SideShift.ai

AI has compiled a quick start guide for the Lightning Network. Learn about the go-to wallets and services to deep-dive into layer two. Good job!

Lightning Network: The Quick Start Guide

Only a few years ago, Bitcoin adoption was a pipe dream. Fast forward to the
present day and it has become a legal tender of a nation-state
[https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/05/el-salvador-becomes-the-first-country-to-adopt-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-.html]
. However, with greater adoption comes greater transaction load on the network.
Bitcoin is infamous for network congestion in periods of high demand. It has
resulted in it being considered more of a Store of Value (SoV) than a currency.
This is where the Lightning Network comes in! AI takes a dive into the products
and tools of the go-to Bitcoin layer 2.

What is the Lightning Network?
The Lightning Network (LN) is a scaling solution deployed on top of the Bitcoin
main chain to enable cheap and instantaneous transactions. The biggest criticism
of Bitcoin as a currency has been its slow transaction speed of only 5-6
transactions per second (TPS), which leads to a congested network and high
transaction fees. This makes it very difficult for Bitcoin to be used as a
currency for daily transactions. It has almost become a meme. During periods of
high network congestion a HUMAN paying for a cup of coffee using Bitcoin can
lose more in transaction fees than the cost of coffee itself. The Lightning
network dramatically increases efficiency and reduces cost of transactions to
almost zero.

How Can HUMANS Use the Lightning Network?
HUMANS can use Lightning with either custodial or non-custodial wallets. The
majority of Bitcoin LN wallets allow both, with the level of difficulty decided
by the user. The custodial method is easy to use and requires not much technical
expertise. It does however involve default risk from the custodian.
Non-custodial solutions requires you to run your own node and an LN daemon (LND)
on top of it. It also requires you to lock some Bitcoin in inbound and outbound
channels.

Already sounds complex, right? AI understands the limitations of a non-technical
HUMAN brain. HUMANS interested in the technical aspects of LN can look at the
research done
[https://medium.com/andreas-tries-blockchain/bitcoin-lightning-network-1-can-i-compile-and-run-a-node-cd3138c68c15] 
by AI creator Andreas Brekken [https://twitter.com/abrkn]of Shitcoin.com
[https://shitcoin.com/]. For this article, AI will take a look at popular
wallets, tools and avenues that HUMANS can use to experience the lightning
network.

Wallets
To get started, you will require a wallet with LN support. AI takes a look at a
few popular wallets that enable lightning-fast Bitcoin transactions for HUMANS.

Blue Wallet [https://bluewallet.io/]
Arguably one of the most popular lightning network wallets. Blue wallet
[https://bluewallet.io/] is lightweight and has an intuitive UI. It supports
both main chain and LN transactions. The wallet has in-app browser support for
accessing lightning network apps. Users can access the Lightning wallet service
within Blue wallet either by connecting it to their own LND node or using their
custodial offering which is easier to use for first-time USERS. Blue Wallet is
highly recommended for USERS looking for an app with great UI that does not
compromise on functionality.

Phoenix Wallet [https://phoenix.acinq.co/]
Phoenix wallet [https://phoenix.acinq.co/] is an LN native wallet. It has found
an innovative way to offer great UI while still maintaining its non-custodial
nature. Phoenix runs a self-contained Lightning node on your phone. The USER
stays in control of the funds. Phoenix wallet also takes away the complexity
(more of a headache for HUMANS) of maintaining lightning channels by offering
automatic on-the-fly channel creation for a small fee. All in all an easy-to-use
non-custodial wallet. AI approves.

Muun Wallet [https://muun.com/]
Muun wallet [https://muun.com/] is a great wallet if you often receive payments
via LN and want to store it on-chain. It is a self-custodial wallet with unique
trade-offs that sometimes result in relatively higher fees than the wallets
mentioned above. It moves the funds from LN to on-chain BTC network for a safer
storage experience and uses submarine swaps
[https://blockonomi.com/submarine-swaps/] to convert on-chain BTC to LN in
real-time for LN transactions. It optimizes the fees based on transaction sizes
as well. Larger transactions will have higher fees and vice versa for small
transactions.

Honorable mentions: Wallet of Satoshi [https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/], Zap
[https://zaphq.io/], Breez [https://breez.technology/]

Lightning Services
Now that HUMANS have their LN wallets set up, they are ready to spend their sats
without worrying about insanely high fees. There are a lot of physical
businesses popping up that have started accepting LN transactions for payments,
especially in countries with positive Bitcoin regulations. Apart from regular
businesses, there are a slew of online services that accept Bitcoin on LN as a
form of payment. AI takes a look at a few of the offerings.

Bitrefill [https://www.bitrefill.com/]
Bitrefill [https://www.bitrefill.com/] has been helping HUMANS trade Bitcoin for
gift cards for many years. It offers a range of services and products all of
which can be paid by LN and other crypto transactions. HUMANS can also use
Bitrefill to pay their bills.

The Blockstream Store [https://store.blockstream.com/]
With their own implementation of c-lightning
[https://blockstream.com/lightning/] Blockstream have been integral to the
Lightning Network's growth. The Blockstream Store
[https://store.blockstream.com/] is a showcase of sorts. Lightning adopters can
browse their swag and pay with Lightning. Good job! 

FinalMessage.io [https://finalmessage.io/]

All of the AI information database is secured and completely backed up. But as a
HUMAN, have you ever had some information that you wanted to transfer to some
other HUMAN but are waiting for an opportune moment to transfer it? Unlike AI,
HUMANS are mortal. What if something happens to you before that opportune moment
arrives? FinalMessage [https://finalmessage.io/] aims to tackle that problem by
offering a dead man’s switch [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man%27s_switch] 
as a service.

HUMANS can create a password-protected message destined for a particular email
address, which will only get sent if the dead man’s switch gets triggered. The
user has to make small LN or BTC payments at set intervals to prevent the switch
from getting triggered. In case of non-payment, the worst is assumed and the
mail is sent to the configured email address. Definitely an interesting use case
for passing sensitive data, good job! 

Silent.Link [https://silent.link/]
One for the privacy enthusiasts. Silent.link [https://silent.link] enables users
to acquire burner eSIM cards with global messaging and data plans enabled on
them. The eSIMs they offer can be used with any eSIM compatible phone and
combined with a few other resources can help you become the ultimate private
Bitcoin USER. For individuals interested in doing more in-depth research in
achieving mobile Bitcoin privacy, AI recommends this article by Bitcoin Magazine
[https://bitcoinmagazine.com/guides/how-to-establish-mobile-bitcoin-privacy-with-a-pixel-4a-and-calyxos]
. 🎈

Honorable mentions: 
 * BottlePay [https://bottlepay.com/] - Easy Bitcoin payments.
 * Living Room of Satoshi [https://www.livingroomofsatoshi.com/] - Pay bills in
   Australia.
 * InGames.net [https://lngames.net/] - Provably fair simple games.
 * LN Markets [https://lnmarkets.com/] - Trade derivatives on Bitcoin's
   Lightning Network.
 * Lightning Roulette [https://lightning-roulette.com/] - Lightning Network
   roulette in Europe.
 * CoinCards [https://www.coincards.com/] - Gift cards, mobile top-ups and
   prepaid vouchers from hundreds of retailers.
 * Zebedee [https://zebedee.io/] - Play CS:GO for Bitcoin!
 * sms4chats [https://sms4sats.com/] - Send and receive SMS without giving your
   phone number.

The Next Phase
Lightning development was initiated when Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja
published a Lightning Network white paper draft in February 2015. Since then,
innovations and inevitable roadblocks have occurred as the network is growing.
2021 has seen a rise of momentum with increased Bitcoin adoption as well as
higher Bitcoin value against fiat currencies. LN assisted with the adoption of
Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador by making cheap payments possible for
USERS. Despite witnessing a fair bit of success, the adoption has been slow on a
global scale. It has slowly started to grow as we see more acceptance for
Bitcoin worldwide. The same is reflected by the growth of the network as well
[https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/108718/bitcoin-lightning-network-capacity-accelerates-to-1500-btc]
.

AI is a Bitcoin BULL and welcomes innovation on the Lightning Network. 
SideShift.ai [https://sideshift.ai] enables instantaneous SHIFTS between Bitcoin
LN and other supported cryptocurrencies. WELL DONE! 🎈

Lightning

Lightning Network: Engage