In an era where cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly significant, one of the creators of PayPal, David Marcus, expressed the view that Bitcoin will not become a common means of payment for purchases. Instead, he pointed to the potential of the Lightning network, which he sees as the future of transactions.
David Marcus, co-founder of PayPal and current CEO of Lightspark, a company based on the Bitcoin Lightning network, expressed the opinion that BTC (Bitcoin) will not be accepted as a popular payment method. While this may seem surprising, especially since Marcus is known for his enthusiastic attitude towards cryptocurrencies, he believes the real potential lies in the Lightning network itself.
The Lightning Network was designed to make Bitcoin transactions faster, cheaper, and more practical for small payments. Its mechanism involves processing BTC transactions separately before they are finally approved on the main Bitcoin chain. The goal is to speed up and simplify the transaction process, especially for small payments.
The primary aim of Marcus’s company is to transform the Lightning network into a “universal money protocol on the internet”, much like SMS became a universal communication protocol. What might be surprising, however, is that the currencies transmitted through the network will remain traditional currencies as we know them today – dollars, yen, or euros.
As Marcus explained, a fraction of Bitcoin in the Lightning network can be likened to a small data packet on the internet, but designed exclusively for value. Users could send any currency – from dollars to euros – and receive any currency on the other end. The Lightning Network would act as a real-time settlement layer at a low cost, serving as the final cash settlement function.
While the concept may seem complex for those new to the world of cryptocurrencies, it’s actually a step forward in the quest to create a more efficient, fast, and universal means of payment in the digital age.
Although Bitcoin may not become a direct means of purchase in the traditional sense of the word, David Marcus believes that its technology and the Lightning network have the potential to change the way we think about financial transactions in the future.
