The Lightning Network Lunch: A Bitcoin contactless payment story

cointelegraph.com:

The Lightning Network (LN) just got a bit faster, as the suitably named Bolt Card now enables Bitcoin (BTC) enthusiasts to pay for goods and services using contactless technology. 

A data analyst at the company behind the card, CoinCorner, took the Bolt card on a trial run on the Isle of Man, a British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea. “MSW” — as he is known — tapped to pay at more eight point-of-sale (PoS) devices during his lunchtime investigation.

It worked like this: for any PoS device showing a Lightning invoice, MSW simply hovered the NFC enabled Bolt Card nearby. In total, MSW 20 paid for 20 breakfasts, lunches, drinks and snacks using the LN prior to the Bolt Card's release:

⚡️#LightningLunch - Day 16⚡️Prawn noodles, mango lassi Street KitchenPrice: 44,634 丰 (£11.50) Notes: Magnificent as always, but pretty spicy Pro-tip: Take your lunch break early to save sats ! Total spent: 413,107 丰 / £123.30Current value: £110.06 pic.twitter.com/EA8Dgx6qoI

MSW told Cointelegraph that using the Bolt Card “felt completely natural and worked just as you would expect!”

A data analyst to the core, MSW also documented the comparative cost of parting with Satoshis, (the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin), versus paying for refreshments with pounds sterling, the Isle of Man’s currency. In light of the recent bear market price action, the pound value is marginally higher.

A layer two technology built on Bitcoin, the LN is ideal for instant payments and micropayments. However, prior to the Bolt Card, shoppers from El Salvador to the Isle of Man would pay over the LN by scanning a QR code.

For Danny Scott, CEO of CoinCorner, this is “not as efficient and user-friendly as we need it to be for a mass audience.” Payment with QR codes is