Summary

• TBD, the blockchain development division of Jack Dorsey’s financial technology firm, is exploring infrastructural scaling solutions for Bitcoin through the Lightning Network.
• Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is an off-chain solution designed to handle transactions while avoiding complicated transaction fees and settlement times.
• Block’s new business entity C= is focused on improving liquidity and routing within the Lightning Network.

Overview of Bitcoin Scaling Solutions

The scalability and security of Bitcoin transactions has often been overlooked in terms of potential, and Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Layer 2 scaling system is looking to turn this around, alongside improvements to the protocol’s ability to scale transactions and handle liquidity. The Lightning Network was designed as an off-chain solution developed to handle Bitcoin transactions without burdening users with the often complicated aspects of transaction fees and settlement time.
Jack Dorsey has been very vocal on his support for Bitcoin as a tool of financial liberation and financial inclusion, especially in developing countries where access to traditional banking solutions are either severely limited or walled in by a set of restrictions imposed by central banks.
Barriers to entry and participation in an open, decentralized market still proliferate, and a largely negative perception of Bitcoin and crypto in general is still disseminated across mainstream media.

„C=“: Block’s Business Entity

Block’s new business entity is dubbed „C=“ (pronounced as c equals), a reference and perhaps also a homage to the famous equation by Albert Einstein which grounded the theory of relativity between mass and energy. One could think of the reference as also a kind of metaphor for how crypto is evolving into a full-fledged technology and ecosystem: it has the potential to expand exponentially but has a limited curve that can be optimized and utilized only if the rest mass, that is to say the untapped population of crypto users, could be gathered together to move it forward through innovation.

„C=“’s Focus

As such, C= is focused on the goal of improving liquidity and routing from within the Lightning Network. While Lightning Network transaction volume has reached its all-time peaks in recent months, the general reliability of finality and execution has degraded over time, with reports