Lightning Issues: Letters from the Editor

Bitcoin does not scale.

It should not be read to mean not expanding Bitcoin, assets, or the various ways to use it. However, Bitcoin’s blockchain will not expand. This is the fundamental and undeniable reality of its architecture. Since the block size war, we have clearly known this (well, Bitcoiner knows this). Some people, such as James A. Donald, were the anonymous cryptographer who first responded to Satoshi on a crypto mailing list, and Hal Finney himself knew this from the start.

It is impossible for every person on Earth to receive, verify and resend transactions of everyone else on Earth. The concept that this is a viable idea is actually very insane.

But this is basically how Bitcoin works. Its security and integrity is guaranteed only through the process of all users receiving and verifying activities processed by the blockchain. So how do we adjust these two conflicting things?

Find creative ways to commit to transactions without using blockchain and “cache” them until the right time to actually engage in the final payment-on-chain.

The Lightning network is the first and most mature example of a system designed to achieve this settlement in a decentralized way.

Lightning has not evolved exactly as it wanted to be a pure end-user payments network, but it undeniably demonstrates itself as Bitcoin’s first viable second-tier scaling solution. It may be becoming a more appropriate collective payment layer for businesses and services than end users (though it’s not impossible for them to use), but so far it has been an overwhelming success.

This topic is personally very close to me, so it was absolutely a joy and honor to act as editor-in-chief of this matter. Bitcoin is something I have to expand to create the positive and impactful changes that I want to create.

We would like to thank all the contributors and team members who have made this issue come true. And most importantly, he helps Aaron Van Wideum’s stewardship and the process of handing me the torch.

Since Bitcoin itself was launched, we hope you enjoy a better understanding of one of the most important projects in this field.

Shinobu

Don’t miss the chance to own a Lightning issue featuring an exclusive interview with Lightning co-creator Tadge Dryja. Dive deep into Bitcoin’s most powerful scaling layer. Limited execution. Available only while consumables continue.

This is a letter from an editor featured in Bitcoin Magazine’s latest print edition, The Lightning Issue. Here we see and share ideas explored through the complete question early on.