Storj, the blockchain based decentralized cloud storage services provider has joined forces with Counterparty, a Bitcoin blockchain based smart contract tools provider to create a new payments channel technology. The technology developed by Storj is currently in the proof of concept stage and it will be used for enabling payments on the Counterparty network using Counterparty tokens.

Storj’s concept payments technology is built to support the new Lightning Network. Recently enabled on the Bitcoin Core, the Lightning Network is designed keeping Bitcoin network’s scalability in mind. The Lightning Network is an ideal solution to process repeated transactions between two parties without having to record each transaction on the bitcoin blockchain, thus reducing the miner fees and processing time.

Lightning Network is a layer over the primary Bitcoin protocol that allows two people to create a secure channel, kept open for a specific duration. As long as the channel is open, the parties can conduct unlimited instant transactions between each other. Irrespective of the number of transactions conducted between the participants, the network will create only two transaction records on the blockchain, one during the initiation of the payments channel and another upon termination of the channel.

The Storj’s payments technology currently supports unidirectional transaction of crypto-assets like SJCX and others. It will include bidirectional transaction support in the coming days. While talking about the Stroj’s new project, the CEO Shawn Wilkinson says,

“Payment channels allow for instant, ‘streaming’ payments of SJCX, which is a Counterparty token, in exchange for storage space on our network.”

The implementation of Storj’s payments technology will also mark the successful adoption of a bidirectional micropayments method for Bitcoin and Counterparty assets, which has been part of the Counterparty development roadmap for a long time now. Counterparty’s lead developer Ruben De Vries had this to say about it –

“We’re excited about this development, and appreciate the initiative Storj took here. This is a huge step forward that will truly allow for rapid, almost frictionless Counterparty token payments, as well as eventual use of Counterparty tokens on the Lightning Network.”

Storj’s new payments technology is expected to enter the beta testing phase later in the third quarter of this year.

Other Bitcoin companies like 21 Inc. and Blockchain are also working on payments technology based on Lightning Network. The Blockchain Thunder Network created by Blockchain is also currently in the alpha stage and ready to be implemented once the adoption of Lightning Network on Bitcoin Core catches up.

Ref: Finance Magnates | Image: Storj