Bitcoin Lightning Payments Are Slowly Becoming Less Reckless

ACINQ, the company behind the "Eclair" lightning implementation, unveiled an Android wallet app at the beginning of April that can be used to send mainnet lightning payments.

Lightning Labs, the company behind the "Lnd" implementation of the lightning network, recently published a blog post envisioning non-techy end-user Carol buying a pair of socks using lightning as easily as if she were swiping a credit card.

In short, lightning promises to bring bitcoin back to the days when it could be used to buy a pizza.

Same with the lnd wallet for iOS called Zap; the lightning wallet, HTLC.me, developed by well-known developer Alex Bosworth; and another iOS wallet for lightning, called CoinClip, released by developer Kenneth Perry, aka thothonegan.

Still, the frenzy of developer activity on lightning network will continue to push its rapid development, but for noobs - whom polite society calls "Inexperienced users" - it's still a waiting game.

In the way that the lightning network's smart contracts are designed, it is possible for one user of a channel to steal another user's funds.

This mechanism is also being developed by Lightning Labs to enable bitcoin users without a lightning node to receive lightning-based payments.

With the use the lightning network's ability to lock up funds in a smart contract, lightning network users could theoretically swap between bitcoin and litecoin, for example.

The technology could, Bosworth believes, could enable lightning use on decentralized exchanges as well, since even though users need a "Swap provider," that provider "Can't take your altcoins without giving you the bitcoin back because of that lock," Bosworth told CoinDesk.

For his part, Cota is working on a lightning wallet called Presto that would enable near-field communication - the technology behind contactless payments which allow users to merely tap their mobile devices to payment terminals to initiate transactions.