I was asked repeatedly throughout this year’s Bitcoin 2024 conference what my highlight of the moment was — what the signal was amongst the noise. After returning from Nashville, I realized I had never been able to answer that question in a satisfactory way.
This was partly because I just couldn’t cope. I had little time for anything else because of the activity at the news desk, and the support that I gave to those who ran the show. I can’t say I regret it. You can feel the excitement in our studio during the entire week if you were around. Bitcoin Magazine’s news desk was literally the heart of the conference.
After a few days to gather my thoughts, I am confident in saying that the most striking aspect of the conference for me was the subtle presence of Lightning Network. In other times this might have raised concerns, but not this time. I was struck by the fact that Lightning is not just here, but it has also matured far beyond anything else.
Unnoticed by most, this payment protocol quietly has plugged itself into the major Bitcoin infrastructure. Most major Bitcoin exchanges support the protocol, and some run the biggest nodes in the network. This network’s dollar capacity is now at an unprecedented high. All operators I spoke to confirmed that its reliability was improving rapidly.
The conference made it clear that Lightning is far ahead of other protocols. Although I met many individuals who are working to create this next generation of Bitcoin technology, I still left with more questions than before. While Lightning answered concerns regarding its current status, it also addressed the future.
Look at settlements
A common theme throughout the event were the promises made by the protocol to be a settlement system. Lightning, originally positioned as a solution to retail payments, has made its biggest advances amongst businesses and financial institutions seeking liquidity. Lightspark, the infrastructure firm that is leading these achievements, has made it possible to realize this vision popularized by Jack Mallers, notably at Strike. On Thursday last week, on the Nakamoto stage, Lightspark’s Christian Catalini, co-founder of Lightning Technologies Inc., argued that Lightning is a good bridge for companies to reach out to various organizations. financial institutions:
Think about moving values not only between a handful of countries but also to 200 or more every day and 24/7 with a high level of liquidity. Bitcoin is the only asset. There is regulatory clarity and it offers on-ramps to almost every country in the world. It’s now possible to connect all of it in a transparent way.
Lightspark’s recent announcement Its partnership with Latin America’s biggest banking giant Nubank Lightning Network can help existing businesses modernize infrastructure.
The Lightning rail’s performance last week has further reinforced the idea that it can connect global economies. release Lightning Labs Taproot Asset Protocol presents another chance for the Scaling Layer to become the dominant protocol of value transfer on the Internet. Lightning may have to first displace SWIFT before it can take on VISA.
Payments can be improved
Nashville is abuzz with the improved user experience that has been brought by features such as BOLT12.
The payment protocol, which has been in development for years, offers a simple way to get Lightning payments, without having to rely on invoices that are unreliable and expire. The payment protocol also offers a way to improve the ability of users to receive payments off-line, which is a significant pain point in current implementations.
Introduce yourself #TwelveCashIt’s a quick and easy way to spread your Bitcoin payment information around the globe. pic.twitter.com/tynzAVEEEt
— Stephen DeLorme (@StephenDeLorme) July 18, 2024
BOLT12 accomplishes this with static, reusable offers which do not compromise recipient privacy. Combining other innovations such as DNS payment instructionsIt is possible now to create Bitcoin addresses that are human-readable (ex. alex@twelve.cash), and which support multiple payment formats. Imagine receiving Lightning or on-chain payment using the same identifier, no matter what standard you choose. Twelve.cashThis year’s Conference was highlighted by a project that stood out. hackathonThis technology is a versatile one, and. “a simple way to share your bitcoin payment info with the world.”
The LNURL has been used for a while to create human-readable address formats. However, the goal is to have users adopt more sophisticated solutions. Amboss, a long-time Lightning Infrastructure provider also announced The Lightning wallet, which supports a multi-asset payment system, was unveiled during the event. “MIBAN”.
Open and permissive systems are likely to fragment standards and cause compatibility problems. financial systems. Lightning has a better solution than other alternatives to these challenges in interoperability. This will ensure seamless payments.
BOLT12 can be used with leading wallets such as Phoenix and ZEUS. could land Strike will be available soon.
Around the same time, last year after Bitcoin Park hosted its Lightning Summit I was pretty disappointed with the prospects of Lightning consumer apps. How much can change in a single year. Although a non-custodial service will always be more expensive, there are new security and optimization models that are able to meet the needs of retail customers.
The scale of infrastructure
The infrastructure has made a huge contribution to this success. work The last few years have been very interesting.
Spiral powers Lightspark, the Lightning-integration platform for Coinbase, Bitso and other industry titans. Lightning Development Kit (LDK). Recently announced Alby Hub was also the first wallet to be deployed with the LDK node library.
Remember, LDK’s been in development for over four years. The best things in life take time. The conference was attended by many who expected the scale and quality of project deployments to use this toolkit will significantly increase.
Lightning Infrastructure is evolving, as a new signal was received from the release During this week we will be launching Breez LDK’s Liquid integration. It is an emerging trend and was pioneered initially by BoltzService of swapping. Used by wallet apps like AquaLiquid enables developers to utilize the low fees of sidechain networks to settle Lightning to L-BTC transactions. Although this requires some tradeoffs in terms of custody, its supporters argue that it’s still better than Lightning wallets with full custodianship.
The progress at the Lightning Service Provider specification (LSP), was also a topic of discussion during the conference. In turn, this has led to a significant improvement in the quality and quantity of services on the Lightning Network. LSPs provide liquidity and infrastructure support to businesses that want to connect to Lightning Network.
Zeus founder Evan Kaloudis spoke about the company’s efforts in this direction.
Due to legal uncertainties in the Lightning Network space that arose after the arrests of Samourai Wallet’s developers, we have doubled-down and created two services which connect users to it. Our Olympus LSP users have also grown significantly. Not only do we power the ZEUS Wallet, we are now integrated in four wallets including Mutiny Wallet, and we serve as its default LSP.
The protocol’s security component is also growing rapidly. Spiral grantee Sean Gillian‘s work The following are some of the most effective ways to improve your own effectiveness. Validating Lightning Signer The (VLS), will have a major role to play in scaling up this technology for power users. Operators will need to be able to use secure enclaves in order to set up spending policies and protect their hot-signing keys. next The institutional wave is a new phenomenon.
Tadge Driedja, one of Lightning for Institutions’ creators, expressed a strong interest in developing more secure key management procedures during a Saturday afternoon panel that I moderated.
Lightning Nodes can now support multiple signatures. It works because we have calculated it. The math is done. work Everyone must get together to reach the goal.
The infrastructure section wouldn’t be complete without the Nostr protocols and their implications for Lightning. My favorite Pitchday Projects at the Conference was FlashThe platform is a payment gateway that integrates Lightning seamlessly into internet products or services. Nostr’s messaging protocol is being used as a link between Bitcoin apps, but the full impact of this has not been fully realized. Flash has an incredible vision For it. Justin also deserves a shoutout. Shocknet Nostr Magic Sauce is being used by the person I met to explore many ways in which Lightning Protocol can be scaled.
Lightning, it’s time for you to put an end to the fading.
“This article is not financial advice.”
“Always do your own research before making any type of investment.”
“ItsDailyCrypto is not responsible for any activities you perform outside ItsDailyCrypto.”
Source: bitcoinmagazine.com