The executive chairman of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, does not like to be called out. He responded to a poll shared by Eric Wall, a crypto researcher, that suggested he had not used Bitcoin\u2019s (BTC) layer-2 Lightning Network more than three times with a Twitter poll of his own.<\/p>\n
Saylor replied to the poll with a resounding yes, and kickstarted a meme competition with a 1,000,000 Satoshis giveaway, or 0.01 BTC, worth around $200, to the most liked meme. In giving away Satoshi\u2019s to prizewinners, Saylor will literally use the Lightning Network three times. <\/p>\n
Saylor first tweeted about the Lightning Network in May 2021 and has since become a proponent for the layer-2 payments solution built on Bitcoin, as well as LiFi, or Lightning Finance. Wall, a former chief investment officer at Arcane Research, has\u00a0called out\u00a0Saylor several times, and his initial optimism about the Lightning Network in 2018 has dissolved into critiques.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other prominent Bifluencers, including Udi Wertheimer and Lilli, head of business development at Foundation Devices, regularly knock the LN. Lilli recently called the network a \u201cfailure,\u201d and Udi said, \u201cNobody uses it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The poll as well as recent commentary from Wall bring into focus a bigger issue. Is the Lightning Network a fringe solution to Bitcoin\u2019s scalability problem that even the biggest names in the Bitcoin space struggle to use? Or, is the Lightning Network \u2014 following eight years of development \u2014 a failure? <\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>Busking on Bitcoin: How Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum for tipping<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Wall shared a series of videos highlighting difficulties in transferring funds over the LN from old Bitcoin wallets to a new phone. He also predicted that Bitcoin capacity on the LN will not exceed 6,000 BTC before 2023. Bitcoin network capacity surged through 4,000 BTC in June and 5,000 BTC in October. With two months to go until year-end, Wall tweeted it\u2019s \u201cgonna be a nail-biter.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps major companies entering the space will bolster LN usage and improve sentiment. Saylor is doubling down again on his Bitcoin strategy, as MicroStrategy is hiring Lightning developers.Furthermore, NYDIG, a leading Bitcoin company, announced in their Q3 report that \u201cNow it\u2019s time for Lightning,\u201d stating their intention to contribute to the LN. <\/p>\n For smaller Bitcoin-first companies, deals are struck and announcements are made on a weekly basis. Strike recently led a successful $80 million funding round, while Galoy, the team behind El Salvador\u2019s Bitcoin Beach wallet, has implemented dollars onto the LN \u2014\u00a0a boon for emerging markets. In Gibraltar, a highly sophisticated financial market, Lightning Network adoption is thriving. <\/p>\n Finally, in a recent panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph in France, prominent Lightning Developers including \u201cDr. Bitcoin\u201d himself, Christian Decker, as well as data scientist, Rene Pickhard mulled over whether transaction failure on the LN is acceptable in 2022.<\/p>\n The overwhelming sentiment from the panel that day is that the LN is still a work in progress. It\u2019s neither a resounding success as it\u2019s still early. For Nicolas Burtey, CEO at Galoy, the group behind the\u00a0Adopting Bitcoin, a Lightning Summit in El Salvador, \u201cThe adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador was the tipping point for Lightning.\u201d The El Salvador Bitcoin Law hit its year anniversary one month ago.<\/p>\n In the meantime, there are now hundreds of memes in reply to Saylor\u2019s tweet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Cointelegraph reached out to Eric Wall, who declined to comment. Cointelegraph will update the article if Saylor, Wertheimer or Lilli share commentary.<\/p>\n