Bitcoin's Lightning Network Is Getting Its Own Hacker Camp

Far-fetched today? Maybe, but that's the sort of easy user experience the bitcoin developers at Chaincode Labs think is missing from the world of cryptocurrency, even now that a much-anticipated technology layer known as the Lightning Network is in beta.

That's why the group, led by veterans Alex Morcos and Matt Corallo, has held similar coding programs focused exclusively on bitcoin.

Announced Monday, Chaincode is launching a new "Residency" in New York from October 22 to 26, one that will focus on helping developers build their own Lightning Network apps.

The goal, according to Chaincode engineer and bitcoin software maintainer Marco Falke, is for the program to create tech "For normal people on the street, not just weird developers." In short, they're looking for some fresh blood.

"There aren't many apps and you can't go into a shop and pay with bitcoin. There's all this missing infrastructure. We thought it would be great to get some app developers involved that have experience building websites, but don't have to have any background in bitcoin or lightning."

It's worth noting a few lightning apps have already sprung up showing how bitcoin and lightning can be paired to improve online payments.

Though a small program, for the industry, it perhaps sends a stronger signal, as Lightning developers have been mostly focused on getting the underlying lightning protocol off the ground to date.

"Personally, I think every day we wait for lightning applications will delay lightning and bitcoin. It's really important to do this app development thing as soon as possible," Falke continued.

"A lot of people outside of bitcoin don't understand it's capabilities, including lightning. By facilitating app development we're spreading awareness of what bitcoin is actually capable of," O'Beirne said.

"People have turned to other smart contract platforms because they don't understand how powerful bitcoin can be."