A short while ago I talked about the Bitcoin Lightning Network and some partnerships that are forming in favor of this technology. It was created mainly with the aim of improving the scalability of Blockchain transactions and allows you to instantly make recurring payments of small amounts with zero commissions. It is perfect for merchants and small amount purchases. Above all, some countries in Africa, Central and South America and Asia are embracing this technology because it represents a great possibility of redemption for these continents. There are numerous videos on Twitter or YouTube of people who, even without the internet, send each other some sats or buy products such as fruit, snacks or sandwiches in some local market.
Lately many entrepreneurs in our industry are sponsoring the Lightning Network. According to Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike, it is “an open, instant, cheap, inclusive, and innovative payment network.”
Michael Saylor, cofounder and Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, announced a few days ago that his company has converted all corporate email addresses into Lightning addresses (and people have jokingly sent him 21 sats each).
Among the many companies in the crypto industry, for the Lightning Network I found the CoinCorner app very interesting and easy to use. CoinCorner was founded in 2014 by Danny Scott and Phil Collins. It is located on the Isle of Man in the UK and is one of the best Bitcoin exchanges in Europe and worldwide. I created my account, submitted my application and within hours it was verified.
It is possible:
- to send and receive BTC both through the Bitcoin network and Lightning Network
- to order the Bolt Card, which allows you to pay via Lightning in person or on a website on your phone
- to earn BTC while you purchase products online: get and add the CoinCorner Bitcoin cashback extension, shop on the partner retailers, checkout and BTCs will be credited to your account
... and much more. If you want, you can turn your Lightning address to "[email protected]". How you do it? Read the short tutorial that the talented Molly of CoinCorner wrote in this article. You would type that in on a wallet that supports LNURL and then the sats would be received in your CoinCorner account. So you can post the address on your website or social media pages and receive sats. I created mine: [email protected] (if you want to donate some sats feel free). Furthermore, if you drop a comment on Molly's article with your address, she will send you some sats. I commented with my address and after a few minutes Molly sent me 1000 sats.
Be careful though... even if it looks like an email address, it is not... Don't be like Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong. Brian had offered to send $100 in crypto to anyone who posted a short video using cryptocurrency in Africa.
The appeal was answered by Joe Nakamoto, a crypto user who has a large following on Twitter and writes articles for Cointelegraph.
Brian wrote back saying he sent him $100, but something went wrong…
Indeed, the $100 never arrived and CoinCorner cofounder Danny Scott explained why.
Brian Armstrong confused Joe Nakamoto's Lightning address with Coinbase's feature that allows you to send cryptocurrency to email. I'm sure you won't make the same mistake as Brian Armstrong because the CoinCorner app is very intuitive, but if you need assistance, Help Centre is at your disposal.
