Twitter Founder Receives Bitcoin Lighting Network Torch #2

A year after the original version, the Lightning Trust Chain is running again. Cryptocurrency proponent and the original architect of the idea, Hodlonaut (@Hodlonaut), started the second round of the demonstration of the Bitcoin scaling solution last month.

Small Amounts of Bitcoin

Hodlonaut launched both Lightning Torches with simple instructions. They appealed for followers to send Lightning invoices to them. They would select one of those responding that they trust. Hodlonaut then paid the 100,000 satoshi invoice chosen, equal to less than $10 at the time of writing. The receiver would repeat the process, requesting invoices for 110,000 satoshis. The first 100,000 being those received from Hodlonaut and the additional 10,000 as a gesture of trust to the next person in the chain. The first Lightning Torch traveled to at least 54 countries and, as BeInCrypto has previously reported, some pretty significant people were involved with it. These included the LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Miss Finland, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

1/
Been a while since I listed the countries the #LNTrustChain has visited. With 27 spots remaining, here's the current list:

Argentina 🇦🇷
Australia 🇦🇺
Austria 🇦🇹
Belgium 🇧🇪
Brazil 🇧🇷
Canada 🇨🇦
China 🇨🇳
Czech Republic 🇨🇿
Ecuador 🇪🇨
England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
France 🇫🇷
Germany 🇩🇪
Hungary 🇭🇺

— hodlonaut 🌮⚡🔑 🐝 (@hodlonaut) March 22, 2019

Inspired by the success of the first Lightning Trust Chain, Hodlonaut started a new one this January. According to TakeTheTorch.Online, those taking part in the second version of the Lightning Torch should do so in the same manner as the first. However, not everyone seems to have been informed of the procedure. Xavier Iturralde, the co-founder of blockchain startup Pictosis, tweeted that he used the Tippin browser extension to send Jack Dorsey the torch earlier Sunday.

I've passed the torch to @jack 🔥#Bitcoin #LNTrustChain2 #BTC #sats@hodlonaut @lightning @bluewalletio @tippin_me

⚡️👊🏻😎🚀₿ pic.twitter.com/WTAQK84Txm

— xibot⚡️🤖🚀 ₿ (@xavieriturralde) February 3, 2020

Dorsey is a known fan of Bitcoin and, in particular, the Lightning Network. He also received the original Lightning Torch last year. Passing the torch on to the Twitter CEO probably seemed like a good way to attract attention to the second version. However, Iturralde has faced criticism for not following the protocol of other Lightning Torch participants. Amongst the facepalming .gifs sent in response, Hodlonaut asked:

“Did you just send it to him with tippinme without him asking for it?”

No Obligation to Pass It On

Although you certainly would expect Dorsey to pass the Lightning Torch on, thanks to the way he received it, he really isn’t obligated, even morally, to do so. In other passes, the eventual receiver makes an invoice. Whereas such an invoice is in no way binding, it’s at least a public declaration of intent to take part in the spirit of the initiative. Without this, Iturralde has just sent Dorsey a pile of satoshis. The second Lightning Trust Chain is already far from being as successful as the first version. The pot has already been stolen at least four times since it began last month. Hodlonaut recently suggested that “torch bearers adapt their trust model” to help prevent against such occurrences. https://twitter.com/hodlonaut/status/1221798671605555200