Lightning Network Launches Third Release Featuring Bitcoin & Litecoin Atomic Swaps

Following the activation of Segregated Witness (Segwit) on the Bitcoin network, the developers from Lightning Labs released the 0.3 alpha version of the team’s Lightning Network Daemon. Lightning Labs developer, Laolu “Roasbeef” Osuntokun, details the release provides a vast array of new features including litecoin atomic swaps.

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Following Segwit Activation Lightning Labs Launches the Lightning 0.3 Alpha Daemon

Right after the Segwit protocol was activated, Lightning Labs developer Laolu Osuntokun revealed the third major release for the Lightning Network Daemon (LND). The LND development team says they are thrilled that Segwit is finally available and “they are extremely excited to see Lightning integrated into the ecosystem, and to see all the novel applications that developers will build out.”

“This release marks the third major release for LND,” explains Osuntokun via the team’s Github repo. “With this release, LND is now has gained a considerable feature set, a new automatic channel management operating mode, RPC authentication, additional persistence logic, and further major strides towards complete spec compliance.”

Not Quite Ready for Mainnet But Soon

Lightning Labs explains individuals who test the software should still use testnet coins, and wait until the team is closer to mainnet usage. The next release will provide safety measures before applying the protocol to the mainnet mode. Further, Osuntokun explains that the new LND framework contains “several breaking changes,” which means users need to upgrade to a fresh installation, or remove their existing ‘channel.db’ database.

The notable changes added to the LND infrastructure include TLS integration and Macaroon-based RPC authentication as well. Also, there’s a feature called “Self-Driving Lightning” which provides plans for automatic channel management. Additionally, LND offers a new bitcoin light client operating mode that can make it possible to run a standalone light client.

Lightning Network Litecoin & Bitcoin Interoperability

One aspect of the new release that has intrigued cryptocurrency fans is the “Litecoin Operating Mode.” The Lightning Labs team has added support for the litecoin blockchain and an LTC backend.

The feature means that LND is now capable of quickly switching back and forth between the bitcoin and litecoin chains. “This is very exciting as the code scaffolding put in place to make this switch seamless also lays some important groundwork for the multi-chain LND operating mode that is under development,” details Osuntokun.

With multi-chain, LND will be able to manage channels on both bitcoin and litecoin simultaneously. In the near future, this means that LND nodes with channels on both chains will be able to acts as a border node between the two networks, facilitating instant swaps and transfers between the two chains.

Lots of bitcoiners across forums and social media were excited to see the new LND release immediately follow Segwit activation. The software and development looks like it is getting close to operating in the real world.

What do you think about the latest LND release? Do you like that there is interoperability between litecoin and bitcoin networks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via Pixabay, Twitter, and Bitcoin.com.

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