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It is certainly true the cryptocurrency ecosystem can use some major improvements. Especially where exchanges are concerned, as they are a bottleneck more often than not. With the new LND client, centralized services may soon become obsolete. The new client includes a Litecoin Operation Mode. It can switch back and forth between Litecoin and Bitcoin chains and wallet backends accordingly. We are one step closer to atomic swaps between these two popular cryptocurrencies.
LND can prove to be a very valuable tool in the hands of the right people. Having a semi-convenient option to perform cross-chain atomic swaps is quite intriguing. Especially when this functionality is provided between Bitcoin and Litecoin. Although this will not replace centralized exchanges overnight, it brings us one step closer to decentralized trading. In the latest version of LND, the Litecoin Operating Mode has been added. With support for both BTC and LTC in place, the future looks pretty bright for atomic swaps.
New LND Update Makes Litecoin More Appealing
Users of the client can switch between both chains with a toggle. It also lays the groundwork for a multi-chain operating mode in the future. Right now, the LND team is working on this implementation, but there is no official ETA at this time. Multi-chain support allows the management of payment channels on both Bitcoin and Litecoin at the same time. Once that is achieved, people can start experimenting with cross-chain atomic swaps between both cryptocurrencies. It is a very interesting development to look forward to, to say the least.
This development has Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin excited as well. Bringing more functionality to Litecoin remains one of his main priorities. Being the first to perform atomic swaps with Bitcoin will certainly give LTC a market advantage. Although it remains to be seen if there is any real demand for this service, one shouldn’t dismiss the possibilities either. Lee also mentioned how he will be testing the Lightning Network on the LTC main net. Good things are happening behind the scenes of Litecoin, to say the least.
I'm working with @MLPFrank and @TheRealXinxi today to test out Lightning on Litecoin mainnet. Any real litecoins lost will be worth it! ?
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) August 23, 2017
Assuming all of these tests will be successful, the cryptocurrency world will be shaken up considerably. Instant payments and more privacy are just two of the potential outcomes for Litecoin. Cross-chain atomic swaps with Bitcoin are only the first step as well. In the future, it should become possible to perform similar swaps with any other block chain-based currency or token in the world. There are many reasons to get excited about LND and similar projects. It is by far one of the biggest developments taking place in cryptocurrency right now.
