Lightning Strikes Twice! Litecoin Has Lightning Network Like Bitcoin.

Litecoin has lightning? Yes, Litecoin does indeed have lightning. In fact, Litecoin was first before Bitcoin to prove that Lightning was not only theoretically possible, but literally possible as well. Check out the Tweet from Charlie Lee.

Many people believe that lightning (a layer 2 off-chain technology) is only available for Bitcoin. Well, that's not true. Because Litecoin has similar DNA to Bitcoin, it is also capable of layer-2 lightning channels.

If you want to learn more about Lightning, I would suggest reading this incredible article written by Lyn Alden. Lightning . Bitcoin and Litecoin may not be the only cryptocurrencies capable of having Lightning, but for all intents and purposes, they seem to be the only 2 that are going to have practical solutions to bringing lightning to the general public. And this article isn't going to attack BTC for some lack of capability, quite the opposite. Lightning is the most promising technology that solves one of Bitcoin's biggest concerns: scalability. and to a certain extent, privacy. Lightning solves a LOT of the scalability problems that Bitcoin has. I'd argue that although it solves 95% of the problem, it doesn't quite get there.

Without getting too technical (full admission: I'm not that technical) lightning allows the transference of Bitcoin at near zero cost. From sender to receiver, for free, with some privacy. Pretty amazing right? You can think of the ramifications of lightning pretty easily, buying coffee with no fee has the potential to put debit or credit cards out of business or a least Visa and Mastercard will have to adopt. And it also allows Bitcoin to compete with the fiat currencies around the world because it solves a nemesis of BTC, a means of exchange. BTC is competing with gold and fiat currencies as being THE store of value. But now with lightning, it can compete with cash and credit cards. Lightning has point-of-sale technology, and beyond. The ramifications are enormous. There are major obstacles with lightning, however, namely growing the network. The infrastructure would have to built out so that all these various senders and receivers (businesses) could make it possible. That is not an easy task. There are many wallets that are working on lightning solutions, and some examples I can think of are Muun, Exodus, and Wallet of Satoshi. And Litecoin developers are currently working on Litecoin wallets that include LTC lightning. The first mobile wallet supporting Litecoin lightning, Plasma, is in the works now.

So will BTC Lightning bring us a crypto utopia? No, Not so fast. Here's my biggest gripe/concern about the Lightning network. It requires an on-chain exchange to get inside that lightning channel, and an on-chain transaction to get off that lightning channel back to the main chain. Instead of a channel, I like to think of it as a bubble. A bubble that is penetrable but requires some energy to get inside. Once inside, it's pretty awesome, but can you always stay there? We simply just don't know yet. Once you are in the bubble, lightning is fun, fast, and free. As mentioned before getting into the bubble and out of the bubble is going to require an on-chain transaction. And that on-chain transaction could cost you a pretty penny. And if you project BTC to equate to a million dollars or so, that on-chain transaction could cost you hundreds of today's dollars, or even thousands. Well, that doesn't sound too practical. Imagine how expensive those transaction fees would be if Bitcoin really does become the world's reserve currency.

So why not just stay in the bubble forever? There are plenty of reasons why you might not want to. Here are some reasons (practical and theoretical): Security, lending, borrowing, buying, selling, trading, and you know, other reasons. This is where Litecoin comes in. Litecoin has cheaper on-chain transactions than Bitcoin. It just does, and most likely always will. A number of attributes allow LTC to have cheaper on-chain transactions including Blocksize, block duration (2.5 minutes), 4x the coins, etc. Not to mention Litecoin's new mimble wimble extension block (MWEB) that allow for more on-chain transactions.

This is why LTC will always have cheaper on-chain transactions. Unless for some reason the Litecoin network gets astronomically larger than BTC, it should always have cheaper on-chain transactions. And because it has cheaper on-chain transactions it will be cheaper to get on a LTC lightning channel/bubble. A lot cheaper.

So what, what's the big deal. Well, would if I told you that you could use an LTC on-chain transaction to get into the BTC lightning bubble. Mind Blown. This is the whole idea around atomic swaps. Atomic swaps have been achieved on the blockchain but admittedly not many people understand what's really going on here. And before I go down that rabbit-hole, this is getting way too technical. Let's cast a simplification of what atomic swaps are: basically there is a way to convert LTC lightning directly into BTC lightning. This could avoid the BTC on-chain transaction and use the LTC on-chain transactions (Currently under a penny). This would be a game changer if it can come to fruition. Instead of a fee that costs a user hundreds of dollars, it could cost a user pennies. Instead of being hit with that massive BTC on-chain transaction, you could initiate a cheap LTC on-chain transaction to get inside that amazing bubble. LTC really would compliment BTC like no other coin could. So if BTC is really to become the world's reserve currency, Litecoin could legitimately help it get there by softening the BTC on-chain transaction nightmare. A Robin to Batman. Silver to gold. Goku to Vegeta. And if Litecoin is able to help BTC, and BTC becomes the world reserve currency, Litecoin is going to pump, pump, pump. Here is some information on atomic swaps.