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Discover how the Lightning Network is transforming Bitcoin transactions through real-life stories from around the globe. From fostering local economies in Italy to facilitating remittances in Venezuela.
The Lightning Network is thriving and solving problems worldwide. While detractors and altcoin enthusiasts try to defame it and claim it doesn’t work or scale, thousands of people use it every day. What are these early adopters doing with it, though? Let’s explore the world with these five Lightning Network stories from mavericks from all over.
While not perfect, the Lightning Network is almost instantaneously fast, fairly private, and carries cheap fees. Through the Lightning Network, Bitcoin is slowly evolving from a mere store of value to a full-fledged medium of exchange. The linked report defines it as:
“The Lightning Network is a protocol that enables quick, cost-effective Bitcoin transactions without making custodial risk or blockchain centralization trade-offs. The same design choices that make BTC the most secure and decentralized currency in the world also limit Bitcoin transaction throughput to roughly seven transactions per second (TPS). Ledger updates are constrained to once every 10 minutes, on average. The Lightning Network increases throughput to an estimated 25 million TPS while offering instant transaction settlement.”
With that… ehem… settled, it’s time to go to the stories. However, Blink has to tell you where they come from first.
Over time, the everyday Bitcoin wallet curated an exclusive secret group of Bitcoin-focused content creators. The time to wake up the sleeper cell is now. This article is the first product of the Blink Content Creator Network’s collective intelligence. To obtain the stories, Blink offered modest bounties denominated in sats, because sat is the standard.
This article shows how the Blink Content Creator Network is using the Lightning Network.
The stories are presented in the order we received them.
We made minimal alterations in the name of clarity.
This cycle, in Bitcoin circles, one of the main stories is Bitcoin-fueled circular economies. In Bosa, they’re “Building a local bitcoin community - one lightning network payment card at a time!” This is their story:
“B is for Bosa is a new bitcoin project in the city of Bosa on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy.
To launch our project we decided to reach out to the bitcoin community via a posting on geyser.fund - the crowdfunding platform where projects receive sats directly to their lightning wallet. Our lightning wallet is bisforbosa@blink.sv
The funding we received helped to cover the costs of custom printed LN payment cards that will be gifted to local residents in the city.
We believe that the user experience of paying in sats should be as easy as paying in fiat, and should not require specialist knowledge. The cards are an effective way to build our community and a practical demonstration of how bitcoin works as a quick and easy payment method.
We are also making a short film to promote our town, as a way to encourage card holders and local merchants to participate in the bitcoin circular economy.
Below you can see the card design.The brightly coloured houses provide a characteristic backdrop to our city and this image is printed on the front of every card.”
Learn more about ₿ is for Bosa through their Linktree or Twitter/X, join their Telegram group and, of course, contribute to their geyser.fund.
A country in crisis. Normally, remittances flow from anywhere in the world into Venezuela. Not in this story’s case. The reversal makes this situation even more powerful and touching.
“Through the Bitcoin Lightning Network, I am constantly helping my relatives who live in the Dominican Republic. My mother-in-law has a heart condition and needs to pay for medicine. From Venezuela, I send money, along with my wife, to the Dominican Republic, where they receive the funds practically in a direct way.
I usually rely on the leader of Bitcoin Dominicana for this. He is the one who receives the sats via the Lightning Network and who is in charge of sending the pesos to the family. Without a doubt, it has been a practical and truly efficient way to move money from one country to another, without the costs and consequences of the traditional fiat system.
Bitcoin and its technology has allowed me and my wife to meet the needs of our relatives abroad and not abandon them in the midst of need. We owe a lot to Bitcoin.”
Even though the leader of Bitcoin Dominicana is doing god’s work here, he’s still a single point of failure in this chain. Blink recommends decentralized solutions like lnp2pbot or Robosats. Granted, the entry barrier is higher as users have to learn how to use the software. Plus, some countries have more active markets than others. Still, the effort is worth it.
Speaking about the leader of Bitcoin Dominicana, this is the story he shared with us:
“I had the opportunity to meet my wife's uncles, who are older and traditional people. During the conversation, topics about the economy came up, and I took the chance to mention Bitcoin. To my surprise, everyone’s eyes lit up upon hearing about it. One uncle, in particular, was convinced he wanted Bitcoin, so I helped him get 0.0017 BTC through the Lightning Network. Since then, he's been doing DCA whenever he can.
I encourage all uncles over 65 who are just starting to explore this new world!”
Learn more about Bitcoin Dominicana; this is their Instagram and their Twitter/X. Plus, of course, contribute to their geyser.fund.
This story comes from Bitcoin country, the very heart of the circular economy movement. It takes place in Adopting Bitcoin, Galoy’s own “high-signal Bitcoin conference for builders.”
“At the last Adopting Bitcoin event in El Salvador, I finally managed to convince my family to visit the conference. I was secretly hoping for them all to get a bit more orange pilled and I had no idea what was coming...
During lunchtime, my father found a tiny lightning network ATM where he could put USD bills and get his first satoshis. Once he tried it, he came over and over again to use it. At some moment, the developer of the ATM searches for me and tells me "Hey man, this is your father, right?" - I nod in agreement, and he continues: "Well it happens that this ATM is just for showcasing the technology, and your father is taking all the liquidity... He started with a 1 USD bill, then 5, and then he just jumped and started to convert 20 dollar bills one after another, and I'll be out of Bitcoin if it continues like this".
Long story short, my father got hooked with doing payments at the event, he must have done at least 10 incoming and 20 outgoing transactions. Today, just 9 months later, he finished his MyFirstBitcoin Diploma and also got 15 employees from his company to do it, and he decided to put the first Call Center specializing in companies that offer Bitcoin-only services.
This wouldn't have been possible with on-chain transactions, so I consider this a lightning network happy ending :)”
A Lightning Network happy ending indeed! Here is the Bitcoin Call Center our protagonist is building. It’s a draft website, but the project is going strong.
BTW, this is the tiny Lightning Network ATM:
This article features stories about adoption, remittances, and circular economies, but, what about payment for services rendered? Let’s travel all the way to Nigeria for that. Through Unique’s story, let’s remember the excitement our first Lightning Network transaction incited in us.
“My name is Unique, and I am a graphic designer. I am currently learning about Bitcoin through the Bitcoin Africa Story Cohort 1. I’ve learned so much about Bitcoin through the cohort, and I’m proud I joined.
I had the opportunity to witness my first Bitcoin transaction after the general live transactions we did during the cohort.
It was EPIC!
I Got Sats For My Graphic Design Service through the Lightning Network.
Initially, I wasn't expecting any sats. However, to my surprise, it only took a few seconds for the sats to appear in my Blink wallet.
A fellow student from the cohort needed the services of a graphic designer for his growing Bitcoin community. Due to his tight schedule, Destiny referred him to me. Fortunately, I was able to deliver the designs before the ideal deadline, and to my surprise, I received some sats in my Blink wallet as payment, even though I wasn’t expecting anything.
I immediately shouted, and the sender asked why I was shouting. I replied, saying that I had received some sats in my wallet. He then asked if this was my first time, to which I answered yes. He smiled and told me, “You better get used to it!”
Support the Bitcoin Africa Story through their geyser.fund.
Shiver, altcoiners! The Lightning Network works beautifully and is solving problems left and right. It’s not perfect and improvements are on the way, but the overall results speak for themselves. It’s as simple as that.
