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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Engages in Bitcoin Lightning Network ‘Torch’ Experiment

Last Updated March 4, 2021 2:53 PM
P. H. Madore
Last Updated March 4, 2021 2:53 PM

Jack Dorsey has taken part in a ceremonial usage of Lightning Network “for the laughs.” The idea mimics the Olympic torch. Participants pass microscopic amounts of Bitcoin around the Lightning Network, using Lightning-enabled wallets to generate and pay invoices.

Dubbed the #LNTrustChain, the experiment demonstrates that Ligthning Network can send tiny amounts of Bitcoin. Each participant receives the full amount of the torch and adds 10 Satoshi to it. They then pick another person and the “trust chain” gets longer. The experiment even has a website.

The first transaction was for 100 Satoshi. By the time it got to Dorsey, the torch was 2860 Satoshi, which rounds up to 10 cents at press time.

The process is simple enough. Twitter is used for the entire thing. The sender tags the person, who generates an invoice. The sender then creates the transaction, and the recipient posts confirmation, like this one:

Non-Lightning wallets can’t participate. The experiment would not be possible without the Lightning Network – it’s the reason the fees are low enough. Ordinarily transactions this small would not make sense on the Bitcoin main chain.

‘Nah’ to Altcoins

Dorsey recently spoke of cryptocurrency on the Joe Rogan podcast. He said, “I believe the Internet will have a native currency and I don’t know if it’s Bitcoin.”

All the same, when a Twitter user asked for the Cash app to offer other cryptos besides Bitcoin, Dorsey was decidedly uninterested:

Elon Musk: The Next Frontier?

In an attempt to up the ante, Samson Mow is attempting to involve Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

However, the billionaire is probably a bit too busy at this point. He recently oversaw testing of SpaceX’s next-generation rocket.

A Global Chain

The chain has so far stretched into every major country and continent.

The Torch has now been to 37 countries.

Lightning Labs co-founder Elizabeth Stark was the last person to take the torch at time of writing. Jack Dorsey passed it to her.

The Lightning Network is both Bitcoin Core’s preferred scaling solution and its answer to the question of microtransactions, one of the primary arguments for the establishment of Bitcoin Cash.

Lightning has been functional for months, but mass adoption by merchants and users is still in progress. One could speculate that this is why some developers are discussing making Bitcoin blocks smaller, in an attempt to stimulate usage of the cheaper alternative .