In spite of the FUD, there was some good news, as presumed by many, for the marketcap leader in the crypto world.
Bitcoin is finally going to see Lightning Network going live. Many feel this will be a way to really alleviate the backlog of traffic that is located on that blockchain.
In the past few months, Bitcoin's fees hit an outrageous price of roughly $40 to get transactions through in a timely manner. This caused many people to call (once again) for the demise of Bitcoin.
Could they be right?
Supporters of the Lightning Network do not believe that is the case. While in beta, transactions will be limited in terms of the amount sent. This is an unproven method of money transfer and people should not send more than they can afford to lose.
Nevertheless, the heavy hitters believe the advantages to Lightning Network will make Bitcoin relevant in the currency conversation. Many are taking the stance that Bitcoin will serve as a store of value yet fails to make the grade as a currency. Supporters feel that this move could make Bitcoin the "cup of coffee" currency.
One feature I do find intriguing about Lightning is the ability to do atomic swaps. Personally, I believe this is the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency interoperability. Being able to go from one token to another will provide extreme value to people who are holding tokens. This can take on added meaning if, instead of using similar blockchains like Bitcoin and Litecoin, completely different blockchains were able to do swaps. Imagine being able to go from Bitcoin directly to STEEM.
Please bear in mind that the cross blockchain swaps is nothing more than idea at this point. Experiments are going to have to be run to see if this can be done. We have seen, however, Charlie Lee do a Litecoin to Bitcoin swap so we do know it is possible.
https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/
It will be interesting to see how much this helps the plight of Bitcoin. While I am not one who believes pricing action reflects much of anything, it cannot be denied that Bitcoin detractors brought up valid point. Processing roughly 8 transactions per second means the blockchain is too slow in its native form to handle micropayments. This was really emphasized when the price of the transactions shot up so rapidly.
Lightning could be the ticket that puts Bitcoin back on the map in terms of utility. If it is not, I guess the oldest blockchain still hasthe name recognition to serve as "digital gold". It is not a bad fall back options yet it is not what Satoshi envisioned a decade ago.
That is the thing with technology, sometimes plans can be interrupted by a better mousetrap.
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