Lightning Network: the payment protocol to power decentralized finance and global payments

The Internet was revolutionary, but it took over two decades for mainstream businesses to truly embrace the potential of digital networks, and rebuild the old economy. As a result, a handful of internet companies account for a disproportionate market cap of the S&P 500.

An emerging revolution is happening with money and payments, but it could be even more disruptive than the Internet. Commerce and information got a much-needed upgrade with search engines, e-commerce, and online video. But payments and financial apps have been riddled with high fees, chargebacks, and long settlement times. But that is changing too.

The Internet of Money

Most people have heard of Bitcoin, a decentralized monetary network that no one controls, but anyone can participate in. Much like what the internet did for information, Bitcoin is doing to money. But few understand the emerging technologies being built on Bitcoin, and the disruptions that it could bring. The Lightning Network is a payment protocol built on Bitcoin, that enables scalable, instant-settlement, and interoperable payments between participants in the network. And, with solutions like Neutronpay, businesses can integrate the ability to send/receive payments over Lightning, but without having to hold Bitcoin. This means that Lightning is really becoming the global interoperable payment protocol - the internet of money. But it doesn’t stop there.

Building apps on the Lightning Network - truly Decentralized Finance

Decentralized Finance (or DeFi), is the idea that you could build finance apps (like exchanges, lending, marketplaces, etc) on decentralized networks like blockchains, in which ownership and control are distributed between developers, users, and stakeholders. But it’s mostly been empty promises, buzzwords, and cash grabs. If anything, Bitcoin which delivers true decentralized monetary network effects, has been incorrectly associated with the scammers and VC-fueled trend-chasing madness of the past few years. Most of “DeFi” was decentralized-in-name-only, and really just clever marketing. 

However, Bitcoin and the Lightning Network have been setting the stage for truly decentralized, permissionless finance - here’s a great article to learn more. Developers can build applications on Bitcoin and Lightning that resemble traditional finance or cutting-edge experiments in fintech. For better or worse, DeFi is arriving on Bitcoin and Lightning and is here to stay.

The best part about Bitcoin is that businesses and individuals can choose their level of engagement - without being exposed to perceived risks around Bitcoin and Lightning:

• Want to offer Bitcoin and Lightning as a new global payment method for your users, but don’t want to hold Bitcoin yourself? Solutions like Neutronpay’s API integration have got you covered for both payins and payouts.

• Want to build a DeFi project on Lightning with instant cost-effective payments? Again, Neutronpay provides the infrastructure and liquidity to power Lightning apps, wallets, and transactions.

The Internet of money It’s an emerging landscape, and if you’re simply curious to learn more, or serious about being involved in what could be the next major disruption in technology, reach out to Neutronpay to future-proof your business with Bitcoin, USD stablecoins & Lightning Network for instant and cost-effective global payments.

Best regards,