Great News For Bitcoin! Lightening Network First Payment Was Successful!

[Hoangle1523]

Sup guys!

I think this is a very important piece of info as we all kinda doomed bitcoin, but this might be a breakthrough.

The lightening network is a technology basically adds a layer of tech that can be a scaling solution for bitcoin, its supposed to prevent the high fees and slow transactions, with the same level of security.

A few days ago the first payment using the lightening network was successful, it was made to pay a phone bill.

The payment was INSTANT, and the fees were ZERO.

Here's the full article - https://www.coindesk.com/payment-provider-bitrefill-runs-successful-lightning-transaction-test/


Bottom line - the lightening network could solve most of the problems with bitcoin - if it does, its a huge step forward in terms of bitcoins scalability, meaning itll be easier to get mass adoption and use BTC for day-to-day transactions, and generally will be great news for the whole crypto section.

[avikz]

That's indeed a great news! We need this solution to counter the problem we are all facing with bitcoin network now. We currently have 183k unconfirmed transactions and the fees has gone up to an insane level. Due to these reasons people are moving their funds to Ripple and other currencies. While bitcoin price is going down constantly, Ripple has reached sky high within last few days. Even today XRP increased by around 35%. To win back investor's confidence, we need to have Lightening network activated for the entire network. Bad time going on, we need such solutions to come back to light. 

[bizul]

That's positive news, but still not enough to cheer the market back up. I don't want to sound negative but even when Lightening Network is fully implemented, it'll be too late for bitcoin to win all the investors who already moved to support new cryptos. New cryptos are implementing features that are missing from bitcoin such as anonymity and private transactions. Bitcoin is already outdated. I'm not saying that bitcoin will die. I'm sure bitcoin will stay forever however, it'll slow down gradually until another coin takes its place as the main crypto-currency.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

It is good news indeed, but what I find missing in the article is the approximate date when this could be widely used, as I think it will still take some time and that’s what the market is reflecting.

Does anyone know if the almost instant transaction and zero fees will also be the case when it gets massively adopted or will it have some fees and delays?

[Caesar-Giulius]

The lighting network is able to solve the transactions fee and time problems we are facing now. I am positive that more people will be using Bitcoin when it happens. 

[BTCforJoe]

While this is great, I’m not sure that the article is accurate in stating that there is no risk to security to run transactions on the lightning network. If my research has been correct, there are new security risks involved with using the lightning network; can anyone embellish on this?
Also, I had read that in order for the lightning network to take effect, both the sending and receiving wallets have to be online simultaneously to effectively become nodes on the network in order for the transaction to complete.

I think this is a scalable option, but there is a lot of learning and implementation that needs to happen in order for the network to take effect, am I right? And to have a large network of nodes to run, does this allow for the risk of centralization? I’m interested to read more about the pros and cons of the lightning network as a viable option to help fix current issues with bitcoin transactions. Anyone have any articles to link that are relevant?

[Annie9373]

Looking forward to LN, but better news will be when there is a confirmed date when it goes live.  too much uncertainty now.

[icanscript]

Apparently, we will not get a full answer before launching the lightning network. There are a lot of undisclosed questions. I hope the developers are professionals in their field.

[winchancer]

Excellent news!

Once started to be implemented it will send down shity altcoins where they belong.

[HabBear]

Bottom line - the lightening network could solve most of the problems with bitcoin - if it does, its a huge step forward in terms of bitcoins scalability, meaning itll be easier to get mass adoption and use BTC for day-to-day transactions, and generally will be great news for the whole crypto section.

Totally agree! Thanks for sharing the news and Coindesk link. I'll be watching this closely (where's the smiley guy eating popcorn emoji??).

Now, is the Lightening Network fully deployed with Bitcoin? If so, all transactions should be traveling over the Lightning Network, no? I'm sure I'm not aware of all the details.

Looking forward to LN, but better news will be when there is a confirmed date when it goes live.  too much uncertainty now.

Ah, thank you. I'll be looking for the "go live" date!

[fatalbert]

So how did the phone company receive their payment. It’s an iou promise until channel closes. To close channel need to pay big fees.

[player514]

Sup guys!

I think this is a very important piece of info as we all kinda doomed bitcoin, but this might be a breakthrough.

The lightening network is a technology basically adds a layer of tech that can be a scaling solution for bitcoin, its supposed to prevent the high fees and slow transactions, with the same level of security.

A few days ago the first payment using the lightening network was successful, it was made to pay a phone bill.

The payment was INSTANT, and the fees were ZERO.

Here's the full article - https://www.coindesk.com/payment-provider-bitrefill-runs-successful-lightning-transaction-test/


Bottom line - the lightening network could solve most of the problems with bitcoin - if it does, its a huge step forward in terms of bitcoins scalability, meaning itll be easier to get mass adoption and use BTC for day-to-day transactions, and generally will be great news for the whole crypto section.

This is indeed pretty good news. The fact of the matter is that Bitcoin is layered away from the general public due to this fear that they won't be able to get their money out due to the fees. If it's the case that transactions go through instantly (or at least quickly), then people won't be afraid to move towards using it as a currency. Right now, I feel like Bitcoin is more of an investment for people rather than a usable currency. Ideally, Bitcoin should be both of the above with the benefits of both so that we can move into a more tech driven world.

[VitKoyn]

Well that is really a great news, it will probably fix some problems that Bitcoin has but the problem is the implementation, lets say they already released the mainnet of lightning network and implemented it on the Bitcoin network, all wallets and exchanges should support it first for us to experience this cheaper and faster transactions and I doubt that wallets and exchanges will immediately update their service with lightning network. Just like segwit, it was released and implemented 4 months ago but still only few Bitcoin wallet/exchanges supports it.

[audaciousbeing]

Sup guys!

I think this is a very important piece of info as we all kinda doomed bitcoin, but this might be a breakthrough.

The lightening network is a technology basically adds a layer of tech that can be a scaling solution for bitcoin, its supposed to prevent the high fees and slow transactions, with the same level of security.

A few days ago the first payment using the lightening network was successful, it was made to pay a phone bill.

The payment was INSTANT, and the fees were ZERO.

Here's the full article - https://www.coindesk.com/payment-provider-bitrefill-runs-successful-lightning-transaction-test/


Bottom line - the lightening network could solve most of the problems with bitcoin - if it does, its a huge step forward in terms of bitcoins scalability, meaning itll be easier to get mass adoption and use BTC for day-to-day transactions, and generally will be great news for the whole crypto section.

Reading through the article actually just made my day. Enough of the whole number of days for transaction to confirm or the exceeding high fees that a lot of people have been complaining which have raised the bar for people to come into bitcoin and shut those who into it forced to keep waiting for the situation to be better but today I am happy that a break through is in sight even though it might not be generally available, its something to behold and be happy about.

I must confess I have been waiting for this breakthrough that it seems the developers felt the only way was just creation of unlimited forks. When this is fully rolled out hopefully, we get to see some sanity being restored.

[Kemarit]

While this is great, I’m not sure that the article is accurate in stating that there is no risk to security to run transactions on the lightning network. If my research has been correct, there are new security risks involved with using the lightning network; can anyone embellish on this?
Also, I had read that in order for the lightning network to take effect, both the sending and receiving wallets have to be online simultaneously to effectively become nodes on the network in order for the transaction to complete.

This is correct mate, both parties should be open to make the transaction successful. The only question is what if the other parties chooses to close its channel? What will happen to the transaction. There's also this sort of broadcasting previous channels as well, but I need to read more and understand how everything stands out. If more technical people like @HCP can chime in it will be a good discussions for all of us.

I think this is a scalable option, but there is a lot of learning and implementation that needs to happen in order for the network to take effect, am I right? And to have a large network of nodes to run, does this allow for the risk of centralization? I’m interested to read more about the pros and cons of the lightning network as a viable option to help fix current issues with bitcoin transactions. Anyone have any articles to link that are relevant?

Yes, there will be sort of learning curve not just for newbies but for all of us because this will be a new technology. So many good reads around the net, like in medium but sometimes you need to filter out which info is correct.


On the bright side, this is really a welcoming news. Since a heard a few weeks that they have been testing it, this is the first time I saw that a live production test is successful. We all have been talking about Lightning Network to be the solution so I hope it will be implemented in Q1 next year so that all this issues can be fix ASAP. However, I'm expecting a lot of problems in the beginning, but I think we can get a hang on it after a few months of using it ourselves. Goodluck to everyone and let see how it goes.

[Marry Finch]

It is good news indeed, but what I find missing in the article is the approximate date when this could be widely used, as I think it will still take some time and that’s what the market is reflecting.

Does anyone know if the almost instant transaction and zero fees will also be the case when it gets massively adopted or will it have some fees and delays?

Earlier it was reported that the network of lightning will be introduced into bitcoin approximately immediately after the New Year. I hope it will not take long to wait. Meanwhile, bitcoin continues to lose its former popularity. Many are switching to the use of other coins, such as Ethereum, Ripple, bitcoin in cash.

[Woodies]

Thanks for sharing this great news! 

[QuestionAuthority]

Cross-chain atomic swaps will help whatever cryptocurrency becomes the predominate one. Not just bitcoin. Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja are going to become famously wealthy regardless of which crypto wins. Congrats!

[hatshepsut93]

This is great, but you shouldn't expect that Lightning will soon get released, there's still a lot of bugs across its implementations, some compatibility issues and other problems. And since we are dealing with money, it's not acceptable to  release a half-baked software - every bug can potentially cause millions of dollars worth of damage. So, the answer to a very popular question "When it will be released?" is - when it will be safe enough. Everyone should keep in mind that Bitcoin is a software in very active development phase, and open source development is usually slower than centralized development.

[jjacob]

Well that is really a great news, it will probably fix some problems that Bitcoin has but the problem is the implementation, lets say they already released the mainnet of lightning network and implemented it on the Bitcoin network, all wallets and exchanges should support it first for us to experience this cheaper and faster transactions and I doubt that wallets and exchanges will immediately update their service with lightning network. Just like segwit, it was released and implemented 4 months ago but still only few Bitcoin wallet/exchanges supports it.

There is some progress towards easing network congestion, but the question is whether it is too little too late. Segwit has been implemented, but there seems to be no reduction in transaction fees. I just hope that the migration to alt coins is not irreversible. There may be a certain inertia amongst crypto users to shift back to Bitcoin.