Lightning Strikes

Even when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the phenomenon of lightning already existed. And so it appears to be poetry in motion that the dino Lightning Network, founded in 2015, is lighting up the scene with its latest news.

• Lightning Network is a Layer 2 protocol on top of a blockchain network that enables fast transactions. It was originally touted as the solution to Bitcoin scalability.
• It works similarly to Visa and Mastercard, which verify immediately and settle later, and with mass adoption could rival these payment giants.
• Strike, which launched in 2020, is a payment app that uses the Lightning Network. It is available in 200 countries and has a partnership with Bittrex exchange.
• The founder of Strike, Jack Maller, was also involved in El Salvador’s move to make Bitcoin legal tender, with Strike one of the wallets endorsed by the government.

Yesterday Jack Dorsey’s CashApp announced that it had enabled the Lightning Network for most of it’s U.S. customers, claiming that it is now the “fastest, free way to pay anyone in bitcoin”.