Skip to main content

First Real Bitcoin Lightning Network Payment Completed via Bitrefill

First Real Bitcoin Lightning Network Payment Completed via Bitrefill

Considering the persistent issues with the system at the moment, fast and cheap bitcoin (BTC) transactions might sound like a distant dream, but its realization might be just around the corner. The first transaction using real bitcoin to make a payment on the lighting network has recently been completed via mobile top-up service Bitrefill.

Also Read: Several Bitcoin Exchanges Are Closing Their Doors to New Traders

Lightning Payment on Bitrefill

First Real Bitcoin Lightning Network Payment Completed via BitrefillSoftware developer Alex Bosworth has revealed that he successfully completed the first lightning bitcoin mainnet (not a testing environment) transaction for an online purchase at Bitrefill. He paid his own actual phone bill with no fees, which executed instantly. Bitrefill is an online service that enables users top up their prepaid mobile phone plans with bitcoin and litecoin with over 600 operators across 150 countries.

The Lightning Network is a scaling solution that has been in development for a few years already. The protocol creates an off-chain system by forming a network of payment channels where funds are not entrusted to a third party. It theoretically promises to scale bitcoin by allowing thousands of transactions per second without compromising its trustless nature.

Bitrefill CEO, Sergej Kotliar, explained to news.bitcoin.com the motivation for this development by his team. “As we all know, blockchains currently don’t scale for consumer payments and currently require tradeoffs between decentralization and efficiency.  Lightning is a tool that can enable the best of both worlds – a great customer experience (both fast and cheap), but also trustless custody of funds. So we’re eager to enable it as a payment method and do what we can to support developments on that front.”

Full Steam Ahead

This payment integration with Lightning has been surprisingly easy and the company is already working on further developments, Kotliar explained to us. “At first we’ve enabled Bitrefill orders to be paid with Lightning. That’s the easiest integration for us. Next step will be enabling full lightning support (send and receive) in our user accounts.”

As to how he sees his company’s role in the larger development of the network, the CEO said: “A common problem with new technology and innovation is actually implementing things in production. That’s also where real issues pop up. We’re a small company, but we think that it’s important to help where we can. In our case it’s at least implementing this new piece of technology as it becomes available and provide testing. Credit belongs where credit is due with all of the independent and corporate developers of the Lightning protocol.”

Real Bitcoin Lightning Network Payment Completed on Bitrefill

Bitrefill most recently made headlines when it came to the rescue of bitcoin PC gamers after Steam announced that the popular online games store would no longer accept BTC as a method of payment. “I can’t share revenue numbers but I’ll tell you that Steam voucher sales far exceeded our expectations, Kotliar commented. “We’re looking to add more voucher products to our service soon.”

Would the lightning network be the cure-all for bitcoin’s current ills? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitrefill.

Do you like to research and read about Bitcoin technology? Check out Bitcoin.com’s Wiki page for an in-depth look at Bitcoin’s innovative technology and interesting history.

 

The post First Real Bitcoin Lightning Network Payment Completed via Bitrefill appeared first on Bitcoin News.



from Bitcoin News http://ift.tt/2q4jQk9
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...
10 comments
Read more

International Crypto Exchange Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading

Luno exchange has added bitcoin cash trading to the platform following feedback from its client base. BCH is now only the third cryptocurrency available for trading on the exchange, in addition to BTC and ETH , but more options could be on the way once Luno determines that they are credible enough. Also Read: Bitflyer Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Across Europe and the US Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Luno, the London-headquartered company formerly known as Bitx, recently announced that bitcoin cash was made available on its cryptocurrency exchange. Starting from Monday, September 23, customers at Luno are now able to store, buy and sell BCH on the platform. The reason given for adding BCH to the exchange is feedback from users in developing markets that convinced Luno to expand their offering from previously just BTC and ETH . Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, said , “We are in a new and exciting financial era. Developing economies are leading the large-scale adoption and appli...
Post a Comment
Read more

2021 Bitcoin Price Predictions: Analysts Forecast BTC Values Will Range Between Zero to $600K

As bitcoin has touched new price highs on Thursday nearing the $50k handle, people have been curious as to where the price will go in the future. Meanwhile, despite the gains so far, a number of luminaries, analysts, executives, and proponents from the crypto space believe the leading crypto asset will reach between $60k to six-digits this year. Mike Novogratz Predicts $100K Bitcoin: ‘Other CFOs and CEOs Are Saying, What Should We Be Doing?’ Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention has gained mass appeal in recent times as the leading digital asset bitcoin ( BTC ) has reached its highest value ever in 2021. On Thursday morning (EST), BTC spiked to an all-time high (ATH) at $48,697 per unit. Earlier in the morning at around 2 a.m., bitcoin was exchanging hands for $44,485 and saw an 8.98% increase since then. At the time of publication, at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on February 11, 2021, bitcoin (BTC) is swapping for $47,821 per coin. With BTC so close to the $50k mark, people have been forecasting ...
Post a Comment
Read more