MicroStrategy Integrates Chairman’s Email With $BTC Lightning

MicroStrategy has converted the corporate email for its Chairman, Michael Saylor, and integrated it to the Lightning Address protocol for Bitcoin.

The integration replaces standard Bitcoin Lightning Network payment requests with web identifiers such as email addresses. The connection is facilitated by routing an identifier (such as Saylor’s corporate email address, “[email protected]” from within the protocol’s address signing and validation sequences. A similar implementation for Ethereum is maintained by the Ethereum Name Service and its developers.

The change drew a number of crypto enthusiasts to send 21 satoshis to the MicroStrategy chairman, prompting him to notice this unusual trend and relay it on Twitter.

So @MicroStrategy converted my corporate email address into a #Lightning⚡️ address and people keep sending me 21 sats…🧡 pic.twitter.com/FHde6RtA6N

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 17, 2023

MicroStrategy has not disclosed any official statement on the matter, and has not confirmed whether this integration will be implemented throughout the company, and yet the move was applauded by the crypto community as a bullish signal for $BTC, given its recent performance breakthroughs.

Just last year, Saylor confirmed that MicroStrategy was working on a Lightning product for enterprise applications, describing the protocol as the “internet of money” and a valuable technological investment.

The concept of the Lightning Network was first introduced in 2015 by Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon in a whitepaper titled “The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments.” The paper outlined a system of bidirectional payment channels that could be created between users, allowing them to conduct transactions off-chain. These off-chain transactions would only require the blockchain to record the opening and closing of channels, thereby reducing congestion and increasing transaction throughput.

The Lightning Network relies on smart contracts to facilitate transactions and ensure security. These contracts then enable users to create payment channels and lock a certain amount of Bitcoin in a multi-signature wallet, which requires signatures from both parties (to release designated amounts or funds). Transactions within the channel are conducted instantly and can be settled without requiring the blockchain’s confirmation, allowing for better transaction speeds at lowered costs.

Blockchain data reveals that the total processing capacity (cumulative capacity) on the Lightning network stands at approximately 5,493 BTC, or roughly $166 million. The Lightning Network currently has 18,031 nodes with channels, with over 74,000 unique channels.

Since adopting the BTC standard in March 2021, MicroStrategy has spent $4.17 billion to amass a total of 140,000 BTC. The company’s BTC holdings recently turned positive when the digital asset briefly traded above the $30,000 level. Traditional financial institutions have been purchasing MicroStrategy stocks to gain indirect exposure to BTC, with the company’s stock becoming one of the best-performing crypto stocks in 2023, increasing 114% on a year-to-date scale.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.