Japanese Bar To Trial Lightning Network Payments On Drinks

By Prashant Jha

The Lightning Network is a well-known name in the crypto circuit for the alternative forms of payments it supports. Now, a bar in Japan is planning to allow its users to buy some of its products using this network. It is planning to work with a local startup working with Lightning Network to let customers pay for soft drinks and sparkling wine using this payments system.

The startup with which the bar is partnering is called Nayuta and it will be working on a trial project with this bar, called Awabar Fukuoka to pilot the payment system. They have termed this pilot a “field test” and it will occur all through the month of June this year.

The Lightning Network is commonly believed to be the most appropriate way to tackle the seemingly intractable problem of Bitcoin scalability. This would, in theory at least, allow for more people to use the payment system at the same time, and boost speeds. However, it still remains a rather experimental technology. It is also frequently considered somewhat risky as well.

Because of this reason, the startup Nayuta plans to take this opportunity to find out more about the applicability of Lightning Network, how it performs in real world use cases, and how it needs to be improved and changed to perform more effectively in such real life scenarios.

Awabar was mindful to note that their role in this experiment is small compared to that of Nayuta, as it was the latter that had designed the technology that would be used. However, they took their opportunity to express their delight in being able to participate in this experiment, of trying out this interesting technology in a real-life, retail location.

The company said the following in its statement:

“We hope it helps familiarize the community with the lightning network payment system.”