After learning about all sorts of new Bitcoin L2s, Lisa Neigut (aka Nifty). my very first podcast guest, has returned in person to lecture me about why Lightning Network is still the best!
Lisa’s “lightning maximalism” is rooted in “payments maximalism.” If you purely intend to expand bitcoin’s utility as a payments tool, she argues that lighting – in conjunction with federated protocols and ecash mints like Fedi – can get the job done. Much to my surprise, those two worlds have been building roots together and creating synergies for some time, including through wallets like Aqua that make Liquid and lightning interoperable.
Nifty says that lightning is becoming the high-speed “connective tissue” between several Bitcoin L2s, with swap providers like Boltz. These trustless swaps are a special quality of lightning that Ethereum wishes it could have to keep its L2 ecosystem together.
Nifty is the founder of Bitcoin++, co-founder of Base58, and a former Lightning Network engineer at Blockstream. Listen to learn more about one of Bitcoin’s OG Layer 2s, and hear an expert’s defense for it despite all the recent FUD!
TIMESTAMPS:-
1:10 How did lightning network come to be?
3:07 Vitalik’s “Code is Law” Idea
6:29 What on earth is a “Layer 3?”
9:20 BTC works as a medium of exchange!
12:20 How lightning works
15:24 Where Lightning requires using L1
16:40 Lightning’s channel management problem
20:40 Phoenix Wallet lets you run a personal lightning node
22:40 The problem with permanent Bitcoin addresses
24:00 Nifty Fights the Lightning FUD
26:10 Maxis who don’t like lightning
26:50 Permissionless exit: Lightning’s best quality
29:50 Lightning’s last mile problem + What’s cool about ECash
32:20 Lightning and federations working together
35:30 Sovereignty is expensive
38:35 Coffee vendors running lightning invoices
39:25 Lightning as the connective tissue of L2s
42:20 Ecash mints are like virtual dollar bills
45:05 How do trustless swaps work?
48:15 Ethereum wishes it had lightning
49:50 Lightning + Fedi is perfect for payment maxis
51:50 Cashu requires trusting one person
54:15 Nifty’s move from Blockstream to Bitcoin education
58:00 Bitcoin++: where you can get ahead on what’s coming for Bitcoin
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