For some years now there has been talk of Lightning Network in Bitcoin, some of us know what it is and what it is for, but many have been left by the wayside, thinking that it is one of those things that will come out at some point, but it is not clear when, or how, or what it is for.
Lightning Network is more of a reality today than many people think. It is used for many current transactions, and not only that, many small businesses have already started to incorporate it.
Well, what is Lightning Network?
Lightning Network is a second layer within the Bitcoin blockchain that comes to solve scalability problems. The purpose of Bitcoin is to integrate the world in a fast, simple and inexpensive way. There have been times where the network, due to the massive use of it, has become congested and has automatically raised fees, making transactions expensive and thus eliminating the practicality of Bitcoin, and the issue of economics. By the end of 2017, it has seen fees exceeding $100, on a network that is used to seeing $1 fees.
Lightning Network is also featured in a white paper that you can see here.
What does it enable?
- Instant transactions.
- Really low commissions.
- Independent software, which requires communication with the Bitcoin blockchain.
- LN can be integrated into networks.
Why use it?
- Allows scalability.
- Micropayments.
- Privacy.
- Instant payments.
LN is proposed as a solution to Bitcoin’s stability problem, although there is still a lot to implement and develop. There are many people today who develop on LN, and others, like me, only use it to make small payments.
If you are a small business, I recommend you to start testing transactions with this layer of the network. Some wallets, like Muun wallet, already use it, and the results are incredible. It is a mainstay for countries like El Salvador today, where micropayments with common currencies, transactions are small, and fees have to remain almost non-existent.
