THELOGICALINDIAN - Do you bethink accepting your aboriginal bitcoin Seeing those satoshis access in your wallet is a bewitched about airy acquaintance In that moment the best admirable affair about bitcoin is not its censorship attrition or pseudonymity its that it works at the aboriginal time of allurement No awaiting annual analysis no weekend processing delays and no questions What about Lightning bitcoin Could it too assignment at the aboriginal time of allurement As Lightning Network approaches its additional ceremony I absitively to acquisition out
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Bitcoin Core Needs Lightning – But Is Lightning Ready?
Blockchain Capital acquired a activity aftermost anniversary back it predicted onchain BTC fees to hit $100 in 2020. This will be “a absolute development” according to the firm’s Spencer Bogart as it will force “scaling up the stack” to Lightning Network (LN). Even if that apocalypse doesn’t appear to pass, and fees “only” ability $10, Lightning will be hardly needed, not atomic to the 3.4 billion bodies who earn less than $5.50 a day. The catechism is, two years into its lifespan, is Lightning accessible to aces up the slack? To acquisition out, I downloaded two bitcoin maximalist-recommended LN wallets and got to work.
First though, a preface: news.Bitcoin.com is accepted for its abutment of Bitcoin Cash and its onchain access to scaling. We about awning BTC extensively, admitting with beneath focus on Lightning Network, back it is beginning technology that has hardly been acclimated in the agrarian up until now. That said, with Bitfinex announcing support for LN deposits and withdrawals beforehand this month, there are signs that the course is turning. The abutting few months will be analytical for Lightning: either it starts working, all the time for all the people, or there’s a accident of LN actuality accounting off as a bootless experiment.
If Lightning isn’t accessible for accumulation acceptance the abutting time onchain fees canyon $50, either the accessible will go abroad – be it to BCH, EOS, or any added arrangement that can aces up the ache – or they’ll accord up on crypto for good. If that happens, bitcoin will finer abide as a careful asset only, acceptable for advance but never transacting. And if that happens, it won’t aloof be Lightning that’s accounted a bootless agreement – it will be Bitcoin itself. There’s a lot benumbed on Lightning Network’s achievement over the abutting few months then. Can LN footfall up and prove that it’s assembly ready?
Putting Phoenix Wallet to the Test
Billed as “the bitcoin wallet from the future,” Phoenix’s architects aren’t abashed to sing the praises of their new LN wallet. After seeing acclaimed bitcoiner Matt Odell tweeting his abutment for Phoenix, I absitively it would be an ideal jumping off point for my admission Lightning experience.
Last month, I helped a acquaintance buy his aboriginal BTC, assuming him how to install the Exodus wallet and alteration his anew acquired bill to it. It formed at the aboriginal time of asking, the aforementioned way it has with anybody I’ve alien to bitcoin over the years. Could I, with seven years of bitcoin experience, get a Lightning wallet to assignment at the aboriginal attempt?
After installing and aperture the Phoenix Android app, I’m prompted to advancement my wallet and set a PIN, as is accepted with any noncustodial crypto wallet. I’m again presented with the afterward screen:
What I’m aiming to do is accelerate onchain BTC to Lightning, in whatever way the app will acquiesce me to. After acute “Receive,” I tap the QR cipher to archetype the abode and again adhesive it into the “Send” acreage of one of my BTC wallets. Upon pasting the QR code, however, it turns out that it contains the following:
lnbc1pwlva5epp5z77fkphh….scq6zw5hu
That’s not a BTC abode – it’s a Lightning one, which alone works for affairs on the Lightning Network. But all is not lost, for beneath the QR cipher in Phoenix is a button that reads “Show a bitcoin address,” which displays the afterward prompt:
I’d adopt not to pay a 0.5% fee: if I was sending 1 BTC, that agency I’d be answerable £35. Still, this is Lightning, which isn’t yet accessible for accepting affairs of that size, so the 0.5% fee can be forgiven for now. What can’t be forgiven is what happens next: the absolute spinning caster of death, as I’m instructed to “Please hold.”
Two canicule later, and I’m still no added along.
Putting Nayuta Wallet to the Test
The abutting LN wallet I try is Nayuta, a amalgam full-node/SPV Lightning adaptable wallet that was brought to my absorption by Nomics. The wallet is still in beta, and comes abundantly coated in disclaimers to that effect:
That actuality the case, I’m able to cut Nayuta some slack. It’s not like I’m aggravating to accessible dozens of Lightning channels, add a watchtower, or run a bounded node: I aloof appetite to get some onchain BTC to LN. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?
There’s a button apparent ‘Lightning’ beyond the basal of the Nayuta app and addition apparent ‘Onchain.’ I columnist the latter, baddest ‘Receive’ and am apparent a BTC address. Despite actuality in beta, Nayuta’s already gotten me added than Phoenix. I adhesive the BTC abode into the bitcoin wallet I intend to accelerate funds from and run into my aboriginal problem: the abode architecture is bech32, and the wallet I’m sending funds from, like best careful and noncustodial BTC wallets, isn’t compatible. This isn’t a Lightning botheration – it’s a bitcoin one – but it’s about addition hurdle in my adventure to get funds assimilate LN.
I log into an barter annual instead and try abandoning funds from there which, to my affable surprise, assignment with bech32 addresses. Two hours later, however, and there’s still annihilation apparent up in the Nayuta app. I’d alone beatific $70 of BTC, but am about afflicted by its abortion to appear. After three hours accept elapsed, I log into Nayuta again, and this time my funds accept magically appeared, but I can’t admission them: they’re now actuality beatific from my Nayuta BTC abode to my Nayuta Lightning address, bare the 0.5% fee, and the transaction is assuming up as unconfirmed. It will crave six confirmations afore the funds will clear, which agency I charge to delay addition hour.
My compassionate of LN is bound (this is my aboriginal time afterwards all), but here’s what I’d like to see: a wallet account that will instantly accelerate funds to my LN wallet afterwards a 1-confirmation onchain transaction. In added words, I accelerate BTC onchain from my wallet to theirs, whereupon they anon accelerate a agnate bulk from their already adjourned LN approach to me. That’s a account I’d appropriately pay a 0.5% fee for. But accepting to delay four hours and counting to get activity isn’t activity to affect the nocoiners.
Two Years on and Lightning Network Still Isn’t Ready for Mass Adoption
My aboriginal acquaintance with Lightning has been interesting, to put it charitably, and maddening to put it added accurately. It feels like there’s a accomplished apple of burning confirmations and low sat affairs cat-and-mouse for me, if alone I could get some abuse funds assimilate the Lightning Network. Then it occurs to me: why am I killing myself aggravating to breach into the promised acreage of fast, bargain affairs back they’re already at my fingertips with bitcoin cash, litecoin, and doge?
It’s accessible that I’ve fabricated some noob aberration in aggravating to get affiliated to Lightning Network, but back there’s aught advice in either of the LN wallets I tried, I’ve no way of knowing. And that’s the accomplished point: if LN can addle a bitcoiner of seven years, we’re still years abroad from it actuality accessible for boilerplate adoption.
I analysis my Nayuta wallet one aftermost time. The transaction from my onchain wallet to my LN wallet was accomplished 16 hours ago. Current status: unconfirmed.
What are your thoughts on Lightning Network? Have you approved application it? Let us apperceive in the comments area below.
Images credits: Shutterstock and Phoenix Wallet.
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