The Lightning Community strikes once more. In a small but important growth for Bitcoin (BTC), a brand new sort of BTCaddress has been introduced:the “Lightning Handle.” These distinctive identifiers are particularly designed to be used on the Lightning Community, a layer-2 fee protocol that operates on high of the Bitcoin blockchain.

A user-friendly addition to methods during which Bitcoin customers can ship, obtain and even elevate cash, Lightning addresses might be custodial, or customers can connect with their very own nodes. Crowdfunding is among the many hottest real-world use for Lightning Addresses.

Cointelegraph spoke to MetaMick, the chief expertise officer of Geyser Fund, to higher perceive tips on how to use Lighting Addresses and why crowdfunding is a low-hanging fruit for this expertise. Geyser Fund is a crowdfunding platform much like GoFundme however utilizing Bitcoin and Lightning.

Lightning Addresses are “E-mail-like identifiers that make it attainable for customers to ship worth to one another through lightning. They’re straightforward to memorize and are reusable (not like bolt11 lightning addresses),” defined MetaMick, the chief expertise officer of Geyser Fund. Cointelegraph tried out the service and managed to boost cash very quickly:

Creators can now obtain their mission contributions into their lightning addresses. ⚡️

Launching a crowdfunding mission has by no means been simpler!

“That is it? That is too fast, Mick!” @JoeNakamoto pic.twitter.com/hUFZapyUqj

— Geyser (@geyserfund) December 16, 2022

These pockets addresses might be created on custodial options equivalent to Pockets of Satoshi, CoinCorner or BitRefill, and rapidly synced to Geyser Fund:

“You simply hyperlink up your pockets to Geyser, and all donations undergo straight in your pockets.”

Crowdfunding has lengthy been an space of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency curiosity. Because of Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant and self-sovereign properties, it is likely one of the best methods of sending cash on-line.

The primary widespread use case forusing Bitcoin to boost cash was the 2011 Wikileaks marketing campaign,the place Julian Assange raised hundreds of Bitcoin when entry to banking companies was lower off. Extra just lately, the Canadian Trucker Protests used Bitcoin when the Canadian authorities shut down USD-based crowdfunding options; it was the same story with protestors in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, Lightning Addresses take funding a step ahead when it comes to each pace and see of use. Transactions on the Lightning Community might be accomplished virtually immediately, in comparison with the 10-minute common for normal Bitcoin transactions. Lightning is right for small frequent funds, equivalent to these made in brick-and-mortar shops, or for sending small donations to creators world wide.

And due to Lightning Addresses, Bitcoin customers can now elevate cash even faster and with an easy consumer expertise. Plus, Geyser avoids performing as a custodian as all funds are forwarded on to creators’ Lightning Addresses because of “hodl invoices.” The result’s a trustless and non-custodial course of, a key tenet of Bitcoin philosophy.

Not medical recommendation: Bitcoiner implants Lightning chip to make BTC funds by hand

Finally, whereas there are nonetheless some hurdles to beat with the Lightning Community, equivalent to the necessity for extra user-friendly wallets and higher integration with present fee methods, it’s clear that the Lightning Community has the potential to revolutionize the way in which funds are made, and cash is raised on-line.

As extra customers undertake the Lightning Community and reap the benefits of the advantages of those new addresses, it’s attainable that we’ll see a major shift towards extra environment friendly, cost-effective, and censorship-resistant funds on-line.