On March 15, the highly anticipated Lightning Network launched a beta version of its software (LND) that is now available to the developer community. As discussed previously on this blog, the Lightning Network is a decentralized network that uses smart contract functionality in order to enable payments and process transactions off the blockchain. With this launch, the developer community can leverage LND to send Bitcoin and Litecoin to other users, marking significant progress towards improving transaction times, processing fees, and potential for scalability.
Industry Buzz
The developer community is working tirelessly to develop solutions that make cryptocurrency transactions cheaper, faster, and ultimately more scalable. While the LND is just one software of several trying to accomplish this, many believe it’s the most mature software of this type to date.
Establishing itself as a distinguished innovator in the crypto space, Lightning Labs has raised $2.5 million from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, and former PayPal COO David Sacks.
In addition, BitGo, the blockchain security company that we are proud to have an exclusive partnership with, also offered their support for the launch of LND. “It’s something the entire community has been focused on and working towards for the better part of two years now. It’s really the culmination of a lot of work by many people, not just Lightning Labs…We see it as a very important piece of the scaling solution for Bitcoin, and perhaps other digital currencies as well,” said BitGo CTO Ben Davenport.
LND Software Highlights
Lightning Labs released a comprehensive blog post detailing all of the highlights from this launch. Some of the benefits include, but are not limited to:
- A new and improved key creation and recovery system that makes recovery from data loss or corruption simpler and more reliable
- Automating the process of sweeping funds back into a user’s wallet. This is now handled by a concert of subsystems in a process known as automated contract resolution that is fault-tolerant and intelligent, which is critical to the safety of funds.
- SegWit only. An implemented soft-fork change in the transaction format of Bitcoin, Segwit ensures all transactions, even on-chain transactions, will benefit from lower fees and faster transaction times.
LND Software and Bitcoin IRAs: Why it Matters
While cryptocurrency prices have experienced volatility in recent months, technological advancements like the release of LND software are testaments to the long-term staying power and value of digital currencies in the world today. And this is only the beginning. Jack Mallers, a developer for a user-friendly Lightning wallet that is being built on top of LND, said: “This release is a step forward for the network itself. Before all of the apps, we need to build a healthy network that has liquidity, reliability, high-uptime nodes, healthy channels, etc. We need to onboard an entire industry onto a new layer and build a healthy topology. This release kinda marks the ‘start’ so to speak.”
As the cryptocurrency community continuously works towards implementing new solutions, this industry will likely continue to see even greater mainstream acceptance and adoption at the enterprise level as well.
With BitcoinIRA.com, you can capitalize on all of the exciting innovations happening in the digital currency community by investing in Bitcoin as well as five other currencies in your IRA or 401(k). Call us today to speak to a IRA specialist and learn more: 877-936-7175.
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