Good news is, Elizabeth Stark’s Lightning Labs is finally launching the
desktop alpha version of the Lightning App on the Bitcoin Mainnet. And there is
more exciting news to this because for the first-time users can actually begin “being
reckless with a double click” while simultaneously sending funds across the
world even if it is to feed chicken.

With the Lightning App, which is still in Alpha and under
test, the team behind the Bitcoin Queen are building an economy where “all
sorts of new use cases are possible with Bitcoin.”

“Today we’re excited to announce the first alpha release of the Lightning App for desktop on Bitcoin mainnet. This is still an early version targeted at testers, but it will give advanced users and developers a chance to start experimenting with a Lightning UX where users control their own funds powered by our Neutrino light client technology”

Read: Now You Can Pay With BTC in
Amazon via Lightning Network Thanks to Moon

The Alpha release of the Lightning App will make use of Neutrino
light client technology and it will offer a chance to users to experiment with
the new Lightning user interface as they control their funds. The desktop
version of this app will be powered by the Mac, Windows and Linux operating
system and is “an important stepping stone towards mobile while they continue
to invest in performance and stability.”

Scaling Privacy, Self Determination and Security via LN

If anything, these are the baby steps needed for the network
to eventually scale. As it is, Lightning Network is still in Beta, at
experimental stage where the amounts settled off-chain are limited but compensated
by speed, scalability and security is guaranteed by the mainnet as well as
extra inbuilt features to prevent fraud. The LN is the brainchild of Elizabeth
Stark and Olaoluwa Osuntokun, who is the CTO and co-founder.

Also Read: Why Bitcoin Lightning Network
and all off-chain solutions do NOT make you immune to on-chain fee

Their aim is as aforementioned to build use cases around
Bitcoin and concurrently commit towards scaling the very principles for which
Bitcoin as a settlement layer is built on that is privacy, security and
self-determination. To that end, they are working round the clock, delving
beyond custody via and seeking to improve user experience where “people (need
not) to follow complex setup processes or hand over control of their funds to
trusted counterparties.”

Lightning App Features

By basing this desktop Alpha version on the Neutrino Light client,
there is high quality user experience, security and privacy all possible with
erratic connectivity, low power use and limited bandwidth and storage. As a
result of this incorporation, this release will auto sync in the background
with the sole aim that the feature will be “be
fully synced by the time the user has written down and verified their seed.”

Additionally, there is a Unified Home Screen showing
on-chain as well as LN balances where any amount allocated to any payment channel
is also shown as a percentage. However, a standout in this release is that it
will be mainnet by default from v0.5.0-alpha and complementing this is a
smarter autopilot which advanced users can deactivate and manage their channels
manually should they chose to.

This eliminates the burden where users are relieved of the burden
of “selecting which node to open a
channel with.”

All in all, there is a big disclaimer perhaps as a notification
that the tech is still in beta and users should be careful not to commit huge
funds in their channels. Nonetheless, the success of LN means coin holder would
make micro-payments as accepting merchants enjoy low fees and instantaneous pay.

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