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Bitcoin Lightning Addresses Give Crowdfunding Boost

People can use Lightning Addresses for fundraising on Bitcoin at the same speed as the Lightning Network and without a node.

Again, the Lightning Network does something terrible. A new type of BTC address called a “Lightning Address” has been added. It is a small but significant change for Bitcoin. The Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment protocol that works on the Bitcoin blockchain. It needs these unique identifiers to work.

Lightning addresses are accessible for Bitcoin users to send, receive, and even raise money. A third party can hold them, or users can connect to their nodes. Crowdfunding is one of the most common ways that Lightning Addresses are used in the real world.

MetaMick told the chief technology officer of Geyser Fund to learn more about how to use Lighting Addresses and why crowdfunding is a low-hanging fruit for this technology. Geyser Fund is a crowdfunding site like GoFundMe but uses Bitcoin and Lightning instead of credit cards.

Lightning Addresses are “identifiers like email addresses that let users send value to each other through lightning. “Unlike bolt11 lightning addresses, they are easy to remember and can be used more than once,” said MetaMick, the chief technology officer of Geyser Fund. 

These wallet addresses can be made on wallet services like Wallet of Satoshi, CoinCorner, or BitRefill, and they can be synced quickly to Geyser Fund:

“You just link your wallet to Geyser, and all donations go through directly in your wallet.”

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been interested in crowdfunding for a long time. Bitcoin is one of the best ways to send money online because it is independent and can’t be stopped by censorship.

Source: Geyser

During the Wikileaks campaign in 2011, Julian Assange raised thousands of Bitcoin when he couldn’t use banks. This was the first time that Bitcoin was used widely to raise money. Recently, the Canadian Trucker Protests used Bitcoin when the Canadian government shut down USD-based crowdfunding options. Protesters in Nigeria did the same thing when the Canadian government shut down USD-based crowdfunding options.

On the other hand, Lightning Addresses make funding faster and easier to use. Transactions on the Lightning Network can be done almost instantly, while regular Bitcoin transactions take an average of 10 minutes. Lightning is great for making small payments often, like in brick-and-mortar stores or sending small donations to creators worldwide.

And now, thanks to Lightning Addresses, Bitcoin users can raise money even faster and more efficiently. Geyser doesn’t have to act as a custodian because “hold invoices” send all funds straight to the creators’ Lightning Addresses. Because of this, there is no one to trust or keep track of the money. It is a vital part of the Bitcoin philosophy.

Even though the Lightning Network still has some problems to work out, like the need for more user-friendly wallets and better integration with existing payment systems, it is clear that the Lightning Network has the potential to change the way online payments are made and money is raised.

As more people use the Lightning Network and take advantage of the benefits of these new addresses, we might see a significant change toward online payments that are faster, cheaper, and harder to censor.