The Lightning Network will introduce a lot of major changes to the Bitcoin ecosystem. While LN is still opposed by some, significant developments have been made nonetheless. One new platform is more than willing to embrace this technology, as Y’alls focuses on paying article writers with Bitcoin micropayments.
Y’alls is a Content Delivery Platform
In a way, it is good to see some more companies focus on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Even though this technology is far from finalized, we do have a desktop application which provides access to the Lightning Network already. A lot of research and testing remains to be done before the Lightning Network can become something everyone commonly uses, though.
Considering that Y’alls is perhaps the first major platform to be built on top of this technology, things are bound to get very interesting moving forward. The concept is pretty simple: the service allows anyone to read or write articles using the Lightning Network. Micropayment blog platforms will become more common over time, and they will eventually remove the need for traditional advertisements as well. Though things will not change in any significant fashion overnight, the foundation is being laid for good things to happen in the future.
Giving people a new way to express themselves on the internet and be paid for it is pretty significant. Users will need to install a Lightning Network-compatible wallet before they can take advantage of this new platform. The Lightning Labs desktop app is one of the three wallet choices in this regard. There is also a custodial web wallet called HTLC, which introduces a significant degree of centralization. Last but not least, a wallet called Zap is currently in development.
As one has come to expect, publishing articles with Y’alls is not free, but it is not overly expensive either. All it requires is a US$0.01 payment which can be processed through the Lightning Network. Everything is presented using a convenient invoice screen, which makes the whole process look and feel far more professional compared to what most people would have expected at this stage. It is a very intriguing take on content delivery and one that will certainly benefit from the Lightning Network as it grows into a full-fledged protocol.
As to the published articles on the platform, half of them are available to view right away. Visitors can pay US$0.01 to read the rest of the content accordingly, which is pretty cheap. All content is accessible through the Y’alls website, which is fairly easy to navigate. Payments are made directly on the website, and they can be sent and verified using the site’s interface. It remains to be seen how many people will actually use this platform moving forward, though.
In the end, it is good to see Y’alls become a new trend. Content writers can get some more exposure in exchange for a minuscule payment. It is one of the first big applications to embrace the Lightning Network, and more will arrive in the coming months. There is a very bright future ahead for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network; that much no one can deny right now. It will be interesting to see what else we can look forward to in a year or two from now.
