A network aimed at transforming bitcoin into a mainstream form of payment has doubled in size over the last year, new data has revealed.
The Lightning Network – an additional layer added to bitcoin’s network to facilitate transactions – now has more than 10,000 nodes after major cryptocurrency exchanges and payment apps adopted the technology.
Bitcoin was originally conceived as a new form of currency, having been described as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” in the 2008 white paper written by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.
However limitations to bitcoin’s underlying blockchain have led to significant inefficiencies within the network for processing transactions.
The bitcoin scalability problem, as it is known, means that the more the bitcoin network grows, the more cumbersome it becomes. Each new user makes it increasingly time consuming and costly to send and receive payments, to the point that buying something small like a coffee can come with a fee that is higher than the cost of the drink itself.
Various solutions have been proposed, including forking bitcoin’s blockchain to create a brand new cryptocurrency in the form of bitcoin cash.
None of bitcoin’s rivals match its mainstream recognition, however, which is why some people within the bitcoin industry have championed the use of the Lightning Network to make the cryptocurrency a viable form of payment.
It works by routing payments through a separate peer-to-peer system that is built on top of bitcoin’s blockchain, therefore reducing the burden on the main network. It decreases transaction times from minutes or hours, to just a fraction of a second, while simultaneously eliminating any fees.
BITCOIN LIGHTNING NETWORK: CRYPTOCURRENCY COULD FINALLY BECOME DAY-TO-DAY CURRENCY AS