criticized the fee, calling it a «stealing agreement».
Other Alby users lost even larger amounts: $590 and even $5400.
Meanwhile, Lnfi Network founder Luke Gao explained The situation is that Alby used to offer storage wallets, but has begun to transition to a self-storage model through AlbyHub. He added that users have received several notifications about these changes over the past 18 months. In addition, affected users can still get a refund by contacting Alby support.
So, guys, girls, and non-binary people, read emails, contracts, and documents carefully before signing them. And everything that is written in small print.