Back in mid March this year, the team at Stellar (XLM) announced that they had decided that the Lightning protocol was the best long term scaling solution for its network. The team noted that scalability was one of the most debated issues in many blockchain projects and they were approaching it with an open mind on Stellar. Core to their goal was to improve the user’s experience in terms of speed, throughput and privacy/security.

About Lightning

The team went on to elaborate how Lightning works:

Lightning is a scaling solution for distributed payment networks, originally proposed for the Bitcoin blockchain. Lightning is designed to allow users to make off-chain payments through routers and hubs. Lightning even has the potential to support cross-protocol payments, such as a payment where the sender sends Bitcoins on the Bitcoin network and the recipient receives lumens on the Stellar network, without having to trust any parties in between. Lightning is constructed from building blocks known as payment channels. The concept behind payment channels is simple but powerful. They allow users to open a channel off-chain and transact there instead of on the public ledger.

Lightning Implementation Still On Course

According to the Stellar roadmap published along with the decision to implement Lightning, the release date was scheduled for December 1st.

Judging by the fact that there has been no amendment to the roadmap, we can assume that the team is still on course to deliver on the set date.

What do you think about Stellar implementing Lightning on its network? Please let us know in the comment section below.

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