08 Jan 2021
By Charles Stack
Lightning Strikes Bitcoin

Lightning Strikes Bitcoin

Lightning Network, News
Bitcoin is about to change the world again. Over the past decade, Bitcoin has slowly been accepted as a new asset class and a valuable store of value. Bitcoin just recently passed $1 Trillion Dollars in value. Bitcoin has often been correctly criticized for having no functional utility. That just changed on January 6, 2021. Bitcoin is now poised to become the world’s global currency using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Jack Mallers, CEO of Zap, just released the Strike Global App on iOS and Android phones. This is the first of what will certainly be multiple and interoperable Lightning-based payment…
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29 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack
Lightning Network Videos

Lightning Network Videos

Lightning Network
While we have previously covered some video content from online courses, conferences, and websites generally this section features a short curated selection of educational videos intended to quickly explain the lightning network. Watch them all over lunch and you will be a lightning network corporate champion by afternoon. Lightning Network Explained, 12:24, April 2019. Very clear explanations and lovely hand-drawn graphics. Uses our favorite bar tab analogy as the underlying metaphor. Includes an explanation of the concept of streaming money. Highly recommended.  Bitcoin's Lightning Network, Simply Explained! 5:33, Dec 2017. Basic clear simple explanation. Note: current implementations generally abstract open/closing…
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28 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack
Lightning Network Podcasts

Lightning Network Podcasts

Lightning Network
Podcasts are one of the best educational sources for information about the lightning network. there is something about podcasting and lightning that go particularly well together. There is also an enchanting level of enthusiasm conveyed in the voices of the podcast lightning community. We also generally recommend podcasts as a great form of immersive learning. Use your daily commute for the next week and immerse yourself in the lightning network. Here are selected starter podcast episodes for this immersive experience. Understanding the Lightning Network, Around The Coin, Mar 2019, 42m. They discuss the very basics of the Lightning Network and…
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27 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack

Bolt-a-Thon Virtual Lightning Conference

Events, Lightning Network
Bolt-a-Thon Virtual Lightning Conference, 3-day online hackathon, December 6-8 2019. Here’s the YouTube Channel with recordings of many of the sessions. The first Bolt-A-Thon conference was held in April 2019. There are none currently scheduled for 2020. Recommended sessions. Listed below are the top three hackathon winners with their timecodes. Though somewhat technical, they do provide an interesting range of possible lightning projects. Litreon - 4:18; Lightning Search Ads - 17:11; SatsHunter - 1:04:23
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27 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack
Lightning Conference 2019

Lightning Conference 2019

Events, Lightning Network
Here are notes and links to recommended sessions from the first global lightning network conference held in Berlin October 19-20 2019. About 500 people attended. Here’s a review of the conference from Bitcoin Magazine. Day One October 19 Main Stage Video, 8 hours. Day Two October 20 Main Stage Video, 8 hours. Much more digestible single-session versions, ~20-40 minutes each.  Here are some specific sessions recommended for executives and managers. Building Lighting Businesses, Ryan Gentry, 20 minutes, This session focused on business opportunities, with an eye to startup opportunities. Investing in Lightning, panel, 40 minutes. Enterprise Lightning, Lopp, 3 minutes. A too-quick discussion…
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24 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack

Lightning Network Books

Lightning Network, Tools
Books are generally a poor medium for emerging technologies. The book industry operates at a glacial pace compared to most emerging technologies. By the time a book is published, the contents are invariably dated and the technology has probably already emerged. Nonetheless, here are a few books, or book-like publications, that cover the Lightning Network. The Bitcoin Lightning Network, Poon & Dryja, Jan 2016, pdf. This is the seminal white paper that launched the concept of the lightning network. The early sections are invaluable for understanding the problems that the lightning network was designed to address. Required reading. Hacking The…
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23 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack

Bitcoin Lightning Network Online Courses

Lightning Network, Tutorials
There are not yet many online courses strictly focused on the lightning network. But here are a few Bitcoin courses that we recommend that provide an excellent background for understanding lightning. Payment Channels and Lightning Network, MIT, 2018, Lectures 13 and 14, Tadge Dryja (leading expert). Great graduate-level lectures. Part of a very good bitcoin course entitled Cryptocurrency Engineering and Design. Very technical (It is a graduate-level MIT course), but interesting and relevant. Really shows the deep complexity lurking behind the Lightning Network. Blockchain and Bitcoin Fundamentals, Udemy, $11.00. 3 hours of video instruction and a nice pdf glossary. Introduction…
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23 Jan 2020
By Charles Stack

Learning Crypto Online – Week 1

Lightning Network, Tutorials,
I just passed my first quiz with a score of 83.3%. Yay! I just concluded week one of a 12 week MOOC (massive open online course) offered by the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. The title of the course is Introduction to Digital Currencies. The course is mostly self-study with a set of excellent bibliographies for each week, a one hour lecture Q&A, and a weekly quiz. I signed up for this course partly because one of the lecturers is Andreas Antonopoulos, one of the truly inspirational figures in the bitcoin space. I am also reviewing all the various crypto educational…
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