Lightning Network should not have widespread use in cases that there are already other payment solutions, says Lightning Labs CEO and co-founder Elizabeth Stark. The company is responsible for the development of Lightning Network, an extra layer of bitcoin which is under development, focused on payments.
“In my personal opinion, I don’t think Lightning will be used for coffee, as you have your card, but for cases where you’ll need this option”, she told PanoramaCrypto after participating in the first Bitcoin Tech Meetup, organized by Bitcoin Assembly, with the theme “Climbing bitcoin and building the Lightning Network ecosystem”, held on Thursday (27/02), at PlugCLXT in São Paulo.
Regarding one of the maxims disseminated among many enthusiasts about the theme, “who has bitcoin does not spend bitcoin”, Elizabeth commented that something similar should occur to what is currently applied to the money, such as, in Brazil, in savings and checking accounts. “These are different things. You use the bitcoin for large quantities and, for everyday life, the Lightning Network” she said.
Elizabeth Stark spoke about the biggest challenges being faced by Lightning, with emphasis on usability. “I believe that usability is really a key point. But to summarize, the security, usability and the time it takes to develop are the challenges”, she said, noting that, as it should also happen with cryptocurrencies, the internet, which was created in 1969, took years to popularize.
Today with Lightning, you can send a Satoshi, which is the smallest fraction of bitcoin, elsewhere.
“Bitcoin puts all the crazy people together”
When presented to a very varied audience of enthusiasts of the subject, the executive joked that one of the reasons to like bitcoin is because the theme “puts all the crazy people together”.
Elizabeth also answered questions asked in real time by viewers and began the presentation explaining her interest in bitcoin. “For me, bitcoin unfolds in many areas of interest, involves encryption, regulatory laws, economics” she stated. To explain what Lightning network is, the executive made an analogy with the Visa network of micropayments. “Today with Lightning, you can send a Satoshi, which is the smallest fraction of bitcoin, elsewhere” she explained.
One of the points addressed by the executive during the meeting was the difficulty to make transactions of values over the Internet. “I know that in Brazil people use Whatsapp a lot, a little Twitter, Instagram, and it is possible to send photo through all these apps. But if I’m in Europe and I want to send money to a friend in Argentina it’s very difficult today. Why can’t we attach values like we attach images?” she asked. The executive was positive about “the idea that we can have this global value protocol and make transactions”.
