One of the best aspects of running Breez is the chance to meet and collaborate with a diverse array of people. We have partners from places like Jamaica, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, and Estonia, and our users span countries such as Finland, Wales, Namibia, and India. The team behind Breez is spread across three continents, representing a wide variety of national and ethnic backgrounds.
Deciding on a communication platform, whether it’s Telegram, Slack, Zoom, or Discord, often requires some coordination. However, the language we use never does. English is our default mode of communication, whether it's our first, second, or even third language. All initial contacts, channels, and public communications (like this blog) are in English, with no real competition from any other language.
This isn’t likely to change; it's impractical to decree a switch to Mandarin, Esperanto, or Inuktitut. For reasons of convenience, utility, historical precedence, or sheer numbers, English is firmly established. It works well, so there's no reason to alter it.
This scenario illustrates several points. First, the interface between nodes in a network – be it people, nations, or communities – takes the form of a language. Second, a common language is essential; the reach of the language defines the reach of the network. Lastly, common languages are highly persistent. Once established, they are difficult to change.
Here’s a crucial insight for the future: Lightning is becoming the common language of the bitcoin economy.
A Common Language among Subnetworks
We've previously discussed various last-mile technologies. These technologies function like local secondary roads, connecting users to the high-throughput Lightning Network and, ultimately, the Bitcoin mainnet. They work by grouping users and their transactions into subnetworks.
For instance, Ark and Liquid convert incoming bitcoin into their mechanisms (VTXOs and L-BTC, respectively), allowing users to send transactions within these protocols without needing additional on-chain transactions. Similarly, Fedimint members pool their bitcoin and trade IOUs among themselves, with transactions and the overall financial state managed by a federation of trusted guardians. With Cashu, users exchange e-cash tokens and rely on the issuing body for trust.
Each subnetwork can use its unique language for internal communication. How nodes interact within these subnetworks is their concern. What's intriguing is that these subnetworks communicate with each other via Lightning. This applies even when, for example, two different Cashu mints or a Fedi and an Ark interact. Lightning serves as the common language for all the emerging and thriving bitcoin-based subnetworks.
Returning to the analogy of English, it doesn’t matter what language you speak at home or at the supermarket. You can use any dialect with those who understand it. But if you want to communicate with me or nearly anyone else on platforms like Telegram or Slack, English is the go-to option. Changing this is impractical, and nobody seems inclined to do so. Similarly, Lightning is the common language of these emerging subnetworks. It’s the language of bitcoin.
Why Lightning Is the Optimal Language for Bitcoin
A common language is not necessarily an optimal language. It just has to work and be broadly accepted. Just like the Bitcoin mainchain has certain advantages (e.g. immutability, openness, borderlessness, etc.) that recommends it for certain uses, Lightning is the best choice for a common language between subnetworks for at least three reasons.
Lightning Is Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Is the Trustless Bearer Asset
The primary and most crucial reason why Lightning is the best common language is that it uses bitcoin. The subnetworks might not trust each other, and they have no reason to. However, since Bitcoin and Lightning operate without requiring trust, the subnetworks can interact without needing to trust one another. Bitcoin is the only viable bearer asset, and Lightning is the language of Bitcoin, making it the ideal common language for subnetworks to interact.
Additionally, Lightning, like Bitcoin, avoids leverage. Fractional-reserve banks operate on the principle of having a gap in their balance sheets. In contrast, every satoshi on Lightning is accounted for at all times. A balance sheet showing all positions on the network would always be balanced, with no gaps or overlaps. Lightning resists imbalances caused by hubris, incompetence, or villainy, which is essential in a trustless environment.
Lightning Is Inherently Transactional and Interoperable
Secondly, Lightning is a transactional protocol designed to facilitate flow. For regular payments, there is no mempool and no waiting for the next block to be mined. Payments are almost instantaneous, taking only seconds. The value of Lightning comes from transactions—money in motion. Static sats on the network don't generate any return; for liquidity on Lightning to increase, it must keep moving. A common language won’t be effective if it encourages silence; it must foster communication, which is precisely what Lightning does.
Additionally, the Lightning technology outlined in the catalog of bolt specs is inherently interoperable. It was created to support multiple implementations of Lightning nodes, each with different designs, trade-offs, and programming languages. Despite these differences, all these nodes can interact over a common network because they all adhere to the same bolts. This interoperability by design makes it easy for other technologies to integrate Lightning as an additional interface.
