For a some time now, many criticised Bitcoin for being too slow to compete with established payment systems. The world is now being shown by a Bitcoin enthusiast that Bitcoin is actually quicker than Visa and Mastercard.
The Bitcoin community is currently going crazy about a video that was posted on Twitter. It displays a payment comparison between fiat and Lightning Network transactions.
The video was posted by Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall (also known as Joe Nakamoto). It shows a young man with a British accent standing in front of two payment terminals.
Joe enters a store while being captured on video, holding up a credit card. From the viewer’s point of view, the terminal on the left looks like it can handle Bitcoin transactions over the Lightning Network, while the terminal on the right is a typical fiat card terminal.
The man quickly explains at the beginning of the brief clip:
We have a Bitcoin vs. Fiat Pay test in Gibraltar with two pounds twenty put on both screens. Are you ready? COUNTDOWN BEGINS”
Then, in perfect time, one person’s arm slides a card down on one terminal while another person’s arm moves a card down on the other terminal.
However, the card on the left is not your typical MasterCard or Visa card. It is an NFC card named Bolt that makes use of the Lightning Network’s LNURL capability. This enables the recipient to get a lightning payment that functions like a faucet.
Just seconds later, the man says, as the arms lower and both cards are taped to the terminals:
Oh, is that it? On the screen, a green checkmark appears and says, “Lightning’s done it.”
It’s an outstanding demonstration of how second-layer scaling solutions enable second-layer functionality when paying businesses with Bitcoin.
Given that a Lightning Network transaction must first find a route, they are faster than payments made using the Visa or Mastercard payment rails.
Many experts still view lightning payments as experimental, but users are quickly embracing them. Walton, a special guest on our most recent “What’s up Bitcoin” programme, gave insightful commentary on the plebnet community, which is committed to boosting the number of lighting nodes globally.
Even though it’s not easy to run a Lightning node, many enthusiasts are able to do so and contribute to the growth of trust less transactions that don’t need middlemen.
Even though the Lightning Network is still young, the people who use it and support it are very creative and passionate.
The Lightning Network community is always looking for new ways to show what the payment network can do, whether it’s through chicken feeders, beer taps, vending machines, or weird internet movements.
Lightning’s capacity has increased significantly during the past few months, even though not everything is presently operating completely. The entire capacity of the Lightning Network at the time this article was written was 4,270 Bitcoin, or roughly $100 million.
Card terminals are available in practically every location on the globe, and Mastercard and Visa can process millions of transactions each minute.
The Lightning Network can grow almost indefinitely, while the Bitcoin network is focused on security and not meant to handle large numbers of daily payments.
Elizabeth Stark, Founder and CEO of Lightning Labs,ย demonstrated the Lightning Network’s capacity to feed chickens live on television during a Yahoo Finance interview.