Published on: 2018-04-06T06:10:09+00:00
Igor Cota, a developer, has been experimenting with using the Lightning network for retail payments on his Android device. He has set up an instance of c-lightning and has been testing payments via NFC (near-field communication). NFC-enabled phones can be used in two ways: as passive tag readers or in card emulation mode. Card emulation mode allows for two-way communication and an ad hoc connection to the Lightning network. After some handshaking, the phone can establish a connection to Lightning via NFC. Communication between the lightning nodes can be done over NFC or even Bluetooth. Igor has settled on a MIME type (application/lightning) and an NFC application id (LIGHTNING). However, he emphasizes the need for standards to be agreed upon for interoperability.The email conversation between Corné Plooy and ZmnSCPxj on the Lightning-dev mailing list discusses the possibility of using Lightning for everyday retail payments. Igor Cota shared his experiment with payments via NFC, which works well as long as both the phone and terminal are connected to the network and have a route to each other. In card emulation mode, two-way communication is possible, enabling an ad hoc connection to the Lightning network, even if mobile data is not available. A MIME type (application/lightning) and an NFC application id (LIGHTNING) were selected, along with a simple protocol to forward socket data.ZmnSCPxj raised concerns about censorship and the need for direct payment channels. He suggests that for practical mobile devices, communication over a secure channel to a trusted server is preferred. However, the payment terminal would provide a connection to the Internet-in-general rather than the payment terminal node. Initiating a payment requires direct communication with whoever you have a direct channel to. This means that if the mobile device can only communicate with the payment terminal, it can only pay using channels with the only node it has a connection to. The payer would need to get blockchain information from the payee if they have no internet access. ZmnSCPxj suggests a set-up where the payer has an authenticated connection to a trusted server through the payee's internet connection. The trusted server could be a full Lightning node running at the payer's home.Igor Cota responds that for instantaneous payments, the payer will need a direct channel to the payee or at least the payment terminal of the payee. However, he believes that the trusted server can be a full Lightning node running at the payer's home. He personally prefers this kind of set-up as he sees cell phones as a privacy issue due to continuous transmission of location data.In conclusion, Igor Cota is experimenting with using Lightning for retail payments on his Android device via NFC. He envisions a system that is instantaneous and encodes a fancy HTML receipt in bolt11 for future reference. There are two ways to use NFC-enabled phones: passive tag readers and card emulation mode. Communication between lightning nodes can occur over NFC or Bluetooth. Standards for interoperability need to be agreed upon. ZmnSCPxj raises concerns about censorship and direct payment channels, suggesting a set-up where the payer has an authenticated connection to a trusted server. Igor Cota believes that the trusted server can be a full Lightning node running at the payer's home.
Updated on: 2023-07-31T19:56:16.899889+00:00