The Lightning Network goes live!

Too Long; Didn't Read

<span>As</span> of today, the first official release of software for Bitcoins first layer two scaling solution, the Lightning Network was released. While unnoticed by most people, for those involved this is a milestone of gargantuan proportions. It promises <em>a lot </em>more transaction per second, much better privacy and minimal fees, allowing futuristic things like streaming money, micro transactions and cross-chain atomic swaps. If it works as planned, it will not only vastly improve Bitcoin but it will also, perhaps more importantly, debunk conspiracy theories and obsolete the snake oils known as altcoins. If the Lightning Network delivers on its promises the narrative of the altcoiners will sound even more like gibberish than it does now. Scaling a decentralized network in which every node keeps track of everything that happens and everything that has happened is not an easy task and it will require outside-the-box thinking. The Lightning Network provides a complicated albeit beautiful solution to a difficult problem. For the average end user though, things will just feel a lot smoother.