Lightning CEO Elizabeth Stark on Bloomberg, Discussing Lightning Network and the Future of Bitcoin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7_BtlYzuJc

created by spankloop on 21/12/2017 at 22:36 UTC

1355 upvotes, 89 top-level comments (showing 25)

Comments

Comment by StopAndDecrypt at 21/12/2017 at 22:49 UTC

85 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Now in HD: https://streamable.com/03tct

Comment by spankloop at 21/12/2017 at 22:43 UTC*

165 upvotes, 9 direct replies

I thought that one of the analogies that Stark gave was pretty interesting. Stark described an increase in block size as increasing lanes in a road to ease congestion/traffic whereas using the lightning network is essentially teleportation.

Edit: Just to hijack this comment, I apologise as the title of the post is slightly misleading. As /u/starkbot pointed out below, Elizabeth Stark is CEO and Co-Founder of Lightning Labs, Lightning (Network) is the protocol.

Comment by thieflar at 21/12/2017 at 23:21 UTC

77 upvotes, 3 direct replies

I'm amazed at how far Joe Weisenthal has come. He used to *hate*[1] Bitcoin, now he seems remarkably well-informed (and much more neutral or even positive).

1: http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-is-a-currency-for-clowns-2013-11

Comment by MrWollmanRink at 21/12/2017 at 23:00 UTC

85 upvotes, 4 direct replies

She does a great job explaining things for joe public. Get here out there more!!

Comment by southieyuppiescum at 21/12/2017 at 23:04 UTC

75 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Yesterday:

Spread the word: Lightning developer Elizabeth Stark will be on Bloomberg TV tomorrow

Elizabeth Stark replies

starkbot: Hahaha thanks guys. I'm actually a contributor, not a "developer" :p

Also no pressure or anything, lol.

Then it turns out she's actually

Lightning CEO Elizabeth Stark on Bloomberg,

Humble city.

Comment by zjaml at 21/12/2017 at 23:05 UTC

15 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Agreed, what a great lady.

Comment by clams_are_people_too at 21/12/2017 at 23:10 UTC

29 upvotes, 3 direct replies

It isn't 'her technology', it's an open source software spec.

Further, the lightning labs implementation isn't the only implementation.

Great to see a simple explanation, however.

Comment by tripledogdareya at 21/12/2017 at 22:57 UTC

38 upvotes, 4 direct replies

Before the Lightning Network can solve scaling problems, we first need to prepare the community for the responsibility of operating secure nodes. Transacting on LN is an active process and nodes require access to the unencrypted private keys used to manage their channels. If a node is compromised the available balance on open channels is exposed to theft. This is a significant difference from the offline transacting supported by Bitcoin. To get the full benefits of LN, users will not simply be able to secret away their private keys on airgapped hardware wallets.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7l5bqj/the_best_thing_that_you_can_do_to_help_ensure/

Comment by NosillaWilla at 21/12/2017 at 23:16 UTC

11 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Extremely poised. Very well done. Lightning Labs is very important for the future of crypto currencies

Comment by __Vet__ at 21/12/2017 at 22:59 UTC

79 upvotes, 5 direct replies

Great interview, and it is absolutely great seeing a woman represent Bitcoin! Women are the biggest untapped potential market for Bitcoin!

Comment by 7footdwarf at 21/12/2017 at 22:42 UTC

16 upvotes, 0 direct replies

thanks for posting this!

Comment by wonderboysam at 22/12/2017 at 02:21 UTC

9 upvotes, 1 direct replies

yo dawg I heard you like analogies

Comment by Jinner at 21/12/2017 at 22:49 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Wow she explained it so easy to understand.

Comment by Jinner at 21/12/2017 at 22:57 UTC

10 upvotes, 0 direct replies

This should be pinned to top for all the newcomers with all their scaling questions. So easy to understand.

Comment by uglymelt at 21/12/2017 at 23:31 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Good interview thanks, Elizabeth!

This is really refreshing rogers interviews are always like bitcoin bad, bitcoin community bad. That guy is so toxic. You don't even have to censor roger because no one wants to hear that unproductive shit anymore.

Comment by kinsi55 at 21/12/2017 at 23:29 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Something about the interviewer makes him very likeable

Comment by cryptothrow42 at 22/12/2017 at 00:22 UTC

5 upvotes, 1 direct replies

good interview - i have a couple questions:

in response to when lightning will be here, she says it's been out since January. Since none of us are using LN channels to avoid fees up to $50 right now, clearly that is not the answer to the question which was being asked, which is when will we see the benefits of lightning. so when is it going to actually get here?

in response to how hard it will be to use, she says it's automatic and happens in the background. really? if that's true and there's no opening a channel and do this and do that BS that I've seen thrown around here, that's awesome. But that's not what I've heard?

Comment by Linkamus at 22/12/2017 at 01:27 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Watching this interview twice through has only reinforced my belief that a second layer like lightning is the only true scaling solution for a block-chain that wants to remain decentralized and censorship resistant.

Comment by rredline at 22/12/2017 at 02:05 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

It was refreshing to see someone offering to explain a method of scaling without spouting lies and insults about alternate methods and their proponents. I believe that Layer 2 is the future even if Bitcoin is currently unusable as a daily currency.

Comment by richyboycaldo at 21/12/2017 at 22:48 UTC

13 upvotes, 5 direct replies

Did she give any timeline?

Comment by archides at 22/12/2017 at 04:59 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

4:51 cross chain swaps are gonna be a good kick in the nuts for Trump's new tax plan. The new tax plan makes exchanging one crypto for another a taxable event, preventing the current possibility of deferring the tax by claiming the trade as a "like-kind" exchange. Once transactions can be made without the use of exchanges (which IRS is forcing to release customer records) people will be free to trade currencies without IRS interference again.

Comment by Curiosity-92 at 22/12/2017 at 07:02 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

she's hot and knowledgeable we should adopt her as our new speaker to counter Roger

Comment by kikkerdril at 21/12/2017 at 23:31 UTC

7 upvotes, 0 direct replies

You can try Lightning[1] right now. On an Android app with free testnet Bitcoins. Go buy yourself a virtual coffee and get a glimpse of the future.

1: https://medium.com/@ACINQ/announcing-eclair-wallet-a8d8c136fc7e

The onchain testnet transaction takes 2 confirmations before a Lightning channel can be opened.