Lightning Lab completes US $ 10 million in Series A financing, the first paid product enters testing

Original: at The Block , the original author: Celia Wan

Source: Planet Odaily, Translator: Azuma

San Francisco-based Lightning Labs Lightning Labs has secured $ 10 million in Series A funding led by Craft Ventures, followed by Ribbit Capital, RRE Ventures, Slow Ventures, M13, and some individual investors.

In addition to financing progress, Lightning Lab also announced the launch of a beta version of the company's first paid product, Lightning Loop. In the past year, Lightning Lab has focused on developing software programs (Lightning Network Daemon, LND) around Lightning Network, and launched mobile and desktop applications. The company is currently looking to expand its user base with the capabilities of the Lightning Loop.

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"We are building a real business, with real customers and real revenue, and we want to solve real problems for real users … we will use this funding for development and business," said Elizabeth Stark, CEO of Lightning Labs. Hire more talent. "

What exactly is a Lightning Loop?

 

Back in March 2019, the alpha version of Lightning Loop was released, an unmanaged service that provides users with a channel to transfer funds between the Lightning Network and the Bitcoin Network.

At present, when a user conducts a transaction through the Lightning Network channel, the maximum amount of BTC that can be sent and received is determined by the amount of BTC deposited when the channel is first set up. To transmit more than this amount of BTC, the user must reopen a new channel.

Through the Submarine Swaps technology designed by Lightning Lab, Lightning Loop allows users to transfer BTC from the Lightning Network channel to the Bitcoin blockchain, thereby freeing up channel space and obtaining more funds. In addition, users can also use the on-chain BTC recharge channel through their wallets or exchanges.

Stark explained: "Lightning Network requires liquidity. You must have funds to transfer or receive money in the right place, so Lightning Loop can help client companies effectively allocate funds to Lightning Network."

Although still in its early stages, Lightning Loop has attracted several companies including e-commerce startup Fold. In addition, a lightning statement shared by Lightning Labs with The Block states that approximately 30 startups have integrated Lightning Labs software solutions.

Fold CEO Will Reeves said: "Services such as Lightning Loop are essential for the development of Lightning Network, and it enables developers to focus on bringing the Lightning Network experience to life without being caught by Lightning Node. Complex management is a drag. "

Stark also added: "I see Lightning Network as a financial transaction and infrastructure platform. I really think it is the intersection of the financial world and the technology world."

Other players in the ecology

 

Lightning Loop is not the only financial product built on the Lightning Network.

Last week, Zap, a Lightning Wallet service, announced the launch of a mobile app called Strike that allows users to buy bitcoins using debit and credit cards.

Another startup, OpenNode, provides an API for online shopping using the Lightning Network.

In addition, exchanges like Bitfinex, BitMEX and Bistamp have also shown interest in Lightning.

BitMEX Research data shows that about 72% of Lightning Network channels are public. Given that there are currently approximately 36,000 public channels, it can be easily estimated that there are currently approximately 50,000 public and private lightning network channels.

Let's end with the last sentence of Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark in the financing announcement-"In 2014, when I tweeted about the vision of creating a Bitcoin application layer, it was a daydream. Today, We want to make it a reality. I can't wait to witness the next ten years of the Lightning Network, because I know we will empower people to create things that we can't imagine at the moment. We have just started building the Internet of Money, and this will be a period Crazy journey. "

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