Bitcoin Lightning Network on Mainnet..now LIVE! (Really? See Article)

[Searing]

I read just now, that the 'lightning network' for BTC is now LIVE...

here is the link to the article

https://www.finder.com.au/bitcoin-price-weekly-analysis-2018-01-28


seems sketchy as the only article I can find...do they mean just live on 'main net' to test

or is it really ready for prime time?

anyone with better sources? Feel free to post

take the poll if you wish

[Adioliver]

The Lightning Network (a proposed solution to the bitcoin scalability problem) was planned to be deployed in January 2018 but I find it hard to believe that it is already ready for prime time use.Well let's all hope that it is true.

I just found an article which states that Lightning network is already in use and it states that more than $33000 in bitcoin has been transacted via Lightning Networks.
Sound's interesting isn't it!?
Have a look https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-lightning-network-problem-people-already-using/

[Searing]

The Lightning Network (a proposed solution to the bitcoin scalability problem) was planned to be deployed in January 2018 but I find it hard to believe that it is already ready for prime time use.Well let's all hope that it is true.

Some of the other threads say .it is 'use at your own risk' not fully up yet


but hey, I guess people are using microtransactions on the main net at least to dork around some

would be nice if 'bitcoin core' had a timeline or is doing the usual we will get around to telling you if/when/ever it is gonna go live...

( I mean really, these guys barely release and BCH releases stuff that should crash in 4 min is released too soon......there is a middle ground IMHO)

[krishnapramod]

I guess it's not only testing on the testnet, but also on the mainnet a few nodes are running "on their own risk". It hasn't been deployed for general use yet, more of beta/bugs.

https://p2sh.info/dashboard/db/lightning-network?orgId=1

[Wind_FURY]

I read just now, that the 'lightning network' for BTC is now LIVE...

here is the link to the article

https://www.finder.com.au/bitcoin-price-weekly-analysis-2018-01-28


seems sketchy as the only article I can find...do they mean just live on 'main net' to test

"Live on main net to test" means real Bitcoins are being passed around in it. It is really live and not a "test".

or is it really ready for prime time?

No. Some of the LN developers in Elizabeth Stark's team discourage using it on mainnet, but Blockstream looks like they encourage it but with caution.

anyone with better sources? Feel free to post

Google.

[haroldtee]

I guess it's not only testing on the testnet, but also on the mainnet a few nodes are running "on their own risk". It hasn't been deployed for general use yet, more of beta/bugs.

https://p2sh.info/dashboard/db/lightning-network?orgId=1

No concrete article to really tell if it is live or not, but while it has been on the testnet, some, out of excitement have decided to start utilizing it on the mainnet. I was reading an article recently online, I guess on coindesk (not sure), on how the devs were complaining how its use on the mainnet is becoming a distraction for them, as well as how it can be very risky unless you know what you are doing.

Like the OP guessed, the present use on the mainnet right now should be more like a test as well, but on a larger level, and that is really the only way it can be so easy to discover bugs on the system and also check out how usable it is, before it goes premium, with the risk being considered by whoever wants to use it like krishnapramod mentioned. I just hope the use on the mainnet for some would not be a costly one.

[pooya87]

it has been active for a while: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2796578.msg28589053#msg28589053

seems sketchy as the only article I can find...do they mean just live on 'main net' to test

or is it really ready for prime time?

well, LN applications have been ready a while ago and LN network on mainnet also started up a while ago. but the thing is, these applications are still in beta mode and need a lot of testing and bugs only show themselves if the code is reviewed and the application is used by more people. but at the same time you should be careful to not put a lot of bitcoin in it because you may easily lose it to a bug.

there currently are nearly 300 LN nodes and the network has a capacity of 3.6BTC in total.

[Taktiktul]

Yes ,. of course (LN) when life goes well, and smoothly. hopefully hope LN application will be much better again for bitcoin users .. Watch out for users to not suffer huge losses ,, because do not know the arrival of the problem .. or disruption of the network!

[bitart]

it has been active for a while: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2796578.msg28589053#msg28589053

seems sketchy as the only article I can find...do they mean just live on 'main net' to test

or is it really ready for prime time?

well, LN applications have been ready a while ago and LN network on mainnet also started up a while ago. but the thing is, these applications are still in beta mode and need a lot of testing and bugs only show themselves if the code is reviewed and the application is used by more people. but at the same time you should be careful to not put a lot of bitcoin in it because you may easily lose it to a bug.

there currently are nearly 300 LN nodes and the network has a capacity of 3.6BTC in total.

It's amazing for me how the LN nodes are growin on the mainnet, a few weeks before it was just really a few and now there are nearly 300 nodes. And they are only testing, because there's just a few real merchants who accept the payments via the LN network yet, so most of the guys who run the LN hubs are only testing the micro payments via sending the coins to each other? The lucky thing is that despite of they're testing on the main net, the fee of the channel opening and closing transactions (they have to go thru the normal blockchain) are really low now, compared to the end of last year.
There's a thread where someone have posted a link where the LN network is visualized, but I was not brave enough to click the link, so I don't know if it's safe and really works or not :
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2838979.0

[gentlemand]

Anyone expecting a Bitconnect style launch event with music videos and screaming Mexicans is going to be disappointed. There won't be a formal launch. It's on the mainnet right now with many a caveat issued.

I expect it'll continue creeping out there until one day you'll find yourself using it. Its eventual ubiquity will be gradual. It looks like KYC stuff may be impossible to keep tabs on so I'm not sure it'll ever be used by legit exchanges or uptight services.

If that is the case then many a user may have no use for it.

[LeGaulois]

Anyone expecting a Bitconnect style launch event with music videos and screaming Mexicans is going to be disappointed. There won't be a formal launch. It's on the mainnet right now with many a caveat issued.

I expect it'll continue creeping out there until one day you'll find yourself using it. Its eventual ubiquity will be gradual. It looks like KYC stuff may be impossible to keep tabs on so I'm not sure it'll ever be used by legit exchanges or uptight services.

If that is the case then many a user may have no use for it.

Yeah, it will take time to really see it and it won't happen in the next week or month for sure...
But 1 question: why will the KYC push exchanges/services to not use it? If it happens people will still be able to use it. I mean f*ck the exchanges

[gentlemand]

But 1 question: why will the KYC push exchanges/services to not use it? If it happens people will still be able to use it. I mean f*ck the exchanges

Because of the channel hopping I presume. They can't keep tabs on who's sending what, where they're sending it to or where anything is coming from. Once you've entered it in a KYC ish manner via the main chain your money can be subsumed.

Anyway this is only an initial thought but quite a few people have voiced it.

[minersday]

The Lightning Network (a proposed solution to the bitcoin scalability problem) was planned to be deployed in January 2018 but I find it hard to believe that it is already ready for prime time use.Well let's all hope that it is true.

Yeah yeah... very interesting.. but you all know that it will be almost impossible to switch all the masses who are using bitcoin to the real LN right?

It is just like trying to switch all the bitcoin users to BCash.

I am not saying that it is impossible, but you need to think about this! The exchanges and massive manipulators are NEVER going to allow this to happen.

[HeRetiK]

But 1 question: why will the KYC push exchanges/services to not use it? If it happens people will still be able to use it. I mean f*ck the exchanges

Because of the channel hopping I presume. They can't keep tabs on who's sending what, where they're sending it to or where anything is coming from. Once you've entered it in a KYC ish manner via the main chain your money can be subsumed.

Anyway this is only an initial thought but quite a few people have voiced it.

Exchanges don't need to keep track of the whole blockchain and each Lightning transaction though. All they do and should care about is coins and fiat entering and leaving their system. I don't think KYC / AML regulations require anything beyond that. Otherwise you wouldn't see the likes of XMR and ZEC on Kraken, for example. But maybe I misunderstood your concern.

Yeah yeah... very interesting.. but you all know that it will be almost impossible to switch all the masses who are using bitcoin to the real LN right?

It is just like trying to switch all the bitcoin users to BCash.

I am not saying that it is impossible, but you need to think about this! The exchanges and massive manipulators are NEVER going to allow this to happen.

Why shouldn't people switch to LN and what do exchanges have to gain from preventing LN adoption from happening? Everyone profits from low transaction fees. Looking at the big picture even miners stand to profit from LN in that it will help Bitcoin's adoption and long term sustainability.

[Anti-Cen]

I think it's live on mainnet and here is a map of all the banker hubs getting connected
ready to start running a banking service or did you think that something that has
terms and conditions, charges Tx fees and interest was not a bank !!!

https://lnmainnet.gaben.win/

Don't worry they will keep fees low these bankers will whilst they try to suck people in
but this was not part of the original plan and if block-chain brought you to Bitcoin then
private off-chain ledgers should send you away.

Other coins not based on Bitcoin can scale, keep transactions on-block and the Tx fees
are next to nothing and do save the bull about LN saving fees because they were only
$0.10 a year ago and we have been treated to problem-reaction-solution and I'm not
buying it.

[gentlemand]

Exchanges don't need to keep track of the whole blockchain and each Lightning transaction though. All they do and should care about is coins and fiat entering and leaving their system. I don't think KYC / AML regulations require anything beyond that. Otherwise you wouldn't see the likes of XMR and ZEC on Kraken, for example. But maybe I misunderstood your concern.

Well, this is from someone who knows rather more than me - http://bitcoinist.com/coinbase-exchanges-wont-run-lightning-antonopoulos/

KYC will only get more anal as the years go by and places like Bitpay and Coinbase seem to actively want to scupper Bitcoin's chances at the moment.

[PandoraToken]

It looks like Lightning Network is active, but the quantity of people using it is increasing slowly. In fact, fees have gone down lately.

[HeRetiK]

Exchanges don't need to keep track of the whole blockchain and each Lightning transaction though. All they do and should care about is coins and fiat entering and leaving their system. I don't think KYC / AML regulations require anything beyond that. Otherwise you wouldn't see the likes of XMR and ZEC on Kraken, for example. But maybe I misunderstood your concern.

Well, this is from someone who knows rather more than me - http://bitcoinist.com/coinbase-exchanges-wont-run-lightning-antonopoulos/

KYC will only get more anal as the years go by and places like Bitpay and Coinbase seem to actively want to scupper Bitcoin's chances at the moment.

I guess I need to listen to the full podcast, but based on the article the concerns still don't make quite sense to me:

They have a fully KYC/AML-ed customer on one end of their connection, but if they receive a payment that’s going to that customer over the Lightning Network, they have no idea whether that customer’s the final destination… If they receive one coming in from that customer, they have no idea if that customer’s the origin… Which means their KYC just fell apart – completely fell apart.

I don't understand that argument. LN nodes don't know the origin and destination of transactions that cross them, so far so good. But exchanges still know that they are the destination of a LN transaction -- and who send it. Otherwise how would anyone know that they received a Lightning transaction from the correct counterparty? Unless the argument is that running a LN node makes you a money transmitter according to US law, but that would open a whole different can of worms with exchanges being the least of our problems.

[Wind_FURY]

Exchanges don't need to keep track of the whole blockchain and each Lightning transaction though. All they do and should care about is coins and fiat entering and leaving their system. I don't think KYC / AML regulations require anything beyond that. Otherwise you wouldn't see the likes of XMR and ZEC on Kraken, for example. But maybe I misunderstood your concern.

Well, this is from someone who knows rather more than me - http://bitcoinist.com/coinbase-exchanges-wont-run-lightning-antonopoulos/

KYC will only get more anal as the years go by and places like Bitpay and Coinbase seem to actively want to scupper Bitcoin's chances at the moment.

More anal? Hahaha. What do you mean by that? "Very neat and organized", or the dirty meaning? I do not believe it is the right word to use.

But if KRYC/AML is becoming a problem for the whole community, then we should start to use Bisq, https://bisq.network/.

P2P exchanges will be the next big thing.

[Haunebu]

It looks like Lightning Network is active, but the quantity of people using it is increasing slowly. In fact, fees have gone down lately.

I share your opinion here. I have observed that fees have gone down lately which I thought was weird, but now it starts to make sense. It does seem like the lightning network is indeed active, but it seems like a beta version currently since they tell us to be careful and be aware of the risks involved. Personally, I am happy that it is active and people have begun to test it and I am expecting all users to enjoy the lightning network benefits within a few months.