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This is a value for value post: see the explanation in the footer.
The Future of the Hive Lightning Bridge and VSC
It's hard to believe but I've been running this bridge since April 2022. I just published a look back at the last year's numbers here. I wrote the code for this system in the months before then and whilst I've had to code some updates and fix a very small number of issues, the code has been remarkably resilient.
However, when I've gone back into the code over the last few weeks, I can see that it is a horrible mess compared to how I would design it if starting from scratch.
My first thoughts on this were here but this carries on and develops my thinking on the future a bit further.
My Coding History
I learned to write computer programs when I was 11 with a Sinclair ZX81. I was pretty much doing this until the end of my PhD in 1997 but following that I largely stopped. I wrote a few Excel macros in the intervening years but it wasn't until we wanted to do a type of technical analysis which nobody had done for the Crypto Class Action lawsuit by @apshamilton and @jpbliberty, then I started learning Python.
I did the work for the court case, then wound up inventing @podping and helping get the first version of the software for that written. That was a huge learning curve.
V4V.app
What has become @v4vapp grew out of another part of Podcasting 2.0 and came from me wanting to allow @threespeak creators to receive micropayments of sats via Lightning, the system developed for Podcasting 2.0.
That works today but I will admit I haven't promoted it very hard.
The Bridge
What grew out of that was the bridge in it's current form which links the Lightning network to Hive. The Lightning Network is Bitcoin's pseudo-layer 2 scaling solution. It has lots of problems, but it has also seen significant investment from VCs. And in some cases the problems stem from that significant investment.
Lightning Is
Nevertheless there are many useful on and off ramps for small amounts via Lightning and by connecting Hive with Lightning the @v4vapp bridge enables Hive holders to use all these services.
Recently Binance has also allowed withdrawals and deposits via the Lightning network. This is really important now that BTC transactions fees have sky rocketed. For example, you can withdraw up to 0.02 BTC (2,000,000 sats) via Lightning and the fee is 0.000001 BTC which is only 100 sats. The main chain withdrawal fee for BTC is 0.00033 which is 33,000 sats! A huge cost difference.
Only via Sending Value
The way my system is set up, the part which receives and sends Hive or BTC via Lightning is totally self contained. It has no direct internet link except via the Hive blockchain or via Lightning payments.
In order for the system to be told to send a Lightning BTC amount, it has to be contacted by sending Hive or HBD. The other way around, in order for it to send out Hive or HBD, it first gets a message to do so in the form of receiving BTC via Lightning.
There are ways in which this can go wrong, but on the whole its been very reliable and only a few times in almost 2 years, have I had to fix something or force a manual refund after a failure.
@v4vapp as an exchange
However I never wanted to be running a small exchange and my goal is not to be doing that.
I had always hoped to decentralise and give away the software I'm using so others can run bridges.
Decentralising is Hard
When I look at the code base and the systems I have in place to run @v4vapp I can see a lot of work before I could open it up to anyone to run. That is without even considering the learning curve of running and managing a Lightning node which is not trivial.
I was set to embark on this task, along with a re-write of the entire back end when @vaultec and @vsc.network came around.
The Future Without Being an Exchange
What @vsc.network means for me is that I can see the exchange of Hive/HBD into and out of sats to be taken out of my hands. This value exchange will be able to happen on a DEX built around @vsc.network.
The role of the Bridge will be to take in Sats and give you Sats wrapped on Hive or take in wrapped Sats on Hive and send Lightning to an external Lightning wallet or service.
The actual conversion of Hive/HBD to Sats and back will happen outside of what I run.
Re-write
And now that I see this, I know that I won't begin re-writing my code until we have a clearer vision of how I will be able to interact with sats wrapped on Hive via @vsc.network.
The key point here will be that while I will be able to accept in and send out Lightning by the infrastructure I already run, I will be able to give and receive sats wrapped on Hive instead of Hive and HBD. If users WISH to convert from sats to Hive/HBD that will be possible but I won't have to do it on my side.
Simplification
This will dramatically simplify both the code I run and the management of the system. The Lightning side will still need to be managed, but I'm confident I can help others learn how to do that.
I will also feel much better about building the next version of the bridge as open source right from the start.
Future Funding
This is going to be a significant re-write. I'm not sure how significant yet as there is still more I need to know and see about @vsc.network but I'm preparing the ground here now.
I was funded to produce the original @v4vapp bridge and that really did allow me to put almost a full time effort into it. I've been funded, on and off to keep it running but at a long way below full time.
In order to re-write and get this to a point where Hive has an almost unique ability to leverage Bitcoin's only widely adopted scaling technology, Lightning, is going to take a lot of work.
I know that @vsc.network is funded, @blocktrades and the core devs have agreed to significant changes to the core of Hive to support @vaultec's plans too. This is excellent. I hope that when VSC is closer to being finished, I will have a clearer view of exactly how much effort will be needed to move the Lightning Hive bridge on to a more robust and decentralised footing.
Thanks
And as always, I'm hugely grateful for the help so far, and open to any and all suggestions and comments.
Value for Value
For the last few months while building @v4vapp I was generously supported by the DHF. Going forward I have a much more modest support which covers direct server costs and a little of my time.
If you appreciate the work I do on and around Hive, you can express this directly: upvoting posts on Hive is great. Also consider a direct donation (there's a Tip button on Hive or a Lightning Address) on all my posts.
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