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Spiral, a company created by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, has given a tutorial on the Bitcoin Lightning and the Lightning Development Kit (LDK) capabilities.
In a video published on December 7, the company stated that the LDK tool would be used by developers to plug their applications seamlessly into the network using mobile devices and Point of Sale terminals.
We made a very short documentary about the Lightning Development Kit, our big project these last couple of years. We wanted a puppet to perform @jack’s parts but settled for actual @jack: https://t.co/q6eW4PDuNW
— Spiral (@spiralbtc) December 6, 2021
Bitcoin Lightning Development Kit
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Bitcoin’s LDK will support native APIs on the network through various coding languages such as C, Swift, Java, Kotlin and Swift. By supporting a wide range of coding languages, the platform allows developers to customize their wallet applications for their target users using their preferred language.
The use of multiple coding languages also brings convenience, as it removes the need for using separate Bitcoin and Lightning Network wallets.
The video description features Dorsey as he explains the LDK program. He notes that this LDK will make it easy for any developer globally to create a wallet.
The video is animated in that it features a puppet of the former Twitter CEO as he interacts with clerks and owners at a store. He later uses the Lightning Network to pay for the services rendered to him.
At some point in the video, Dorsey uses his mobile Lightning Network wallet application to make payments for a nose piercing, and in another, he uses the network to pay for a movie ticket.
The video also features the development team at Spiral, as they talk about the benefits of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
Spiral has been developing a Bitcoin wallet for years
Spiral is the firm that was previously known as Square Crypto. The firm is a subsidiary of the Square, with the latter also being renamed Block. The two firms obtained their new names a few days after Dorsey resigned as the CEO of Twitter.
Spiral was founded in 2019, and since its inception, the firm has been looking into creating a Bitcoin wallet. The Lightning Development Kit is not the only thing Spiral is working on, as the company is also working on enabling cross-platform mobile wallet interactions.
The Lightning Network is a layer two scaling solution on the Bitcoin network. According to the project manager of Spiral, Haley Berkoe, Lightning enables Bitcoin to be an actual payment system.
The Spiral team also believes that LDK will boost the adoption of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network because it will provide a global way for people to “store value and engage in economic activity.”
The release of this product is timely for the Lightning network. Currently, the network nodes on the network are at record highs. Data from Bitcoin Visuals shows that the number of nodes with active channels on the network stood at 18,904 on December 5.
Within three months, the total number of nodes on the network has increased by 23%, representing a 3,534 increase. The Lightning Network can support 3,285 Bitcoins worth around $166 million. This shows that LN is growing at a fast rate; hence the LDK is a timely development.