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How the Lightning-Network Powered a Blog with 20,000 Bitcoin Micropayments in 7 Months
The Lightning Network is already powering a real blogging platform with bitcoin micropayments. The Lightning Network holds the potential to significantly increase transaction speed.
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FAQ
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Alex Bosworth, a developer at Lightning Labs, started the Yalls blog a year ago to learn more about crypto micropayments.
According to Bosworth's blog, users of the Lightning Network (a scaling solution for bitcoin that allows micropayments by keeping them off the blockchain and avoiding network transaction costs) generated approximately 20,000 invoices between April and early November.
It costs around a penny to read an item on Yalls, half a penny to comment, and ten cents to respond with an emoji. Roughly six cents are required to publish an article.
Micropayments restore users' ability to remain anonymous online, Bosworth told CoinDesk. I'm a big supporter of the concept that you shouldn't have to link your identity to a certain login and password.
In contrast to most paywalled publications, users of Yall do not need a subscription to access its Lightning node and channels system, as the author explains: "Maybe you don't even have a wallet yet... Simply go to the Yalls app's homepage to begin using it.
In all, over 118 readers have used this site to launch Lightning nodes, many of which are already enabling payment channels via which users may send and receive micropayments before settling the transaction permanently on the blockchain.
From July until the beginning of November of 2018, 170 new articles were published thanks to this, and people paid for 675 emoji replies and 194 comments. In addition, at least 432 times throughout the same time span, authors have cashed in their little crypto incentives, which are the fees paid by readers for the articles they have written.
Each and every bill is minimal because "it's pennies," as Bosworth put it.
Because of this, some node operators have been running channels for a while and, according to Bosworth, are making around $5 per month from routing fees. While this is by no means a sustainable commercial model for daily posting, it does show how a dedicated audience can help support a website's overall structure.
"The micropayments assist there, since then you don't have robots or spam," he said, referring to the fact that media outlets frequently find it difficult to control participatory ecosystems because trolls and marketers may flood comment sections for free.
Not yet a business model
Since Bosworth only sometimes checks in on the blog's stats and only gave CoinDesk the data from April to November, it's safe to assume that he doesn't keep frequent track of readers or payments. He also hasn't done anything to promote the site or bring in donations. Bitcoin supporters are active, nevertheless.
There were initial difficulties in maintaining an internet connection to the site's node. You would be unable to access the site at all if the node failed. Bosworth said, "I had to really supervise the node." As a result of the input sent to LND (Lightning Network Daemon), the node has become rather steady.
In contrast, Bosworth admitted that professional media outlets would have to wait years for this kind of community financing to operate.
To begin, there is a dearth of information on how to use a cryptographic currency wallet or node that is compatible with Lightning. The general public lacks cryptographic knowledge.
It also takes time to establish in-house mechanisms for synchronizing wallets and nodes with the site.
Bosworth claims that readers were "very forgiving" when transactions involving amounts less than a cent failed. But "if you start to charge people like $20 a month or anything, you have to have a better quality of service, so there's never any issues," he added, adding that users would only utilize crypto micropayments for material on the go provided there is a stable infrastructure for one-click payments.
His prediction: "I believe it could take off" if the necessary infrastructure were in place to make it easier for the user to make the payment.
Conclusion
A lot of work remains, but the Bitcoin Lightning Network has already captivated the crypto world. Twitter is just one company that has dabbled with LN payments, which are also being tested by governments like El Salvador's. The LN has the potential to become one of the most widely used layer-2 solutions in the crypto industry as more wallets, exchanges, and companies adopt it.
FAQ
To what extent does the Lightning Network solve the problem of slow Bitcoin transactions?
Multiple transactions may be processed in parallel on the Lightning Network, rather than waiting for the main net to approve individual trades, thanks to the utilization of channels between participants. When a channel is opened, both parties have the ability to send and receive money freely until the channel is closed.
How fast is Bitcoin Lightning?
The average time for transmitting a bitcoin ranges from a few seconds to well over an hour. Ten to twenty minutes is more typical, however. To grasp why Bitcoin transactions may take some time, it helps to know what goes on during a Bitcoin transfer.
Can Bitcoin Lightning handle a large number of transactions simultaneously?
In contrast, the Lightning Network can handle 1,000,000 transactions per second, making it the most efficient payment system in the world.
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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.
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