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FEATURE Crypto Weekly
The Role of Lightning Network as Bitcoin Scales
T
here has been a wave of capitulation among many coins that were put forward as faster, cheaper, or higher throughput alternatives to Bitcoin. "While Bitcoin still has the largest market share, Litecoin is the second most transacted digital currency for payment. Litecoin still serves as a sort of testnet for Bitcoin. By market capitalization, Litecoin (LTC) is the 20th biggest crypto asset. In 2013, it was the second most popular cryptocurrency, but thousands of new cryptocurrencies have emerged since then, making its modest update on Bitcoin (BTC) seem less important, by comparison. Despite the existence of thousands of new coins, Litecoin remains a significant altcoin with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion. At least some commentators are now starting to question whether Litecoin is really 'necessary' as a result of the ongoing crypto winter. There are a variety of views on this question, with Bitcoin developers and supporters arguing that Litecoin is less useful now that Bitcoin has figured out how to scale (via the Lightning Network). By contrast, Litecoin supporters maintain that the altcoin is useful as a platform for testing scaling technologies and that its adoption by payment and investment platforms will ensure its long-term survivability. Continued...
July 2022 | Volume 33
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