Blockchain technology is a global phenomenon, a disruptor, made better by innovations like the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Online crypto gamblers can easily reap maximum benefits from some of the best online crypto games. Undoubtedly, blockchain and Bitcoin have led to remarkable development, especially in sectors like online crypto gambling, adding flexibility for players of some of the best crypto games. Cryptocurrencies, especially, continue to be a game-changer.
Coins like Bitcoin, ETH, and even DeFi tokens find widespread adoption by leading online casinos like BC.Game and many others across various industries. Bitcoin, for instance, is global, censorship-resistant, and is preferred by gamers who would rather not badge themselves with unnecessary paperwork or wait times as banks settle transactions. The rise of enhancing techniques like the Bitcoin lightning network resolves some of the public ledger’s pertinent issues like rising transaction fees, a perfect ground for online crypto casinos to flourish.
Redundancy of Blockchains Lower Processing Speeds, increasing Transaction Fees
Public ledgers rely heavily on a global web of network users who deploy their often rare and expensive resources for network rewards. Besides, all validating nodes might keep a copy of the ledger for synchrony turns out to be an inconveniencing redundancy limiting performance. For this reason, Bitcoin’s processing power is relatively low. After every 10 minutes, transactions are bundled. What’s more, the Bitcoin network, at its peak, can, at best, process only seven transactions per second. This is nothing compared to private options, which can process hundreds of thousands of transactions every second, making them comparatively cheaper but centralised.
It is necessary. Due to Bitcoin’s low throughput limitation, engineers are hard at work to improve scalability while riding on the beautiful features the Bitcoin base layer has to offer. Because of the Bitcoin trilemma problem–where choices between scalability, security, and decentralisation must be made–, developers opted to work on an off-chain solution dubbed the Lightning Network (LN).
For gaming portals and most online crypto gambling platforms to thrive and players to enjoy some of the best crypto games like Bitcoin Game, public ledgers must quickly resolve the scalability pain point. For obvious reasons–a scalable Bitcoin means more transactions processed per block, alleviating the need for stiff competition and yanking power to miners.
At their discretion—and given their quest to make more money off transaction fees continuously and block rewards—Bitcoin miners prefer to prioritise transactions tagging above-average fees. This bidding war is the primary challenge that has throttled innovation growth dependent on low—negligibly low—transaction fees to survive. A satisfactorily scalable network translates to lower fees, a net positive for the gaming ecosystem.
The Bitcoin Lightning Network
Still experimental, the Lightning Network is a solution gaining traction and finding support across the board. So popular is the LN that Elon Musk, the chair of Tesla—the world’s most valuable automobile company and manufacturer of electric cars—said the off-chain solution is “needed” since it has the required bandwidth, especially if Bitcoin could grow, carrying the transactions of all people in the future. To understand how the Lightning Network operates is first to acknowledge Bitcoin’s value proposition. Every day, over 190k transactions are processed in Bitcoin despite the low processing speed. As a result, fees remain relatively high—but affordable and better than competitors.
The LN sits atop the Bitcoin blockchain as “Layer-2”. Unique, it deploys smart-contracting features and cutting-edge technology to improve the processing speed, easing the demand on the primary chain. All this is without sacrificing the peer-to-peer property that distinguishes the public ledger. At the same time, all transactions are private by default since the system uses onion routing. The underlying blockchain is Layer 1. By operating as a layer-2, the LN derives its security from the thousands of nodes, ensuring the network is sufficiently decentralised.
Unlike other scaling and Layer-2 options common in Ethereum, this solution leverages state channels allowing transactors to send and receive transactions instantaneously and cheaply. According to developers, the LN can process up to one million transactions per second, a drastic improvement over the base layer, which is painfully slow—and expensive.
Lower Fees, More Crypto Gamblers!
Since the LN handles “dust” micro-transactions, the solution effectively handles more, slashing wait time and fees—precisely what online crypto gamblers need. As such, the ability to execute micro-transactions induces the development of fresh business models. Concurrently, it provides much-needed relief for gamers and respective online casinos using BTC and other cryptocurrencies. All these attractive LN features are made possible because the solution does reduce the number of transactions that need to be stored and processed on-chain—that is, on the primary layer.
From LN state channels, funds are secured by conditioned smart contracts. Payments can be pinged between two connected users infinitely, off-chain. The financial state of the payment channel balance can later be broadcasted, secured, and confirmed by Bitcoin nodes. Spearheading the LN development is Blockstream. It has already built the Lightning Charge to fast-track adoption. It is an intuitive API which businesses can use to accept Lightning payments. It is easy to use and requires a near-zero configuration.
BC.Game Operates a Bitcoin Lightning Node for Cheaper and Faster Processing
To even make it easier and cheaper for gamers, BC.Game runs a Lightning Network node, integrating SATS on the platform for an ultra-fast experience for their global users. It lowers the barrier for participation, gives BC.Game an edge over competitors and never winds down gamers—regardless of the amount they wish to wager. After all, only a few people own a whole BTC. $10 or $5 worth of BTC can go a long way in online gambling, allowing gamers to interact and win. Rewards can be withdrawn without fees, encouraging even more gamers to participate and growing the ecosystem.
