Altcoin News: Bitcoin Developer Created a Plugin to Support Lightning Network in ATMs

April 5, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

At Bitcoin Association Lightning Hack Day in Hong Kong, Bitcoin developer Felix Weis introduced the Lightning Network plugin for crypto ATMs.

Weiss demonstrated withdrawals demonstrated a Lightning-driven withdrawal using a 20 Hong Kong dollar (HKD) bill and a mobile Bitcoin wallet on his cell phone. A software plugin was created in Java during the hackathon.

During the demonstration, a cryptographic machine for which Weiss developed software with Lightning support showed the ability to receive Bitcoins within the network (this takes approximately 10 minutes to confirm) and then launched the Lightning account scanning option. During the demonstration, Weiss noted that the maximum withdrawal limit is 20 Hong Kong dollars (approximately $2.55 or 0.00061893 BTC). Leo Weese, who organized the hackathon, was able to carry out a similar withdrawal of funds.

Most existing ATMs does not work as fast as a device modified by Weiss, not because they do not use Lightning, but because they often need to do a KYC check. It significantly slows down the process due to the need for the user to visit the website and provide personal information. Lightning-enabled cryptographic software, demonstrated by Weiss, has several key advantages. In a typical ATM, customers wishing to withdraw BTC will need to wait at least a few minutes before they can do it. During this time, the value of the amount for withdrawal may slightly change.

Despite the fact that this can not significantly affect the purchasing power of the client, the ATM with support for Lightning offers a significant advantage due to the almost instant delivery of payments. Lightning provides micro-payments in Bitcoin, and in combination with high-speed transactions in the LN network, an ATM with technology support ensures account accuracy up to Satoshi. In other words, customers can withdraw the exact amount as close as possible to the conversion rate and immediately receive it.

As Weiss noted, one of the “main advantages of integrating the Lightning Network” into ATMs will be an instant withdrawal of funds on bilateral devices. This is strikingly different from transactions within the network, which “can take from several minutes to several hours if the client (out of ignorance) chose a low commission.”

However, there are several obstacles to integrating Lightning into each ATM. Weiss said that in order to implement this concept, ATMs operators will need to run their own Lightning nodes and make sure that they have enough inbound and outbound liquidity. In addition, he said that the current software does not allow for instant withdrawal of funds, but he hopes to write code for this function “very soon”.

Weiss said that his plugin is compatible with any General Bytes Bitcoin ATM in Hong Kong, a hardware and software company that manufactures products related to Bitcoin.

Lightning Network technology is becoming more popular. Recently, Zebpay was the first cryptocurrency exchange to add support for Lightning.

Author: Marko Vidrih