Lightning Network Observer

[JayJuanGee]

the lightning network is gaining ground. since 2021, its usage rate has increased by 1212%!!! in august, 6.6 million transactions were completed using it. equal two years earlier it was 'only' 503,000 transactions.
in an october 10th report, River Research analyst Sam Wouters highlighted that the increase in lightning network transactions, which use more than two nodes to facilitate transfers, occurred despite a 44% drop in the price of Bitcoin and significantly less interest in cryptocurrencies overall. you can read the whole report under the link below:


https://river.com/learn/files/river-lightning-report-2023.pdf

That is a very nice, well-written and quite few decent charts and surely good analysis throughout.

There are some places in which they suggest that their data might not be complete.. and perhaps that might be due to differences between public and private channels and some difficulties in measuring private channels - even though ultimately they are asserting that they are directionally correct in terms of lightning network continuing to experience a decent amount of growth - even when there remain some ongoing concerns in reference to custodial versus non-custodial solutions that are in place and still being developed perhaps a bit biased in the custodial direction (meaning through third parties, rather than having more self-custodial options and/or routing).  

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[cygan]

the team at Blockstream is officially launching their lightning service 'Greenlight' today, which aims to make it more efficient and easier for businesses in particular to manage a lightning node - and non-custodial!

Greenlight is our scalable, non-custodial Lightning-as-a-Service, or LaaS, solution that offloads the complexities of operating a Lightning node to Blockstream experts while keeping keys in the user's control for greater security. For Lightning developers, this not only reduces the risk and liability of holding user funds but frees up resources that would otherwise go to node operations—so that you can focus on your business and create the best app possible.

https://blog.blockstream.com/greenlight-is-now-open-for-business/

[fillippone]

he team at Blockstream is officially launching their lightning service 'Greenlight' today, which aims to make it more efficient and easier for businesses in particular to manage a lightning node - and non-custodial!

Greenlight is our scalable, non-custodial Lightning-as-a-Service, or LaaS, solution that offloads the complexities of operating a Lightning node to Blockstream experts while keeping keys in the user's control for greater security. For Lightning developers, this not only reduces the risk and liability of holding user funds but frees up resources that would otherwise go to node operations—so that you can focus on your business and create the best app possible.

https://blog.blockstream.com/greenlight-is-now-open-for-business/

This is a huge improvement in the adoption of Bitcoin, as the complexity of efficiently running a bitcoin node are becoming more and more critical. Channel management, liquidity optimization, and technical reliability are not granted, but the result of a dedicated effort.
In offloading this to an external provider, Blockstream, which is dedicated to this (and has scale economies) LN users can focus on the business case LN is adopted for.

[CryptounityCUT]

Very good content; thank you for sharing.

Why does the Lightning Network lead to lower fees?

[cygan]

today the first mainnet version of taproot assets was released. with this version (0.3.0-alpha) developers can issue financial assets on chain in a scalable manner.
if you want to know more about the taproot assets and which features the alpha version now offers, you should visit these two links:

Taproot Assets on Mainnet: A New Era for Bitcoin and Beyond

https://lightning.engineering/posts/2023-10-18-taproot-assets-v0.3/

https://github.com/lightninglabs/taproot-assets/releases/tag/v0.3.0

[DooMAD]

today the first mainnet version of taproot assets was released. with this version (0.3.0-alpha) developers can issue financial assets on chain in a scalable manner.
if you want to know more about the taproot assets and which features the alpha version now offers, you should visit these two links:

Taproot Assets on Mainnet: A New Era for Bitcoin and Beyond

https://lightning.engineering/posts/2023-10-18-taproot-assets-v0.3/

https://github.com/lightninglabs/taproot-assets/releases/tag/v0.3.0

Hoping for good things.  Best case scenario, we'll see some disruption of real-world financial services.  So much of traditional finance involves middlemen and this has the potential to replace a fair few of them.  If designed properly, there could be some fully decentralised, peer-to-peer financial use-cases that really benefit people. 

If it doesn't manage that, then perhaps it'll at least lure some of the ordinals junk away from the base layer.  Taproot Assets is a more resource-efficient and elegant approach to handling stuff like NFTs. 

[BlackHatCoiner]

If it doesn't manage that, then perhaps it'll at least lure some of the ordinals junk away from the base layer.  Taproot Assets is a more resource-efficient and elegant approach to handling stuff like NFTs.

I'm not an Ordinal user, but I remember reading they are files embedded into the chain. Like, a whole image. That ain't an NFT, that's just the definition of inefficient approach to storing files.

I know sane people like us want to do this in the most efficient manner, but apparently, this isn't about efficiency. It's about storing the damn chunk of bytes on-chain, because there appears to be some main layer evaluation. People just want to store files on the main layer, because they know they aren't going anywhere. And it's true; comparably to the off-chain and sidechain solutions, the main layer is the one which cannot be turned down at all.

[fillippone]

If it doesn't manage that, then perhaps it'll at least lure some of the ordinals junk away from the base layer.  Taproot Assets is a more resource-efficient and elegant approach to handling stuff like NFTs. 

Having some DeFi-like instrument in the higher bitcoin layer is the holy grail in crypto.
This would greatly help the Bitcoin adoption, basically making every other alt useless.
Can't wait! Rooting for tgb TaRo Taproot Assets

[cygan]

with yesterday's update to version 0.6.9-420, the Blixt wallet has added a new feature to its wallet app: the Lightning Box.
the new feature is an ln provider for mobile node like Blixt wallet, letting you receive lightning address payments directly to your phone. the whole thing can also be used for nostr tipping.
the complete changelog as well as the dl-files can be found under the following github link:
https://github.com/hsjoberg/blixt-wallet/releases/tag/v0.6.9-420

[Wind_FURY]

Although it was observed that WalletOfSatoshi is set to have its record breaking month of processing 1.1 million payments through the Lightning Network, their team has announced that they will be leaving the United States. They didn't give any reason why.

Does anyone have any tin-foil hat conspiracy theories why they're leaving? Are dark market entities starting to use the Lightning Network for more privacy?

[franky1]

one have any tin-foil hat conspiracy theories why they're leaving? Are dark market entities starting to use the Lightning Network for more privacy?

no need for conspiracy theories.. if you do your research you can find facts, not theories..

WoS does more then just a 'wallet' would. they offer other services too.. so WoS is not just a wallet its a money service business(MSB) also they are a VASP Virtual asset Service Provider

then look at what american regulations wants MSB and VASPs to do

[JayJuanGee]

one have any tin-foil hat conspiracy theories why they're leaving? Are dark market entities starting to use the Lightning Network for more privacy?

no need for conspiracy theories.. if you do your research you can find facts, not theories..

WoS does more then just a 'wallet' would. they offer other services too.. so WoS is not just a wallet its a money service business(MSB) also they are a VASP Virtual asset Service Provider

then look at what american regulations wants MSB and VASPs to do

Overall any companies that are doing business in the USA or connected with USA residents are likely getting more and more nervous about various regulatory hurdles and perhaps even being a kind of atmosphere in which there is nearly no way to win, even if you believe that you are being fully cooperative and compliant.

Likely the USA is going to put itself at various disadvantages in regards to how stringent that they are, yet we cannot be sure how these matters are going to play out, in terms of abilities to try to operate outside of the USA and to NOT get touched by USA regulatory overreach. I am not really sure if Binance's mistake was to enter into the USA with its BinanceUS branch or if the USA might have still continued to pursue Binance in draconian ways, even if they had not established a USA division.   

Sometimes it might seem like damned if you do (cooperate and stay in the USA) and damned if you don't, even though if you don't stay in the USA, you might be able to try to hide for a bit longer - yet when any system is getting overly BIG, then US regulators seem to believe that it is fair game for them to regulate it, as if they were the world police. which just is an ongoing phenomena that have greater appearances of desperation in recent times, at least from the perspective of any of us trying to study and figure out what is going on with bitcoin in the USA as compared with other jurisdictions, and even that it seemed that in earlier times (with many incidents between 2013 and 2021), China was the seemingly overbearing regulator, but now the USA seems to be stepping in that role in a variety of ways, even though surely it is interesting to see various extents that some of the jurisdictions seem to be in line with each other and other ways that they seem to not want to align, whether it is aligning with the USA, aligning with China or maybe creating some other alliance.. Does El Salvador count as being somewhat out of the polar sides or not?

[DooMAD]

it seemed that in earlier times (with many incidents between 2013 and 2021), China was the seemingly overbearing regulator, but now the USA seems to be stepping in that role in a variety of ways, even though surely it is interesting to see various extents that some of the jurisdictions seem to be in line with each other and other ways that they seem to not want to align, whether it is aligning with the USA, aligning with China or maybe creating some other alliance..

It's almost as though it were a dick-swinging contest between USA and China.  Like it's somehow important for both of them to be seen as the "World Leader" by childishly stamping on free enterprise wherever they find it.  Whoever is the most draconian seemingly gets the bragging rights or something.  It's weird.

[franky1]

other things are the BOI
https://www.fincen.gov/boi

businesses as of january 2024 need to file the true human beneficiary owners of a company. meaning they cant just put virtual mailboxes and hire an accountant to be the businesses 'company correspondence' on file

shell companies and anonymous CEO's are about to have a shake up

[JayJuanGee]

it seemed that in earlier times (with many incidents between 2013 and 2021), China was the seemingly overbearing regulator, but now the USA seems to be stepping in that role in a variety of ways, even though surely it is interesting to see various extents that some of the jurisdictions seem to be in line with each other and other ways that they seem to not want to align, whether it is aligning with the USA, aligning with China or maybe creating some other alliance..

It's almost as though it were a dick-swinging contest between USA and China.  Like it's somehow important for both of them to be seen as the "World Leader" by childishly stamping on free enterprise wherever they find it.  Whoever is the most draconian seemingly gets the bragging rights or something.  It's weird.

I think that bitcoin was largely designed for this, including that game theory is likely going to have some defectors, if we are considering prisoner's dilemma kinds of situations, even though sometimes there are going to be seeming periods of cooperation, but from time to time, there also is going to likely be defections because I doubt anyone really wants a world government that is controlled by the other, and even if they are trying to forestall matters related to bitcoin, is also seems likely that shelling points are going to continue to revolve around bitcoin as the most trustworthy neutral of currencies, and even if governments cannot really control bitcoin as much as they would like, there are quite a fiew advantages to agreeing upon a neutral currency, and there is nothing that is even close to bitcoin in terms of a possible competitor.. what are they going to do settle in Ethereum.. that would be fucking retarded, even though some will likely give some lip services to their supposed enlightenment about various blockchains or whatever else might be their distracting talking points in which they are ongoingly failing/refusing to recognize king daddy bitcoin for the decentralized power that it is.

[cygan]

this very detailed article argues that the ln is not dead because of the high fees, but is used in other ways. it is used as a kind of settlement layer for custodial apps:

A reality check on the limitations of Lightning Network, and what that means in terms of its long term viability. No, it's not doomed, but it probably won't be used the way you expected it to be.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/lightning-is-doomed

[fillippone]

Bitwise published their 10 predictions for the 2024:

Bitwise The Year Ahead: 10 Crypto Predictions for 2024

I guess the most important one is the number 8:

AI assistants will start using crypto to pay for things online, affirming crypto as “the native currency of the internet.”


The biggest technological developments of our generation have come from combining multiple breakthroughs. “The personal computer + the internet.” “A phone + a camera + GPS.” And so on.
The same will be true for the technology of the future.
The emergence of semi-autonomous AI “agents”—digital assistants that you can direct to carry out specific tasks, like changing a flight or ordering new headphones if yours break—promises to be a
defining theme of 2024 and beyond. But without the ability to easily transact in the world, AI agents will have limited capabilities. That’s where crypto fits in.
We think AI agents will prefer digitally native money, like bitcoin or stablecoins. And we think that starts happening at a small scale in 2024.

There I see a massive role for Lighting Netowrk. The sole contender for a trustless, fast and cheap way of exchanging micropayments over the internet.

When we will use an AI to generate an image, the micropayment from this AI to the one providing animation of the above image. Will be done autonomously via LN.. or the payment to publish it online, or to add a soundtrack: all powered by LN

[CryptounityCUT]

Thank you for providing such valuable information. I am interested in LN but first need to learn more about it and the information you provided is really valuable.

[AirtelBuzz]

AI assistants will start using crypto to pay for things online, affirming crypto as “the native currency of the internet.”


The biggest technological developments of our generation have come from combining multiple breakthroughs. “The personal computer + the internet.” “A phone + a camera + GPS.” And so on.
The same will be true for the technology of the future.
The emergence of semi-autonomous AI “agents”—digital assistants that you can direct to carry out specific tasks, like changing a flight or ordering new headphones if yours break—promises to be a
defining theme of 2024 and beyond. But without the ability to easily transact in the world, AI agents will have limited capabilities. That’s where crypto fits in.
We think AI agents will prefer digitally native money, like bitcoin or stablecoins. And we think that starts happening at a small scale in 2024.


There I see a massive role for Lighting Netowrk. The sole contender for a trustless, fast and cheap way of exchanging micropayments over the internet.

When we will use an AI to generate an image, the micropayment from this AI to the one providing animation of the above image. Will be done autonomously via LN.. or the payment to publish it online, or to add a soundtrack: all powered by LN

Lightning Network being a layer-2 payment protocol enables faster withdrawals and it lowers transaction fees due to which its use and popularity is increasing in various countries that legalize Bitcoin. In many countries, payments after purchasing goods are being paid through the Bitcoin Lightning Network, as we saw in a store in Vietnam. A new homemade-style hamburger restaurant located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is in the neighborhood of Thao Dien. This place is famous for their excellent food and friendly atmosphere and good service. A few days ago, the restaurant decided to accept Bitcoin as payment through the Lightning Network.

  picture from

[franky1]

There I see a massive role for Lighting Netowrk. The sole contender for a trustless, fast and cheap way of exchanging micropayments over the internet.

When we will use an AI to generate an image, the micropayment from this AI to the one providing animation of the above image. Will be done autonomously via LN.. or the payment to publish it online, or to add a soundtrack: all powered by LN

there are many subnetworks.. and LN is not the one with the larget liquidity so its not the sole contender
if you ever want to dare challenge yourself to learn about LN you will learn that it is not trustless

much like people cant trust unconfirmed bitcoin transactions until settled. you shouldnt trust unsettled LN balance
so LN is not trustless
why do you think even the main LN devs are resorting to centralised hubs and watchtowers and factory nodes for channel creation..

stop selling the snake oil utopian dream and instead atleast try to learn what LN is and does, especially what it doesnt do