This is an op-ed by Tim Niemeyer, co-host of the Lincolnland Bitcoin Meetup and a member of the Chief Lightning Officers.
on January 4, 2023 (Block 770402For those of you keeping score at home), the Chief Lightning Officer (CLO) was created.
What started as a small group of volunteer people has blossomed into nearly 50 Bitcoiners participating in fortnightly calls with the intent of arming each other with all the tools and skills needed to increase the adoption of Lightning on a local level. The people who make up the group have a wide range of skills across many industries, such as education, finance and information technology, as well as holding blue collar jobs. This popular movement has noble goals. As early member Mark Maria stated in an interview for this article, the CLOs have embarked on a mission to help “lightning rods take control of Earth.”
Diagnosis before prescribing medication
While Maria and several others in the group have sales experience, the goal is not to “close the deal”: self-appointed CLO members, who call themselves “Senior Lightning Officers,” meet potential local Lightning Point of Sale (POS) merchants who They have a fact-finding mindset: they build relationships with these local merchants and expose their weaknesses. While it’s easy for Bitcoiners to say “Bitcoin fixes this,” CLOs try, Maraia says, to “diagnose before they prescribe.”
The biggest controversies the group discussed were high fees, late settlements, security of internal funds, friction during international business transactions, and bypassing government regulations. But, as anyone who has studied the Lightning Network enough has realized, it has limitless potential for lower fees, faster final settlement, and increased security and privacy, not to mention its potential to be borderless and permissionless.
The goal of the CLO’s first few meetings was to identify which industries were ready to adopt Lightning. Among the early suggestions were cannabis dispensaries, coffee shops (what an irony – pay for coffee in bitcoin), food trucks and non-chain restaurants, local sports teams, and breweries, to name a few. During each meeting, the group brainstorms other industries that might benefit from using the Lightning Payments Network (LPN). The group agrees that local bitcoin meetups should all work to get merchants at the meetup to accept Lightning payments. Some already, like Boulder Bitcoinwho created the LNURL/QR code that funds meetup event items such as drinks and pizza. Lincoln Land Bitcoin going to get Smallest hobby bitcoin (lightning) ATM in the world So that the local public can convert the surplus change into bitcoin.
member successes
one CLO member, Holly Young, recently shared her experience hosting a Lightning Workshop in Portugal for local merchants and small business owners. Aside from being called a “spammer” and being accused of “promoting a Ponzi scheme or profiteering,” Young had a productive experience. With the help of a tech-savvy family member, her attendees were able to successfully create Coinos accounts. In an article for Bitcoin Magazine, Young described her motivations, “For me personally, the possibility of connecting sellers with the Bitcoin community and the Bitcoin community with people who produce goods of real value is the main driver in organizing events of this nature.”
Since that workshop, Young has received several requests for one-on-one similar support. She’s becoming increasingly certain of Lightning’s potential “as more and more of us devote time and energy to helping it along its natural path to success,” she told me.
another CLO member, Ryan BreechRecently, he successfully set up a local restaurant to accept Bitcoin via the Lightning Payments Network. Bresch, who recently started a business called “Lightning Network Solutions” that helps merchants set up the ability to accept Lightning payments, explained the process in his own words for this article.
Thanks to my local Bitcoin group, I learned about a New restaurant called Bitcoin Grill“After my discussions with a couple of business owners, including a restaurateur, I decided to call the restaurant and asked to speak to one of the owners. From there I scheduled a meeting. The first attempt was useless, and the owner had a thing and left me hanging.”
As any Bitcoiner knows, this is a common problem; Most people need multiple touchpoints before they can search for Bitcoin/Lightning.
Bresch continued, “After learning about their bitcoin journey, I showed him the IBEX solution. He was blown away by how easy it was to use and asked if he could sign up for it right away! So, we went through the registration process and set up a pair of BPTs (Bitcoin Payment Terminals) on two of the their iPad”.
From there, Brisch took the time to follow through with training the servers. As mentioned earlier, the goal is not to close the deal but rather to build a relationship with local merchants. Bresch expects more follow-up training to ensure a smooth transition.
Another tool in CLO members’ tool belts is calling and interviewing companies built on Lightning. CLO members understand that every trader has needs that are specific to their situation. Therefore, they do not prescribe a single solution; Instead, they remain platform neutral. The group has so far sought expertise in the following: Longing analysis to IBEXPayAnd Michael Atwood to Osh And Adam Soltis to Coins. In addition, a significant portion of the meetings discuss the pros and cons of various lighting infrastructures. And it’s not like there are only a few looking (see image below). Among the many options, Satoshi walletAnd PhoenixAnd lastAnd LightSats And flashas well as payment processors BTCPay server And many others, analysed.
Maria believes that Lightning adoption will gain momentum in 2023. His reasoning is as follows:
“(There is) an astonishing number of companies that are insanely innovating. Lightning companies are like Legos. People will use the Lightning Payments Network without even knowing it. The Lightning Payments Network is a Trojan horse (for bitcoin adoption). (We are) building a community of people who solve problems in payments. Lightning can go places and do things Fiat can’t.”
If you run a Lightning business or are one of those people who would like to help increase adoption of Lightning in your area, consider reaching out to CLO Telegram group. find Bitcoin encounter in your area. Locate Merchants accept Bitcoin and Lightning in your area. Adoption will not happen by itself. It takes the willingness of people like you and me to go the extra mile.
Like nodes on the network, we are the ones spreading the unlimited benefits of these revolutionary technologies in a peer-to-peer payment system that will soon cover the world. He remembers… Lightning rods rule the Earth.
This is another guest post by Tim Niemeyer. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
