Lightning

Michael Saylor snubs claims he doesn’t use Bitcoin Lightning Network

Saylor wanted to demonstrate just how well he can use Bitcoin’s layer-2 Lightning Network by hosting a meme competition.

The executive chairman of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, does not like to be called out. He responded to a poll shared by Eric Wall, a crypto researcher, that suggested he had not used Bitcoin’s layer-2 Lightning Network more than three times with a Twitter poll of his own.

Saylor replied to the poll with a resounding yes, and kickstarted a meme competition with a 1,000,000 satoshi giveaway, or 0.01 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth around $200 — to the most liked meme. In giving away satoshis to prizewinners, Saylor will literally use the Lightning Network three times.

In typical Crypto Twitter fashion, Wall has since created a new poll suggesting that it’s actually Saylor’s assistant who is tweeting back and forth not the CEO himself. Wall told Cointelegraph: 

“My latest poll asks whether it’s Saylor or his assistant who made any of the comments you’re referring to. The alternative suggesting it’s his assistant is currently winning.”

Saylor first tweeted about the Lightning Network in May 2021 and has since become a proponent for the layer-2 payments solution built on Bitcoin, as well as LiFi, or Lightning Finance. Wall, a former chief investment officer at Arcane Research, has called out Saylor several times, and his initial optimism about the Lightning Network in 2018 has dissolved into critiques. 

Other prominent Bifluencers such as Udi Wertheimer and Lilli, head of business development at Foundation Devices, regularly knock the LN. Lilli recently called the network a “failure,” and Udi said, “Nobody uses it.”

The poll as well as recent commentary from Wall bring into focus a bigger issue. Is the Lightning Network a fringe solution to Bitcoin’s scalability problem that even the biggest names in the Bitcoin space struggle to use? Or, is the Lightning Network — following eight years of development — a failure?

Related: Busking on Bitcoin: How Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum for tipping

Wall shared a series of videos highlighting difficulties in transferring funds over the LN from old Bitcoin wallets to a new phone. He also predicted that Bitcoin capacity on the LN will not exceed 6,000 BTC before 2023. Bitcoin network capacity surged through 4,000 BTC in June and 5,000 BTC in October. With two months to go until year-end, Wall tweeted that it’s “gonna be a nail-biter.”

Perhaps major companies entering the space will bolster LN usage and improve sentiment. Saylor is doubling down again on his Bitcoin strategy, as MicroStrategy is hiring Lightning developers. Furthermore, NYDIG, a leading Bitcoin company, announced in its Q3 report that “Now it’s time for Lightning,” stating its intention to contribute to the LN.

For smaller Bitcoin-first companies, deals are struck and announcements are made on a weekly basis. Strike recently led a successful $80 million funding round, while Galoy, the team behind El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach wallet, has implemented dollars onto the LN — a boon for emerging markets. In Gibraltar, a highly sophisticated financial market, Lightning Network adoption is thriving.

Finally, in a recent panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph in France, prominent Lightning Developers including “Dr. Bitcoin” himself, Christian Decker and data scientist Rene Pickhard mulled over whether transaction failure on the LN is acceptable in 2022.

The overwhelming sentiment from the panel that day is that the LN is still a work in progress. It’s neither a resounding success as it’s still early. For Nicolas Burtey, CEO of Galoy — the group behind the Adopting Bitcoin, a Lightning Summit in El Salvador — “The adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador was the tipping point for Lightning.” The El Salvador Bitcoin Law hit its year anniversary one month ago.

In the meantime, there are now hundreds of memes in reply to Saylor’s tweet.  

Cointelegraph reached out to Wall, who declined to comment. Cointelegraph will update the article if Saylor, Wertheimer or Lilli share commentary.

Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity strikes 5,000 BTC

The growth in Bitcoin added to the layer-2 Lightning Network has electrified over the past year, hitting 4,000 Bitcoin less than four months ago.

Bear markets are for building out capacity on the layer-2 Lightning Network. Despite macroeconomic headwinds and sluggish price action, the Lightning Network, the layer-2 payments solution fo Bitcoin (BTC), continues to flourish.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network reached a milestone capacity of 5,000 BTC ($96 million). In effect, more and more Bitcoin is being introduced to Lightning Network payment channels worldwide, as Bitcoiners continue to support the growth of the network.

Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity. Source: Look into Bitcoin

The Lightning Network allows users to send Bitcoin (or satoshis, the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) to send or receive money faster and with lower fees. The more capacity on the network, the more liquidity is on hand. As a result, users can experience faster payment speeds and potentially larger transaction volumes. 

First created in 2018, the Lighting Network has come under fire recently. Bitcoin influencers such as Udi Wertheimer have discussed the network’s “failure,” claiming that no one uses the network. Nonetheless, the network hit 4,000 BTC capacity in June and over the past four years, it has become a reliable payment network and is popular in El Salvador, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar:

Nourou, of Bitcoin Senegal, explains why the LN is so important. He told Cointelegraph, “In Senegal, we have an economy of 50 FCFA. That is to say that the Senegalese of the working and proletarian class, who represent the majority of the population, buy, for their breakfast, 50 FCFA (0.07€) of milk, sugar, coffee, water, and many other basic products.”

“Microtransactions are our economic reality. For Bitcoin to become the standard in the years to come, and in our economies, the lightning network would have to have enough capacity to support these microtransactions.”

Nicolas Burtey, CEO at Galoy, was one of the first to celebrate the 5,000 Bitcoin achievement. Burtey told Cointelegraph that the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador was the tipping point for the Lightning Network. This is where all metrics really started to take off.” He joked, “The bill should have actually been called the Lightning Law!”

Burtey continued, explaining that while the 5,000 BTC metric is important, “Payment velocity per channel is growing at an even faster rate. It’s a more meaningful metric, but only node operators can see it, so it’s not so prominent in the media.”

The Lightning Network, once a space for hobbyist Bitcoin enthusiasts, now appeals to large corporations. MicroStrategy is now hiring for a Bitcoin Lightning Software engineer. MicroStrategy is the largest holder of Bitcoin among publicly traded companies, with 130,000 BTC on its balance sheet. 

Related: Raise a glass to Satoshi’s Place: the challenge of running Bitcoin businesses

Elsewhere, Strike, a Bitcoin Lightning company headed by Jack Mallers, raised $80 million to “revolutionize payments” for merchants. Mallers and Strike spearheaded El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption plans in 2021.

For Nourou, who’s hosting Dakar Bitcoin Days in December, the first major Bitcoin conference in Senegal, the 5,000 BTC milestone is monumental:  “An increase in BTCs blocked in the network and the number of channels opened in parallel is a further step towards the democratization of Bitcoin transactions in the world.”

Bitcoin Lightning Network vs Visa and Mastercard: How do they stack up?

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network has been growing at a slow pace. What’s keeping it behind, given its high transaction throughput?

Bitcoin (BTC) changed the world as a decentralized, nongovernmental form of currency that can facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions that transcend national borders. 

But despite this functionality, Bitcoin’s role as a payment mechanism has been called into question due to its low transaction throughput.

The Bitcoin blockchain can handle up to seven transactions per second, which means that network demand has seen the average transaction fee on the network reach an all-time high above $62 during specific periods.

In order to address low throughput and high transaction fees, developers made the Lightning Network — a layer-2 scaling solution that allows for off-chain transactions.

The Lightning Network creates a P2P payment channel between two parties in a transaction. The channel “allows them to send an unlimited amount of transactions that are nearly instant as well as inexpensive. It acts as its own little ledger for users to pay for even smaller goods and services such as coffee without affecting the Bitcoin network.”

Users of the network lock in a certain amount of Bitcoin in order to create a channel. Once the BTC is locked, recipients can invoice amounts as they need.

To a certain extent, the network is seen as a solution to Bitcoin’s scalability problem, but its adoption has been somewhat slow. The network currently has 87,000 payment channels and 4,570 BTC locked in, worth over $111 million, compared to the 19.1 million BTC in circulation, the market capitalization of which is over $460 billion.

Despite its slow adoption, the network has the potential to outcompete existing payment solutions.

Lightning Network’s transaction throughput 

Payments giants like Visa and Mastercard are used to process payments worldwide. Mastercard’s network is estimated to process up to 5,000 transactions per second, making it far superior to Bitcoin’s seven per second.

Visa’s transaction throughput is even more impressive, being able to process up to 24,000 transactions per second. In a recent interview, Visa chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said that the network could, in theory, handle up to 65,000 transactions per second.

The Lightning Network goes much further, however, processing up to 1 million transactions per second, making it the most efficient payment system in the world in terms of transaction throughput.

Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall does an impromptu test of the Lightning Network versus fiat contactless payments.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ovidiu Chirodea, CEO of Romanian cryptocurrency exchange Coinzix, noted that the network marks the next phase in the evolution of money. Per Chirodea, first, there was gold, which was a store of value but wasn’t a convenient medium of exchange, with fiat currency following up as a convenient medium of exchange.

Recent: Tornado Cash saga highlights legal issues affecting the crypto market

Bitcoin, Chirodea said, was an evolutionary step that created a new store of value, with the Lightning Network serving as a platform for it to also become a medium of exchange:

“Visa is charging businesses around 3% to process payments, so I think the Lighting Network is a game changer. Companies will increase their revenue by using it, and that’s not something that you can ignore.”

He noted, however, that the network’s scalability “isn’t so great,” as users need to open a channel with each party and tie up BTC on it, which affects their liquidity. Per his words, tying up liquidity can be avoided by “using other routes and other payment channels,” but the solution “isn’t very scalable, as payments channels keep opening and closing.”

Thomas Perfumo, head of business operations and strategy at crypto exchange Kraken, told Cointelegraph that since the firm launched Lightning Network support in April 2022, it has “steadily increased network capacity” to the point that it’s now the fifth-largest node on the Lightning Network:

“We currently have over 800 open channels that can facilitate upward of 18 billion satoshis worth of payments. Clients are routinely funding their accounts via the Lightning Network on a daily basis.”

Perfumo added that the exchange sees the Lightning Network as “essential for the creation of a permissionless payment system that will ultimately help accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide.”

While the Lightning Network’s advantages in terms of transaction throughput are now clear, it has some notable downsides.

Firstly, opening up a Lightning wallet and funding it may not be as easy or as ingrained as opening a bank account and using a debit card.

Furthermore, funding a Lightning Network wallet requires users to send BTC from a traditional Bitcoin wallet, and creating a payment channel involves locking up funds.

Once funds are locked into a payment channel, they can freely transact, but the funds can only be recovered after that channel is closed. Moreover, offline transaction scams are possible, as one party may close a channel when the other is offline to try to steal funds. While third-party services may mitigate the risk, it keeps some from entering the network.

Privacy, ease of use and censorship-resistance

Keeping these disadvantages in mind, Max Rothman, head of crypto and digital assets at global payment processor Checkout.com, told Cointelegraph that being able to use cryptocurrencies to exchange goods and services “is only effective when crypto can seamlessly exchange hands.”

The Lightning Network being peer-to-peer, Rothman added, puts the responsibility for the transactions process on both merchants and customers. On an institutional level, “This can be challenging and resource-intensive to administer in-house without a trusted partner to manage thousands or millions of cross-currency transactions.”

Rothman said that solutions like the one used by Checkout.com, which rely on partner companies like Visa to offer on-ramps that allow for crypto-to-fiat conversions, are that “bridge that offers a more seamless translation experience between Web2 and Web3.”

Onboarding the next million or billion people to crypto “requires guidance, support and bespoke solutions that work for every level of payment needs and acknowledge the current payments environment in which we operate,” he stated.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Bruce Fenton, a board member at the Bitcoin Foundation and a candidate for the United States Senate in New Hampshire, said the Lightning Network “enables Bitcoin to do more transactions” while being “more decentralized and censorship-resistant than centralized companies or most other chains.”

When asked about the pros and cons of using the Lightning Network over solutions from companies like Visa, Fenton dismissed Visa as “entirely centralized,” which means it can “be stopped or censored.” While centralization may be a concern on the Lightning Network for some, he said that it does not affect the Bitcoin blockchain itself and added:

“It’s mostly about what money you are building on and for. For those who believe in Bitcoin as the superior money, LN is the most well-known scaling solution.”

Chad Barraford, technical lead at decentralized liquidity protocol THORChain, told Cointelegraph that when checking out at online stores, the Lightning Network enables a “cash” option, in which “there is no other party participating, no exorbitant fees and substantial privacy benefits.” 

He said that the network is “not solely motivated by the best interests of shareholders or board members” but serves its participants’ interests as a public good, adding:

“Visa is a financial institution that inherently seeks profit and control and is at the behest of governments. The Lightning Network is purely a public good. It only exists to provide a fundamental and critical service for every person on the planet in need of access to financial services.”

The Lightning Network’s adoption and success are “tightly coupled with the Bitcoin network itself,” Barraford stated. He believes that as the world sees BTC less as a speculative asset and more “like a currency to purchase items,” then inflationary pressures “will push more and more people to the Lightning Network.”

While the comparison against networks like that of Visa or Mastercard is clear from these answers, it’s worth pointing out that some of these arguments apply to other solutions such as PayPal, which can be forced to freeze customers’ assets or charge higher fees, for example.

Blockchain technology has been developing over time to the point that other blockchains are also able to compete with Visa’s transaction throughput without seeking to profit from it.

What about other chains?

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Fenton hinted that the Lightning Network stands out as “more decentralized and censorship-resistant” than most other blockchains.

Decred co-founder and project lead Jake Yocom-Piatt built on that idea, telling Cointelegraph that other blockchains are unable to match the Lightning Network’s qualities.

Yocom-Piatt claimed that the high-throughput blockchain Solana, with a theoretical throughput of 710,000 transactions per second, is a “centralized, noncustodial blockchain that requires its validating nodes run in datacenters on high-end hardware.” Comparing Bitcoin, Solana and Decred itself, he said:

“Of these three, Lightning Network is the most decentralized, sovereign and most aligned with the original ethos of the cryptocurrency space. Solana sacrifices most of its decentralization via its onerous validating node requirements, but at least it does not appear to be able to censor users and merchants arbitrarily.”

Whatever the future holds, it’s clear that innovation in the cryptocurrency space is increasing transaction throughput. Whether users will end up choosing to sacrifice privacy and immutability for more convenience remains to be seen.

Recent: Metaverse promises: Future of Web3 or just a market gimmick?

As it stands, more convenient solutions are available. It’s now easier to use layer-1 blockchains for payments via centralized entities that allow crypto assets to be converted to fiat currencies at the point of sale.

For the Lightning Network to gain a wider audience, more services are likely going to have to support it. Leading exchanges like Coinbase, Binance and FTX haven’t followed the footsteps of other exchanges in embracing the network, hindering its growth. As the network relies on having more payment channels to keep routing transactions, other networks and centralized payment providers are likely to stay ahead.

The Costa’ Bitcoin on the rise: Major chains give Gibraltar a BTC boost

Major franchises in Gibraltar including Costa Coffee, Card Factory and Hotel Chocolat now accept Bitcoin over the Lightning Network or on-chain.

“But you can’t buy a coffee with Bitcoin,” the Bitcoin (BTC) critics chanted. Gibraltar, a tiny British Overseas Territory in Europe just blew a hole in that FUD as popular coffee chain Costa Coffee now accepts Bitcoin over Lightning. 

Hotel Chocolat, Card Factory and the Gibraltar bakery also accept Bitcoin as a currency in the British Overseas Territory. The well-known franchises take advantage of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) to accept customers’ money. The LN is ideal for microtransaction cappuccinos, postcard payments or ice cream investments as reporter Joe Hall found out during a Gibraltar shopping spree.

Lightning-enabled Bitcoin merchants in Gibralatar. Source: CoinCorner

Payments are instant, frictionless and charge merchants less than the typical Mastercard or Visa payment rails. Neil Walker, managing director at Sandpiper GI — the group managing the retail franchises — told Cointelegraph that when using a Lightning-enabled card, “It’s no different to using a contactless credit card.”

“It is just as quick you can tap and pay contactless credit cards, you can tap and pay lightning, scan a QR code. And whilst I haven’t timed it, I reckon it’s almost exactly the same speed.”

CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, partnered with Sandpiper GI, to help in equipping merchants with Bitcoin Lightning point of sale (PoS) devices.

Walker shared that even for Bitcoin naysayers, the ease with which customers and merchants can transact is a no-brainer. He told Cointelegraph, “whether you believe in Bitcoin or not, you can use the lightning network to cut your transaction costs and to pay via mobile.” Given that it’s a neutral payment rail, he said that customers can traverse currencies easily:

“For a long time, the idea of paying with bitcoin seemed alien to both businesses and individuals, but with the launch of The Bolt Card and the ability to “tap and pay” via lightning, the user experience is quick, easy and familiar to everyone.”

Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists onto the rock per year, from countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Plus, Walker estimates that roughly 15,000 cross-border workers cross over from Spain to work in Gibraltar on a daily basis. Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar pound while Spain uses the euro, so currency conversion, remittance and tourism could be strong drivers for adopting a global, borderless currency.

To pay for a coffee in Gibraltar, customers can now scan a QR code or simply tap to pay using an NFC-enabled Bitcoin Lightning card. The most popular payment choice among Satoshi spenders is the Bolt Card, a CoinCorner innovation. Molly Spiers, head of marketing at CoinCorner told Cointelegraph that the “Bolt Card has been a driving factor for Bitcoin adoption.”

Bitcoin adoption in British Overseas Territories is booming, boosted by the ease of tap-and-go payments. Over on the Isle of Man, an island whose population doubles Gibraltar’s 35,000, Bitcoin adoption “has exploded over the last 6 months,” Spiers told Cointelegraph. “We’ve gone from around five businesses accepting Bitcoin, to now nearly 10x that!”

Related: Busking on Bitcoin: How Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum for tipping

While the Isle of Man has made itself the mantle, “Bitcoin Island,” Walker quips that Gibraltar could be called “Bitcoin Rock.” Indeed, the household names of Costa Coffee and Hotel Chocolat join a growing list of merchants that accept Bitcoin in Gibraltar. Essardas Luxury, for example, has accepted Bitcoin since early 2021, while smaller independent shops accept Bitcoin and sometimes cryptocurrencies including stablecoins upon request.

Packed your Bitcoin? A BTC holiday in Costa Rica goes fiat free

A Bitcoiner in Costa Rica had a “win-win” experience when he went on holiday and only spent Satoshis (Bitcoin) while traveling along the pacific coast.

Passport, sunglasses, beach towel and Bitcoin (BTC)? A BTC enthusiast on vacation demonstrated that the world’s largest cryptocurrency could soon become a holiday essential. Eugenio, a Costa Rican Bitcoin maximalist, paid his way on holiday with just Bitcoin in his wallet during a long weekend on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.

A hotspot for Bitcoin adoption and real-life whale spotting, the towns of Uvita, Dominical and Ojochal are home to Bitcoin Jungle, a Bitcoin-beach-inspired project, as well as a budding community of Bitcoin-friendly merchants. Eugenio documented his entire Bitcoin holiday to the destination on Twitter. He told Cointelegraph, “The only fiat I had to use was filling the tank [of the car] before departing.”

Eugenio explained that he wanted to support the adoption and to show that anyone can do the same, in a convenient and fun way, “using Lightning Network seamlessly with no payment processors or banks involved:”

“I wanted to be able to pay for my little sister’s gelato while I was at the beach, for example.”

Eugenio paid for more than his sister’s ice cream: he paid for pizzas, coffees, steaks and even a trip to the market for kombucha with Bitcoin.

Eugenio at the market. Source: Eugenio

Reportedly, merchants asked, “would you like to pay with Lightning or on-chain?” On-chain transactions take on average 10 minutes to confirm, are slow, and sometimes costly. Lightning transactions are near-instant, near-free and are a “win-win for me and for the merchants,” Eugenio explained:

“It is extremely convenient, Bitcoin is money. You can use it to spend and can use it to save, you can do both in an easy way without the fees and hurdles embedded in the legacy system, plus you can always buy back the sats with the fiat you were going to use in the first place.”

The Lightning Network is quietly catching on, and examples of its adoption slowly spread like roots reaching across the globe. From British families to Senegalese surfers, the appetite for transactions over Lightning means more and more Bitcoin is used on the layer-2 platforms.

Related: Andorra green lights Bitcoin and blockchain with Digital Assets Act

Eugenio shares some advice for those reluctant to use the LN or event to visit Costa Rica. A proud Tico (Costa Rican local), he suggests, “Don’t overthink it. The place is stunning, safe, full of nature and adventure. Use the Bitcoin Jungle Business map for guidance and a Lightning Wallet.”

Costa Rica’s pacific coast showing places accepting Bitcoin. Source: Bitcoinjungle

The place is adopting Bitcoin “organically,” and some of the locals have taken pride in accepting Bitcoin, Eugenio told Cointelegraph.

As per the above map, there are a growing number of merchants across Costa Rica accepting Bitcoin “with a smile.” With the summer holidays in full swing, Bitcoin wallets might be on packing lists around the world, alongside passports, sunglasses and sunblock.

Busking on Bitcoin: How Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum for tipping

A busker in British Columbia got a lesson in the Lightning Network after a passerby offered to send some Bitcoin his way.

The Canadian band The Carbons got a little more than just a tip during a live performance in Kelowna, British Columbia. When passerby Ben from BTCSessions, a Youtuber and Bitcoin (BTC) educator, saw that the band accepted Bitcoin, he had to send some magic internet money their way.

The Carbons’ guitar case. Source: Tomy, the frontman

Tomy (frontman for The Carbons) had been into crypto since 2017, but like many people new to crypto, he thought he’d “missed the boat.” The price per BTC was around $2500. He told Cointelegraph that he began research in earnest when he:

“Realized that it was basically an insurance policy for the current monetary system. At that point, it was around $8000. It’s been a wild ride since then, but I am playing the long game :)”

Fast forward to his live performance in Kelowna this weekend, and Tomy advertised he accepted crypto as payment. Unfortunately, his phone was out of juice at the time that Ben walked by, so the pair linked up on Instagram later on. As per the screenshots of the Instagram conversation, Tomy shared an Ethereum (ETH) address to receive a donation and become The Carbon’s first crypto donor.

As Ben is a Bitcoin maximalist, he said he’d be happy to send some Bitcoin—not Ethereum—his way. Ben told Cointelegraph that, among other things, it’s “The foundational rules that govern the network, and the ease (or lack thereof) with which they can be changed,” that guide his Bitcoin convictions.

Ben pointed Tomy towards downloading a Bitcoin Lightning wallet, and moments later, they were sending each other Bitcoin instantly over the Lightning Network (LN). Transaction costs are nearly free on the LN and microtransactions are easy, which prompted Tomy’s response, “that’s fucking awesome.” By comparison, sending money over Ethereum—even at its lowest levels in two years—costs well over $1.

Tomy busking at sunset with the crypto sign in view. Source: Tomy

Tomy told Cointelegraph that it was his first experience using the LN, and it took “an hour of research on YouTube to decide on a wallet and then another few minutes to figure out how to use it.”

“I hadn’t heard about the Lightning Network until last week! It makes me want to trade all my Litecoin and ETH for Bitcoin!”

The Carbons have since received three BTC donations, adding that “all the tips help,” but it probably hasn’t moved the needle on their Spotify revenues just yet. Bitcoin expert Ben told Cointelegraph that he’s been using the Lightning Network since 2018, back when it was “clunky and difficult, but it worked.” LN has since become a part of his daily routine:

Undoubtedly, LN is well-known to the Bitcoin community and has spread roots across the globe. From settling up lunch in the United Kingdom to sorting out SIM cards in Mozambique to paying for parties in Portland, United States, it’s gained traction.

Related: The UK ‘Bitcoin Adventure’ shows BTC is a family affair

However, awareness of the LN is weak among the crypto and broader community. Ben explains why this might be the case:

“There will be SOME who are incentivized to remain unaware because they are deeply invested into coins whose value is contingent on Bitcoin not being able to scale. However, most people likely just haven’t tried it!”

Ben encourages users to try out the LN, which he compares to “magic.” During the IG conversation with Tomy, he recommends using the Muun Wallet, a free self-custodial wallet for Android and iOS:

As for Tomy, he told Cointelegraph he is now seriously considering selling all of his altcoins for Bitcoin. He then joked on Twitter that he might change the band’s name to “The Bitcoin Buskers.”

On a heartfelt note, and in light of the disastrous impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on performing arts, Tomy told Cointelegraph, “It’s been a tough couple years for musicians,” adding that the support and community are greatly appreciated.

Bitcoin Lightning Network developer updates node software with Taproot support

The latest software release, named lnd 0.15 beta (v0.15-beta), aims to empower developers to create solutions for more use cases by leveraging the Bitcoin Network’s capabilities.

Lightning Labs, a developer of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network (LN), released a beta version of the Lightning Network Daemon (lnd) — a complete implementation of the LN node — with added support to the latest protocol upgrades including Taproot and Musig2, among other improvements.

lnd is a software component that handles various aspects within the LN including managing a database, generating payment invoices and revoking payments, to name a few. The latest software release, named lnd 0.15 beta (v0.15-beta), aims to empower developers to create solutions for more use cases by leveraging the Bitcoin network’s latest capabilities.

In the announcement, Lightning Labs’ product growth lead Michael Levin revealed that over 50 contributors participated in launching the company’s first release in the year 2022, adding that:

“This release gives complete Taproot support for the internal lnd wallet, making it one of the most advanced Taproot wallets today. Further, this release has support for an experimental Musig2 API compliant with the latest BIP draft.”

The primary goal of MuSig2, a multi-signature scheme, is to allow for the creation of aggregate public keys that can be used in Taproot outputs, thus, introducing the ability to authorize transactions with Schnorr signatures.

Unlike previous versions, the beta release also removes the redundant data from the revocation log bucket, which showed a reduction of 95% in database size during initial testing. While the update does not reclaim space for existing states, Levin envisioned that a follow-up release may include a migration feature that could reclaim old disk space.

Staying true to their commitment to make the LN more reliable, robust, and secure, Lightning Labs introduced greater control over pathfinding preferences — ultimately helping to reduce the transaction fees by identifying the lowest cost route.

Related: Bitcoin network power demand falls to 10.65GW as hash rate sees 14% drop

The Bitcoin network recorded the year 2022’s lowest power demand of 10.65 gigawatts (GW) on June 25. As a result, the computing power for mining BTC blocks came down to 199.225 exahash per second (EH/s).

Bitcoin network power demand from 2018-2022. Source: ccaf.io

The sudden reduction in Bitcoin’s power demand is directly correlated to the falling hash rate. The mining hash rate corresponds to the computing power required by BTC miners to successfully mine a block — a key security metric.

Bitcoin and Lightning Network can save DeFi from adversity: MicroStrategy CEO

Bitcoin provides a “sound ethical, economic, and technical foundation for DeFi,” said Michael Saylor.

In light of the recent fragility in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor feels that Bitcoin and the Lightning network can come to the rescue of the DeFi market.

With two enormous protocols, Terra and Celcius, facing acute difficulties within a month of each other, the DeFi sector is going through a tough time. And in a recent tweet, Saylor suggested that Bitcoin and Lightning could help stabilize the industry.

According to Saylor, Bitcoin provides a “sound ethical, economic, and technical foundation for DeFi.” He went on to say that the Lightning protocol and BTC token will be used to construct the next generation of DeFi.

Saylor was responding to a Bloomberg story on Tuesday, highlighting numerous key concerns in the DeFi field. Mahin Gupta, founder of digital-asset custody platform Liminal, told Bloomberg that:

“What is happening with Celsius will have serious repercussions for the industry. It’s a not-insignificant player, and its apparent failure will have ripple effects.”

Celsius Networks has closed down withdrawals and other transactions on its platform barely a month after the spectacular collapse of the Terra blockchain, which enticed investors with yearly returns of around 20%. The collapse of Terra, which was triggered when its stablecoin lost its 1-to-1 peg to the United States dollar, and Celsius’ halt in withdrawals have added to cryptocurrencies’ losses.

As a result, the MicroStrategy CEO has been very enthusiastic about Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s layer 2-scaling solution. According to Saylor, Bitcoin is the future of money and the Lightning protocol will aid in transaction scalability. He added that:

“If you’re going to do payments and transactions high speed, you’re going to need a base layer that’s ethically sound, economically sound, and technically sound. That’s what Bitcoin is. But then billions and billions of transactions are going to go on a layer 2 like Lightning.”

To date, DeFi applications on the Bitcoin network haven’t attained the same level of popularity as they have on other blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. Still, some people who have studied DeFi believe that it can be implemented in a sustainable manner on the Lightning Network, saying “stablecoins and fully collateralized loans against your BTC do have merit.”

Related:Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity charges through 4,000 BTC

According to the nonfungible token (NFT) project the littles creator Wil Lee, BTC and LN may give a boost of energy to DeFi and NFTs. He told Cointelegraph that while various new protocols are still in the experimental phase, protocols like BTC and LN already demonstrate their inherent strength, adding that:

“For anyone who wants to enter the crypto, stability is something they want to be sure about. When I know that an established protocol is in the picture, I’ve peace of mind, which lends strength to the overall crypto ecosystem as well. Backed by none other than BTC, your DeFi or NFT project is sure to have many more takers.”

As per Ignite’s Aliasgar Merchant, DeFi is “struggling,” and everyone is doing everything they can to make it through the crypto winter. He emphasized the recent events on Terra and Celius as proof that DeFi, which is intended to be the core of Web3, is failing. The two most important aspects of developing a solid DeFi system, according to Merchant, are interoperability and scalability. He added that “once the base is firm we can start focusing more on niche protocols to cater to our DeFi needs.”

Bitcoin Lightning Network capacity charges through 4,000 BTC

The layer-2 technology built on Bitcoin now has 4,000 Bitcoin or $120 million locked up allowing for near-instant payments around the world.

There’s cause for celebration from the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The Lightning Network hit the 4,000 Bitcoin (BTC) public capacity milestone, meaning $120 million in value is ready for peer-to-peer payments.

The Lightning Network first broke the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. The capacity has doubled in the space of 18 months.

Lightning Network capacity growth since January 2022. Source: Glassnode.

CoinCorner CEO Daniel Scott told Cointelegraph that “we had slow and steady growth with Lightning capacity to begin, but since Jan[uary] 2021, the uptick has been strong.”

Danny Brewster, CEO of United Kingdom-based Bitcoin exchange Fast Bitcoins told Cointelegraph that Lightning Network capacity “likely passed 4K a long time ago with private channel metrics not being publicly available.”

“With that being said, the constant growth has been a great start for the Lightning Network and I foresee it continuing into the future, as long as all stakeholders, from developers to entrepreneurs building businesses continue to push forward.”

A layer-2 payment protocol built on Bitcoin’s base layer, the Lightning Network allows for near-instant transaction finality. In the following video, Paco de la India — a Bitcoin-powered world traveler — buys a pair of shorts from Mozambique-based Bitcoiner Jorge, using the Lightning Network:

Lead on-chain analyst for Glassnode, James Check, told Cointelegraph, “The expansion of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network appears to be transitioning out of the “reckless” phase, and into proper experimentation by early adopters.”

Related: The Lightning Network Lunch: A Bitcoin contactless payment story

“As wallet designs and user experience improve, more kinks can be worked out, and the network will mature. The persistent growth of public Lightning capacity and channel count is a reflection of this vote of growing confidence and growing utilization,” he said.

Scott agreed, sharing that the positive trend is likely to continue “as more companies adopt Lightning and we see more use cases come to fruition.”

“The influence of El Salvador adopting Bitcoin seems to have been an inflection point for Lightning, giving it confidence and proving a real-world use case.”

According to data from 1ML, the average and median transaction cost for sending Satoshis (the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin) over the Lightning is well under $0.01, proving it packs a punch as payment technology. 

Brewster concludes, it’s an “awesome start but a long way to go. It really is still early!”