In spite of the FUD, there was some good news, as presumed by many, for the marketcap leader in the crypto world.
Bitcoin is finally going to see Lightning Network going live. Many feel this will be a way to really alleviate the backlog of traffic that is located on that blockchain.
In the past few months, Bitcoin's fees hit an outrageous price of roughly $40 to get transactions through in a timely manner. This caused many people to call (once again) for the demise of Bitcoin.
Could they be right?
Supporters of the Lightning Network do not believe that is the case. While in beta, transactions will be limited in terms of the amount sent. This is an unproven method of money transfer and people should not send more than they can afford to lose.
Nevertheless, the heavy hitters believe the advantages to Lightning Network will make Bitcoin relevant in the currency conversation. Many are taking the stance that Bitcoin will serve as a store of value yet fails to make the grade as a currency. Supporters feel that this move could make Bitcoin the "cup of coffee" currency.
One feature I do find intriguing about Lightning is the ability to do atomic swaps. Personally, I believe this is the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency interoperability. Being able to go from one token to another will provide extreme value to people who are holding tokens. This can take on added meaning if, instead of using similar blockchains like Bitcoin and Litecoin, completely different blockchains were able to do swaps. Imagine being able to go from Bitcoin directly to STEEM.
Please bear in mind that the cross blockchain swaps is nothing more than idea at this point. Experiments are going to have to be run to see if this can be done. We have seen, however, Charlie Lee do a Litecoin to Bitcoin swap so we do know it is possible.
https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/
It will be interesting to see how much this helps the plight of Bitcoin. While I am not one who believes pricing action reflects much of anything, it cannot be denied that Bitcoin detractors brought up valid point. Processing roughly 8 transactions per second means the blockchain is too slow in its native form to handle micropayments. This was really emphasized when the price of the transactions shot up so rapidly.
Lightning could be the ticket that puts Bitcoin back on the map in terms of utility. If it is not, I guess the oldest blockchain still hasthe name recognition to serve as "digital gold". It is not a bad fall back options yet it is not what Satoshi envisioned a decade ago.
That is the thing with technology, sometimes plans can be interrupted by a better mousetrap.
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I am really enthusiastic to see that the lightning network is up and running. Good news for bitcoin and I hope it will help resolve some problems and criticisms that were severely pointed out in 2017. A lot happened since the beginning of the year, but I believe this may be one of the strongest positive point on favour of BTC.
This will good info for all user
I don't really understand how it's supposed to work. It doesn't broadcast to the blockchain, only in a channel? How big is a channel and can you trick it? Also, the graphic said that Bob would disclose to Alice within 3 days. What does that mean? That seems like a long time for a transaction. Ha ha. :)
Saw that there are some major players funding the Lightning Network project now as Jack Dorsey (Twitter & Square CEO), David Sacks (former PayPal COO), and the awesome Charlie Lee (Litecoin creator) have invested in Lightning Labs! Making a faster and scalable network will go a long way to making Bitcoin and others a viable and reliable payment processing asset.
There has to be a better way to broadcast all these innovations and positive trends more broadly to the public. I feel like everytime I check headlines it's about "crypto carnage" and "dire need for regulation." People hating on blockchain don't even understand it's potential...
(/rant over)
As I always say... FUD only make a good moment for us who belive in the cryptos to increase our participation. The Lightining Network will help Bitcoin to not get problems with traffic as we saw in december and january.
It should be great to change from one currency to another with a very low commission .. since currently the commissions are very high .. and I will see tutorials to see how mannabase works as I register and I do not understand it very well. .
Sounds like the Lightning Network might just be the answer to cashing out one coin and moving into another. We shall see. 😎
I'm really interested to see how this plays out, I think crypto really needs a kick in the pants, new buyers seem to be holding off until the rest of those MT Gox bags get sold.
What I'd really love is some fiat to steem options and other alts so we wouldn't be as reliant on BTC. People need to start taking blockchain seriously, not just BTC
looks like every one who joined crytocurrency bandwagon in the month of November and december due to the increasing prices have already left the boat. Most of the altcoins are back to their november prices except bitcoin. If not for Mt Gox selling their Bitcoins stash this crash would not have happened. They created FUD and Made market more volatile. For 3 solid months bitcoin and other curencies were doing good. Now they don't. This crash is a slow but big crash.
But this has also brought out the fact that the bitcoin is the safest investment for long term compared to others.
Lightening Network definitely helps reduce transaction charges for those who wish to use it as a currency to buy coffee or anything else. This might boost the demand and increase the use case.