{"id":20570,"date":"2019-02-05T22:53:42","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T22:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe7b300126c3"},"modified":"2025-01-28T16:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T16:04:12","slug":"lightning-torchs-bitcoin-payment-is-running-a-worldwide-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/technical\/lightning-torchs-bitcoin-payment-is-running-a-worldwide-marathon","title":{"rendered":"Lightning Torch\u2019s Bitcoin Payment Is Running a Worldwide Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/lightning-torchs-bitcoin-payment-is-running-a-worldwide-marathon.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>A lightning network payment has been making global rounds on Bitcoin\u2019s secondary layer. The payment, slowly accumulating in value with each passing, is 3.69 million satoshis strong and still going. Dubbed the Lightning Torch, the payment has changed hands nearly 150 times across 49 countries. Since this article was published, it&#8217;s even been to space after SatoshiLabs\/Trezor CTO Pavol Rusnak broadcast an invoice through <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/articles\/blockstream-satellites-now-cover-asia-pacific-send-messages-lightning\">Blockstream&#8217;s satellite network<\/a> to pick up the torch from Blockstream CSO Samson Mow.<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, participants announce their ownership over Twitter to seek out the next recipient. Hopeful torch bearers respond to the tweets with a lightning network invoice, and after choosing a user to trust, the current holder adds a discretionary amount to the payment\u2019s sum and sends it to the next holder.<\/p>\n<p>The experiment has been making an impression on the community; so far, Andreas Antonopoulos has been in on it, and most recently, at the time of this writing, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey even took up the flame from Matt Odell.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SUCCESS! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MATT_ODELL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@matt_odell<\/a>, You should have the Torch!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd25<br \/>\u26a1\ufe0f<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LNtrustchain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#LNtrustchain<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After loads of learning, not least of which was an embarrassing oversight on my part switching of digits around, I know loads more about lightning, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/bitcoin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#bitcoin<\/a>, community, and running my own node! Thanks everyone!<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud83d\udc41 (@WisdomInquiry) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WisdomInquiry\/status\/1092583157591769088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 5, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The phenomenon is an exercise in restraint, trust and altruism that personifies Bitcoin\u2019s complicated relationship between trusted and trusteless operations and parties. In this way, it\u2019s fitting. The remarkable origin of the initiative is equally as unconventional as its carrythrough: it all arose from the curiosity and educationally incentivized agency of an anonymous Twitter personality masquerading as an astronautical feline.<\/p>\n<h3>Kindling the Fire<\/h3>\n<p>Hodlonaut, a self-described \u201chodl enthusiast\u201d who has been \u201cfulltime bitcoin\u201d since the middle of 2018, is represented by a space-suit-clad tomcat. Superimposed in front of a lunar backdrop, the tomcat\u2019s expression and soft smile signal optimism. His suit is stitched with a BTC logo on the shoulder and NO2X (No Segwit 2X) and UASF (user-activated soft fork) acronyms on his right chest.<\/p>\n<p>The diehard Bitcoin maximalist has been involved with Bitcoin since early 2013, and he\u2019s racked up a respectable following on Twitter. He\u2019s used this platform to ponder Bitcoin philosophy and evangelize like most of Crypto Twitter. But he\u2019s also used it as a chance to put his ideas into action, most recently with the Lightning Torch initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <em>Bitcoin Magazine,<\/em> hodlonaut reflected on the experiment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting to see reactions from some parts of the community. Some scowled at this from the beginning because it was based on community trust,\u201d instead of the same baked-into-the-code trust that inspires mantras like \u201cDon\u2019t trust; verify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hodlonaut is more interested in actions than mantras, so he started testing out whether or not you could trust the community to hold itself accountable \u2014 if community overwatch could make a trust-dependent act trustless in its own way. The experiment began with a giveaway on Twitter, where hodlonaut said he would send satoshis through the lightning network to anyone who replied to his thread. 250 people replied, and good to his word, hodolonaut said he \u201cbrushed up on his typing skills and sent everyone some sats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This altruism was stoked by the excitement hodlonaut felt when he first bootstrapped his raspberry pi to run lightning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransacting with lightning network is the exact same excitement I had with bitcoin when I first discovered it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He wanted to spread his excitement through the community, so he took the giveaway a little further. On January 19, he made the \u201cspur-of-the-moment\u201d decision to send 100k satoshis ($3.40 USD) to a randomly selected stranger who replied to the new giveaway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis thing,\u201d as he called the idea behind the experiment, \u201cjust fell into my head. I had no ambitions and I just threw it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Some LN fun.. <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I send 100k sats with <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/va7XSnFii0\">https:\/\/t.co\/va7XSnFii0<\/a> to the first person I choose to trust that replies to this. <br \/>&#8211; That person adds 10k sats and sends 110k to someone (Either from reply to a new tweet, or this thread)<\/p>\n<p>.. and so on <\/p>\n<p>How many sats before it breaks?<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; hodlonaut (@hodlonaut) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hodlonaut\/status\/1086703428791865345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 19, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He may have haphazardly thrown it out, but the community very intentionally caught and carried it on. Hodlonaut\u2019s impulsive act of experimentation has developed into a full-fledged social experiment and movement. After reaching its first bearer, the transnational torch has been routed through each continent (save Antarctica, which would be too impressive) and 39 countries, including the bulk of the EU. Despite its creator initially believing that it \u201cwould go 4, 5, 6 hops and someone would take it and no one would [care],\u201d the torch has passed between 139 unique users 149 times.<\/p>\n<p>Total capacity is up to 3.69 million satoshis, and hodlonaut is optimistic that it will reach the lightning network\u2019s ~4.3 million satoshi limit before the experiment terminates, at which point, he intends to ask the final bearer to donate the funds to BTC Venezuela, a cryptocurrency charity.<\/p>\n<h3>Don\u2019t Let the Flame Die Out<\/h3>\n<p>The flame, while still well fed and protected, has met trouble during its marathon across the world.<\/p>\n<p>On two separate occasions, users have treated the torch as a personal boon rather than a community exercise, confirming hodlonaut\u2019s fears that greed may put the torch out. These opportunists have claimed the funds for themselves, refusing to conform to the precedence of passing it along. Their attempts to snuff out the flame, however, have only made it stronger and emboldened the community\u2019s resolve.<\/p>\n<p>The first time, a few days in, the torch was lit with 250k satoshis ($8.60 USD), when one recipient took it for themselves. To salvage the situation, the sender decided to relight the torch with their own funds and resend it to a more trustworthy user. The same story happened the second go-around at 2.51 million satoshis ($86 USD). This time, the taker justified his actions with a tweet that read, \u201cI\u2019ll seize it because I can, and no one can stop me,\u201d which hodlonaut interpreted as meaning that you shouldn\u2019t trust anything but code.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, Klaus Lovgreen, the person who sent it to this opportunist, followed the example set the first time the torch was threatened and paid the loss out of pocket, sending it to a new user. His \u201cgood deed turned out to be profitable,\u201d hodlonaut said, after he directed users to Lovgreen\u2019s tippin.me page to compensate him for his good will.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And there the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LNTrustChain?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#LNTrustChain<\/a> ended \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the more than hundred people who chose to pass it on! \ud83d\ude4f\u26a1\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wCb25hYX2E\">https:\/\/t.co\/wCb25hYX2E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; hodlonaut (@hodlonaut) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hodlonaut\/status\/1091067464560066566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 31, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Keep It Rolling<\/h3>\n<p>The torch has survived two potential roadblocks and has grown out of hodlonaut\u2019s influence. But that\u2019s just the way he\u2019d like to have it, even when the torch was on the verge of being extinguished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have restarted it because I think this needs to be organic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The organic nature of the initiative and the community\u2019s willingness to sacrifice personal funds to keep it going have made the experiment in community trust a success. Hodlonaut said that this shows both an increasing interest in lightning and the resolve of a community sparked by an exciting new technology, even in the harsh market climate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people have been onboarded to lightning. Personally, this is the most community feeling I\u2019ve felt with bitcoin for a long time. There are so many people out there who are willing to educate each other and help people,\u201d he said, expressing that lightning is important for community morale in times of a bear market.<\/p>\n<p>You can track the torch\u2019s race to the lightning network cap <a href=\"https:\/\/www.takethetorch.online\/Torch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>. If it makes it to the end, a handful of anonymous donors have said that they will match the final amount (just shy of $150 USD) to be donated to BTC Venezuela. If you are interested in donating to BTC Venezuela or matching the donation as well, please consult the charity\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/btcvenezuela.com.ve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a> or reach out to <\/p>\n<p>Some LN fun.. <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I send 100k sats with <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/va7XSnFii0\">https:\/\/t.co\/va7XSnFii0<\/a> to the first person I choose to trust that replies to this. <br \/>&#8211; That person adds 10k sats and sends 110k to someone (Either from reply to a new tweet, or this thread)<\/p>\n<p>.. and so on <\/p>\n<p>How many sats before it breaks?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 hodlonaut ?\u26a1? ? (@hodlonaut) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hodlonaut\/status\/1086703428791865345?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 19, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&gt;hodlonaut on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article has been updated to reflect new movements of the torch.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The experiment has been making an impression on the bitcoin community; so far, Andreas Antonopoulos has been in on it, as has Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey who took up the flame from Matt Odell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3468,"featured_media":10244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1916,460,1313,682,283],"class_list":{"0":"post-20570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technical","8":"tag-hodlonaut","9":"tag-lightning-network","10":"tag-payment-channels","11":"tag-twitter","12":"tag-venezuela"},"author_data":{"id":3468,"name":"Aaron Van Wirdum And Colin Harper","nicename":"aaron-van-wirdum-and-colin-harper","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b6c65a7515990786b1c04473e15469e5b0d0fffef947ed629a60854e1cb426?s=96&d=robohash&r=g"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/lightning-torchs-bitcoin-payment-is-running-a-worldwide-marathon.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}