Lightening Goes Beta

Coindesk reported that the much awaited version of Bitcoin’s Lightening Network is finally ready for users. Lightening Labs, the California startup that developed the Lightening Network, officially launched the beta version of the software.

What Makes LND Special?

This is the first fully tested and safe for use version of the software till date. With the new Lightening Network – LND – people can sent each other Bitcoin and Litecoin without having to go through all those transactions on the blockchain.

Olaoluwa Osuntokun, the CTO of Lightening Labs told BitcoinMagazine in an interview that this LND release is being called a “beta version” because it has passed all the required safety, security and fault-tolerance parameters. This is why the company feels comfortable about early users experimenting with small Bitcoin and Litecoin transactions.

The Lightening Network is an open and permission-less network, meaning others have also rolled out versions of the software before this. Blockstream, a Bitcoin based startup, had released its version of the LND protocol in January called “candidate version 1.0”. ACINQ, another Bitcoin based startup, also offers a live version of LND, however this version of the software is not very predictable.

Lightening Labs’ version of the Lightening Network is considered to be the most mature till date – and investors are backing up that claim.

Fund Raising

Lightening Labs also announced that it had already raised $2.5 million through funding from almost a dozen investors. Among the investors were Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey, Jaqueline Reses from Square Capital, the creator of Litecoin Charlie Lee and the ex-Chief Operating Officer of PayPal David Sacks.

Dorsey and Reses simply confirmed their investments in the LND startup, however declined to comment further. However, David Sacks stated his belief that the beta launch of the Lightening Network marked a crucial point in Bitcoin’s history.

He stated that Lightening was the most important protocol to be built on Bitcoin, and Lightening Labs had created the best version of that protocol. Another investor, the CTO of blockchain security company BitGo, agreed that the launch of this beta version of the Lightening protocol was a pivotal moment.

Testing the New Protocol

Chief Executive Officer of Lightening Labs, Elizabeth Stark said they already have about 1,800 people already testing LND. However, the company has still built in safety measures to ensure nothing goes wrong. There is currently a limit 0f $1,400 worth of cryptocurrency one can transmit through the system right now.

Stark warned that users should not experiment with more money than they are willing to lose.