Lightning Labs Have Launched A Desktop App On Bitcoin Mainnet

Lightning Labs, one of the most renowned Bitcoin companies which are the brainchild behind the anticipated scaling tech lightning, recently released its first desktop app on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Prior to this, the desktop app was put through its paces upon  Bitcoin’s testnet with fake Bitcoins used to test programs but this announcement marks the first time that the app will work on the mainnet. This means users can make use of it to send and receive real money. In addition to this, the app is “non-custodial” which means users have full control over their Bitcoin.

Lightning Labs developers Tankred Hase and Valentine Wallace published a recent blog post announcing the new app, explaining:

“Driving this release is a complete commitment to scaling the principles that Bitcoin was built on: privacy, security, and self-determination. For that we need to go beyond custodial solutions and enthusiast guides and deliver a great user experience for everyone.”

While there are many apps out there with work with Bitcoin, including Bluewallet, Zeus and more, Lightning Labs could possibly be the largest company to release a Bitcoin mainnet app thus far.

The new app works on Windows, MacOS and Linux devices.

The devs behind the app have however noted, that despite it being a mainnet app, it has still been created for “advanced users” who have interests in testing out the emerging technology. There are still some risks when utilising a relatively new and unfinished technology.

Another notable aspect of the release is the fact that the underlying tech incorporates “Neutrino”, which has been dubbed as a “light client” technology. This requires users to download far less of the bitcoin blockchain to verify transactions.

Of course, there are other light technologies out there, but Neutrino does boast more privacy aspects to it. Furthermore, Lightning Labs has revealed that it is planning to release to mobile devices in the near future.

As per Hase & Wallet’s blog post:

“[The release] also represents an important stepping stone towards mobile while we continue to invest in performance and stability. We’re working as quickly as we can to get our mainnet iOS and Android apps out soon.”