The Bitcoin Lightning Network has been in the news lately, what with the Lightning Torch trend on Twitter and the increased performance that it has been displaying in the past few days. The most recent of these milestones is the ability to now tip Twitter users with the help of Lightning Network.
This new feature is made possible with the Tippin extension on Google Chrome, and introduces a lightning bolt symbol to indicate the payment option.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Tippin engineer Sergio Abril said that the Lightning Network will become a good choice for tipping:
In my opinion, tipping is going to be incredibly popular with lightning network; It’s the first time we can send small amounts almost at no cost, and we can do it incredibly fast.
Abril spoke of ideas he has for the future of Tippin, such as support on other social media. Non-custodial options are also on the cards. Currently, it is custodial and users do not have control over the funds they are tipping with.
Lightning Seems to Be Striking
The performance boost in the Lightning Network is really showing itself, as the network has been used in recent times to buy pizza, book cabs in London and now, of course, tip users on Twitter.
The upgrade is still in beta, but the improvements it can bring to the network are highly anticipated. Scaling is currently one of the biggest challenges in the crypto space and the first to successfully marry both usability and performance capability will undoubtedly have a strong advantage in the years to come.
Accompanying this is the release of Lightning-supporting wallets and the upgrading of existing ones.
With instantaneous payments and low cost transactions, 2019 could be the year in which Bitcoin gains more credibility as a viable payment channel.
