The Future of Bitcoin on the Lightning Network with Alex Bosworth
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The Future of Bitcoin on the Lightning Network with Alex Bosworth
Alex is a technical program manager from SF. Originally drawn to economics at the University of Chicago, Alex left to pursue software development. Alex started working on open-source software for Enterprise deployments, and in 2007 Alex co-founded an indie mobile software studio in Beijing. Back in the USA in 2016 Alex started working in the Bitcoin industry on backend exchange APIs and helped develop a blockchain project used to provide transparency for the Royal Mint of the United Kingdom.
The Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a layer 2 solution for Bitcoin that has been in development since 2015. Once it's complete, developers hope it will help solve Bitcoin's most stubborn problem: scalability. The Lightning Network is still in beta, but that doesn't mean we can't already have some cool features from the works. One of those is Lightning Loop, which allows users to send and receive Bitcoin many times without the need to close and reopen the channel - saving time and money.
Brad taps Alex Bosworth, one of the leading developers at Lightning Labs, to discuss this and other issues surrounding the Lightning Network. For example, how cool is it that Jack Dorsey has an entire team just to support the tech's development?
Brad and Alex dive into this and more. Below are some of the highlights from their conversation.
#1. The Lightning Loop
Brad and Alex delve into Lightning Network's Lightning Loop. In March 2019, Lightning Labs released the feature to enable users to move funds to deposit and withdraw funds from the Lightning Network without having to close the network's two-way payment channels. Users can keep the channels open indefinitely. Since they don't have to close and reopen the channels for every new transaction, they can receive funds in larger quantities than before. The makes transactions on Lightning cheaper, more efficient, and time-saving. Alex describes it as "an alternative to a normal wallet construction", thanks to these forward-looking features.
#2. Will Bitcoin Still Be Able to Support Billions of Users?
Brad thinks Bitcoin will hit $1 million one day, and the fees on the Bitcoin network could as well skyrocket to $100 per transaction. Both of these possibilities are very real, going by Bitcoin's unstoppable bull run and a record interest of institutional investors in the currency. When Bitcoin gets there in probably the next 10 years, will layer 2 solutions such as the Lightning Network be able to support billions of users? Alex thinks "it will always work" and that it's just a matter of who's priced in. It's nice to know that no matter how popular Bitcoin becomes, layer 2 solutions will help keep the network still accessible to the average person.
#3. Square Crypto’s Lightning Development Kit
Brad and Alex delve into the subject of exchanges and their general lack of support for Bitcoin, despite benefitting from it. Brad thinks they're "milking Bitcoin", yet they're always the last to support SegWit, the Lightning Network, and other technologies that are meant to make the Bitcoin experience better. Coinbase and their counterparts would do well to borrow a leaf from Jack Dorsey's Square Crypto. Jack founded Square Crypto as an independent arm of Square with the sole aim of "giving back to the Bitcoin community." What's not to like? It's incredible to see that Jack not only lends his massive platform for spreading the word on Bitcoin, he also has invested in its growth with no expectations at all.
Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro by Brad
00:01:59 - Alex on his immigrant roots and how he got started on Bitcoin
00:06:26 - Alex on the parallels between private app development and a user-focused side of Bitcoin
00:12:07 - Discussion on when the average user can start using the Lightning Network without having to run a node
00:17:58 - Where are we with the Lightning Network
00:20:03 - What's the profit side of the Lightning Network, and do exchanges leech off of Bitcoin?
00:31:25 - Why does batching save you money?
00:43:46 - Exchanges on adopting the Lightning Network
00:53:03 - What you need to know about the Lightning Loop
00:59:03 - Can the Bitcoin network support 1,2 billion people in the future with these layer 2 technologies?
1:06:21 - How many people are working on the Lightning Network?
1:14:25 - Discussion on the Lightning Network Kit by Square Crypto - how will it help?
1:27:22 - Why are folks over at Edge Wallet against the Lightning Network?
1:21:48 - On Alex's interest in providing liquidity on the blockchain and whether an average BTC user can profit from it
1:27:50 - What're a Lightning Network dev's hobbies?
1:36:18 - Where to find Alex on social
Podcast Mentions
Portugal's no capital gains tax on crypto
Germany's crypto-friendly law
Square Cash app's Lightning Development Kit (LDK)
Find Alex Bosworth on:
Find Brad Mills on:
Magic Internet Money Instagram
Produced by Brad Mills - Twitter, Hamilton - YouTube, Jason Sanderson - Podcast Tech
Other Credits: bitconnect theme by schmoyoho, graphics by CryptoScamHub, Magic Internet Money inspired by u/mavensbot, invention of Bitcoin & all cryptocurrencies by Satoshi Nakamoto.