By CCN: Bitcoin must have been struck by lightning – the Lightning Network. That’s what some crypto observers are saying is behind bitcoin’s price surge.
As part of its blockchain Week coverage, CNBC has hosted a series of crypto players to analyze what’s going on in the suddenly-roaring industry. Bob Iaccino, the chief market strategist at Path Trading Partners, joined the discussion on Wednesday to explain what’s behind the bitcoin price doubling so far this year.
Bitcoin Price Rally Spurred by Lightning Network: Futures Trader
CNBC reporter Seema Mody said “two large crypto trading desks” told her that traders who bought in 2016 and sold in 2018 have returned to the crypto market this year.
Bitcoin is booming as Consensus week is underway, but can the crypto rise above key resistance? @SeemaCNBC, @Bob_Iaccino, and @AnthonyGriz weigh in. $BTC pic.twitter.com/cH6pjmEQyP
— CNBC Futures Now (@CNBCFuturesNow) May 15, 2019
She asked Iaccino if he’d seen the same, and he said:
“Well it’s entirely possible. I don’t have any more direct insight, me being more of a futures and equities guy, as to who’s actually doing the buying. I do believe I know part of the reason why, and that has to do with the inception and application of software called the Lightning Network.”
Lighting The Path To Mass Adoption
The Lightning Network, as CCN reported, is a second-layer scaling technology that developers believe will allow bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to scale far beyond their on-chain capabilities. By moving transactions off-chain, Lightning allows users to transact virtually instantly, anonymously, and at very little cost.
Iaccino went on to say that that the network “actually makes small transactions a lot easier for those who hold bitcoin.”
“Where you look at Visa, who can transact 65,000 transactions per second, bitcoin’s [prior level] was about seven, and now with the implementation of the Lightning Network you can actually get these smaller transactions off the blockchain network, making adoptability of bitcoin as a currency a lot easier.”
But while the Lightning Network continues to see progress, it’s far from ready for mainstream adoption. Moreover, there’s little evidence that advances in this technology have anything to do with the current price rally.
One way or another, though, the bitcoin price continues to soar.
The bitcoin price pushed toward a new 2019 high on Wednesday. | Source: Yahoo Finance