Get Lightning Network
Any trend in motion will continue to be in motion. I’m referring to the Lightning Network. -Isaac Newton, probably.
WHAT is Lightning?
According to Satoshi’s whitepaper, Bitcoin was meant to be “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. Unfortunately, so far that vision hasn’t materialised because increasing adoption would lead to a slower, more expensive blockchain experience. As you’re aware, most of us won’t wait 20 minutes for our cup of coffee (and pay $10 in fees!). 7 transactions a second on the Bitcoin blockchain isn’t enough for the entire world. That’s why the Lightning Network was born.
Instead of confirming each payment on the blockchain, which can get slow, expensive and congested, Lightning creates direct peer-to-peer connections to send & receive Bitcoin. These connections are linked together to form a web, where anyone can transact with anyone, creating the Lightning Network. In the picture, Alice and Dave can transact with each other without even having direct channels open with each other. That’s what makes it the Lightning “Network.”
Since there are people way better than me at explaining what Lightning actually is, I’m going to direct you to these simple explanations. If only everyone else did that.
How the Lightning Network Works
WHY it matters?
Arthur C. Clarke said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” He was right. With an average fee of 1 Satoshi, which is approximately Lightning leads to a huge reduction in fees, with an almost limitless number of simultaneous transactions, while keeping the decentralised nature of Bitcoin alive.
There are currently nodes in the network. Although Lightning is already capable of faster and cheaper transactions than any centralised network in the world, I want to see it reach 1 million nodes so it becomes truly ubiquitous.
I’ve noticed that the price of crypto assets only increases when adoption of its networks increase. Adoption increases only when the networks deliver more value. The pace of innovation and adoption in Lightning leads me to believe that we’re in for another 2017. Lightning is the answer to the age old question of what gives Bitcoin its value. Thanks to the Lightning Network, no one will ask whether Bitcoin will simply remain ‘digital gold’. It will become the digital cash it was meant to be.
HOW do I start?
There’s one core truth I’ve realised about the crypto ecosystem. Any innovation that’s possible to be made, will be made. Any product that can be improved, will be improved. Now that Lightning Network has met its stride, it’s only a matter of time before it completely revolutionises money.
Getting started with Lightning is getting easier for consumers, with the complexity being handled by other parties. Since I’ve been involved with creating a consumer friendly way of using Lightning, my team has been working tirelessly to meet the vision of increasing the size of the Network. Try out the Lightning demo yourself - make a testnet transaction, see how easy and fast it really is. It’s people like you using it that makes it possible.
@iamHappyJi, and I look at the world as it could be. I’m a believer in Lightning, and I hope you found this personal side project of mine useful. My goal is to see the Lightning network reach a million nodes, so that everyone has access to trustless payments as fast and reliably as possible. As Product Experience head at Zebpay, I’m excited to make it happen.
