Bitcoin Satellite Now Supports Lightning Payments: Receive with RTL-SDR
Bitcoin is a digital currency based on blockchain technology, and Blockstream are a large innovator in the Bitcoin world. They have recently been developing the 'lightning network' which is a layer that sits on top of the blockchain. The goal of the lightning network is to provide a second layer that helps to speed up bitcoin transactions and alleviate network congestion.
In a previous post we noted that Blockstream have data channels leased on several geostationary satellites. The goal of these satellites is to help users download the blockchain, which is the ledger of all bitcoin transactions ever made. Over time the ledger grows and becomes larger and larger, and at the time of writing is currently about 200 GB in size. Rural/field users of Bitcoin with slow, intermittent, or no internet connection can use this satellite to download or update their ledger and confirm that they have received payments.
To receive the satellite an RTL-SDR dongle together with a Linux PC, LNB and satellite dish antenna are used. More information about setting up a receiver can be found on their GitHub.
Recently Blockstream have released news that their satellites now support Lightning transactions. In addition the Asia-Pacific satellite is now online. This should help boost adoption of the lightning network among rural users.
Blockstream is developing the most advanced projects for blockchain. In December 2018, there was news about the Satellite project. It is entering the Asia-Pacific region. This Satellite covers the entire world. Blockchain is protected from Internet censorship and government shutdowns. Independent satellites allow the network to be less beholden to the interests of politicians, making digital currencies more independent. This is a big plus for anyone who trades, such as through the metatrader 4 app for mac. Thus, there is access to the blockchain from anywhere in the world, and transactions can be made through these nodes.