The Lightning Network is making its way into various economies, and now, a development firm is working on bringing it into the Japanese hospitality space.
Last week, a Japanese news site published a report where it revealed how a Japanese bar is collaborating with a Lightning startup to improve the ease with which customers pay for drinks using crypto. Per the report, Japanese Lightning startup Nayuta will be partnering with Awabar Fukouka, a local bar, to test run the Lightning Network as the bar’s payment portal throughout the month of June.
Since it was developed, the Lightning Network has risen to prominence, creating an efficient way to scale asset transfers between various parties. As beneficial as Lightning has been, it has also received its fair share of criticism, particularly with the volume of transfer and security of funds.
To that end, Nayuta is hoping that they can give the technology a test drive and see areas where improvements need to be made. The bar’s managers were also excited about the prospect of working on a project like this, claiming that while their role is a tad limited, they believe the pilot could help their community get a taste for the Lightning Network payment system.
Is a bar an ideal real-life test?
It would be interesting to see how this test run plays out, although it might not give the whole picture. Bar transactions tend to be meager, and running a test such as this in a bar might not bring out a holistic picture of the Networks flaws. As detailed in a report by security and intelligence firm Diar, the Lightning Network is particularly deficient when transactions begin to exceed the 3 cent mark. The higher your transfer value is, the lesser your probability of success.
So, unless customers are coming there to make high-value purchases and payments (quite unlikely, given that it’s a bar), it might not be possible to see the Network being used for transfers which, according to Diar, are unlikely to fall through.
Adoption is increasing
Regardless of its detractors, the Network has also gotten massive adoption. Last week, news medium The Block reported that popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex is working on launching Tether (USDT), a stablecoin operated by its own parent company, on the Lightning Network as well.
Citing the exchange’s Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino, the news outlet revealed that the launch will be happening later this year. The company already joined the RBG open-source development project, which, according to its repository on GitHub, is “a completely free, open-source, non-profit and community-oriented effort, promoted by the BHB Network and aimed at the development of standards and best practices to issue, transmit and store ‘Bitcoin-based non-Bitcoin assets.’”
Ardoino further asserted that Bitfinex is committed to contributing to the development of the Lightning Network.
Steady upgrades
The Lightning Network has also gone through a lot of changes, with the recent being the launch of its desktop app on the Bitcoin blockchain. The launch, which was announced back in April, was to help offer the Lightning App for desktop to developers and advanced users who would like to experiment with the platform’s UX.
Per the announcement, the desktop app is compatible with the Bitcoin mainnet, and it utilizes the Neutrino protocol to provide users with control of their funds, instead of having to run a full node or trust a third-party custodian.
The Neutrino protocol is said to be working as a “light client” technology, helping users to make quicker transfers by downloading less of the Bitcoin blockchain to verify transactions. Essentially, it enhances transaction speed and significantly reduces costs.