UMA Basics

This article covers the most common questions about UMA and how it works.

What’s a Universal Money Address (UMA)?

A Universal Money Address (UMA) is a "human-readable" address — think of it like an email address, but for money. You can use your UMA to send or receive payments instantly.

What is the UMA protocol?

The UMA protocol is a messaging standard that makes payments interoperable between wallets, exchanges, and banks. It allows people with UMA-enabled accounts to send money to each other quickly and securely.

How does UMA work?

• The UMA protocol is open-source and built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

• It uses Lightning addresses and adds compliance and transaction messaging so payments are fast, low-cost, and secure.

• Wallets, exchanges, and banks that support UMA can enable real-time payments in multiple currencies for their customers.

What is uma.money?

• uma.money is a web portal where you can create a UMA address and link it to your bank account.

• It’s powered by Lightspark (enterprise-grade Lightning infrastructure) in partnership with Zero Hash LLC (a regulated financial institution).

• When you receive a payment to your UMA address:

  • Zero Hash accepts the Bitcoin Lightning payment on your behalf.

  • The payment is converted to USD.

  • The USD funds are deposited into your linked bank account in real time.

Why do I see app.uma.money instead of link.uma.me?

We updated our web address from link.uma.me to app.uma.money to better reflect our focus on payments. Your account and features are unaffected — everything works the same as before.