Ever wondered what the easiest way to send BTC is? Well it might just be Tippin.me—a personal project from Sergio Abril that allows anybody to send BTC tips to anyone who uses Twitter.

Historically, Tippin.me worked as an extension for Chrome and Firefox, allowing users to send Bitcoin tips via the Lightning Network to tweets that they liked. Tippin was so successful that it was called a game-changing app that could push the Bitcoin adoption further.

Now, Tippin.me has expanded its platform, launching a new mobile client and allowing Twitter users to tip each other from their mobile device.

Lightning Network Goes Mobile

The Lightning Network with its bi-directional payment channels uses the blockchain as an arbiter, enabling off-blockchain transactions that are eventually enforced on-blockchain.

The Tippin.me mobile wallet is created with the view that increased accessibility should contribute to increased adoption. The new wallet is currently in its alpha testing phase and is only available for Android device. Despite being in its early stages, this announcement has already drawn significant support from the Tippin and Twitter community. After all, even Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is a fan of it.

Alpha testing applications are now open for Android users, though Tippin promises that the iOS version of the wallet will be released soon.

Though the mobile version of Tippin.me is a full-fledged Lightning Network-enabled Bitcoin wallet, its main feature is the ability to tip a Twitter user by sharing or retweeting a tweet from that user. This is hardly a feature that could propel the retail adoption of Bitcoin or the Lightning Network, but it is a step in the right direction.

Early Days, Big Moves

At the time of writing, The Bitcoin Lightning Network has over 9,700 active nodes and 36,000 channels open. Beyond this, the Lightning Network currently has a capacity of more than 850 BTC, equivalent to around $8.1 million, though at times this has been over 1,000 BTC.

A couple of months ago, large retail companies including Amazon, Uber, Starbucks, and more began working with US-based payments startup, Fold. The Fold app allows users to pay for anything at their favorite stores using the Bitcoin lightning network while providing cashback for doing so.

The Lightning Network itself is still an unfinished technology and receiving regular updates to improve usability and security, among other things. Currently, Lightning Labs—the development group behind the Lightning Network— is work on Lightning Loop. This is a noncustodial service to improve the usability of the Lightning network.

Overall, although the Lightning Network has only been in operation for just over a year, it has grown considerably in scale in this time, despite controversy over how it might evolve. Despite this, updates like the Lightning Loop are likely to improve the network’s commercial and retail appeal.

Do you think the Lightning Network is the future of blockchain scaling? Or does it miss the mark somehow? Let us know in the comments below!

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Images are courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock.