Understanding the Evolution of the Lightning Network

livemint.com:

Lightning Network (LN) has been one of the most closely watched innovations in the crypto industry over the past few years. The origins of LN trace back to 2015 when developers Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon published a white paper titled "The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments." Published on January 14, 2016, this paper suggested a radical Layer 2 solution designed to break through the scalability limitations of the Bitcoin blockchain, potentially enabling millions of transactions per second. Following this publication, several teams, including Lightning Labs, Blockstream, and ACINQ, considered testing the Lightning Network (LN).

They diligently refined the protocol, developing software implementations like the Core Lightning (CLN), Éclair, and Lightning Network Daemon (LND). In late 2016, a significant milestone was reached when Blockstream engineers Dr. Christian Decker and Paul Russell conducted the first successful LN transaction on the Bitcoin testnet using Blockstream’s prototype software, lightning 0.5.

This testing phase, involving a digital purchase from a web store, laid the crucial groundwork for what would eventually become mainnet LN transactions. The first Bitcoin mainnet LN transaction heralded a new chapter for this technology. Software developer Alex Bosworth of Lightning Labs led this charge, using LN to pay his phone bill via the Bitrefill service—a platform allowing users to use Bitcoin for various purchases.