First Lightning mainnet release

#1

Post by edf13 » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 4:50 PM UTC

First Lightning mainnet release
blog.lightning.engineering

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#2

Post by serg_chernata » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:06 PM UTC

This is so incredibly exciting for bitcoin. I know this is only a beta and it's been in the works for a while, but many people didn't believe we'd see anything at all this soon.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#3

Post by aphextron » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

So, what can I do with this?

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#4

Post by serg_chernata » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #3

So, what can I do with this?

Cheap and near-instant transactions.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#5

Post by jacob019 » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

Lightning in theory would allow for fast & cheap transactions, so BTC could really be used for payments instead of the "asset" it has become. Has been discussed for years with nothing to show. I remain skeptical. But if it works well, it could be a catalyst for mainstream adoption and increased price support.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#6

Post by lawlessone » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #3

So, what can I do with this?

instead of immediately sending bitcoin itself you and an network of others basically end up trading signed transactions. when you finally want to settle you send the latest transaction to the network where it is settles on chain.

edit: i should say the final state of the wallets is settled on chain.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#7

Post by M4v3R » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

serg_chernata wrote: post #4

aphextron wrote: post #3

So, what can I do with this?

Cheap and near-instant transactions.

I was excited for Lightning until I've learned about Nano (formerly Raiblocks). It promised and actually delivered totally free AND near-instant transactions. Worth checking out if you didn't knew about it.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#8

Post by sidko » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:14 PM UTC

jacob019 wrote: post #5

Lightning in theory would allow for fast & cheap transactions, so BTC could really be used for payments instead of the "asset" it has become. Has been discussed for years with nothing to show. I remain skeptical. But if it works well, it could be a catalyst for mainstream adoption and increased price support.

>Has been discussed for years with nothing to show

Yes, it's literally an overnight success. I think they started coding this last night, and it's in beta today /s

On a more serious note, a lot of work has firstly gone into making sure all the different implementations work well with each other, aka the standardization problem. That's a big win in and of itself.

The routing problem isn't trivial either. Lightning currently uses an 'onion-like' routing scheme where, similar to TOR, the nodes have a very limited information on the origin and destination addresses. This is great news for privacy.

The lightning network has been running on the testnet successfully for many months now, and some early adopter merchants even accepted testnet coins for small purchases. Over a 1000 lightning nodes are currently running.

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#9

Post by __blockcipher__ » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:15 PM UTC

Serious question, why does HN seemt o be in favor of lightning over BCH’s approach of not neutering the block size?

LN has so many drawbacks. Have to always be online, need to hold hot walkets, need liquidity provided at both ends (kyc/aml)...

Re: First Lightning mainnet release

#10

Post by foepys » Thu, Mar 15, 2018, 5:16 PM UTC

Did the Lightning Network solve the routing problem now or are they still emulating banks by requiring permanent online super nodes?