MicroStrategy decided to take its investment in the Bitcoin (BTC) market a step further. This time the company intends to build a business platform using the Lightning Network. And it has already announced a job vacancy for the company in this regard. Per the job description, MicroStraegy is looking for an experienced software developer for a project to build a Lightning Network-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. The position is face-to-face and full-time to work at the company’s headquarters, located in the US state of Virginia. Candidate must have experience building BTC and Lightning or decentralized finance (DeFi) software solutions. Participation in Bitcoin Core and experience with large open source cryptocurrency projects and cloud solutions are differentials, says the vacancy. With this, the company aims to offer “innovative solutions to cybersecurity challenges and enable new e-commerce use cases”. All via Lightning Network, BTC’s tier 2 solution that provides faster and cheaper transactions for users.
Company reinforces bet on BTC
The move highlights the company’s long-term strategy and confirms its commitment to BTC in light of the recent resignation of one of the asset’s biggest advocates, former CEO Michael Saylor. But it is also the first product developed by the company aimed directly at cryptocurrency. As of August 2020, the company has amassed over 130,000 BTC in its reserves, making it the exchange-listed company with the largest BTC box in the world. Additionally, both MicroStrategy and Saylor have begun to develop educational content geared towards BTC. In this regard, Saylor recently criticized what he called “disinformation and propaganda” about BTC’s grid energy usage and its alleged environmental impact. That is, the narrative that mining cryptocurrency is polluting and causes damage to the environment. According to Saylor, as the latest metrics point out, nearly 60% of the energy for BTC mining comes from sustainable sources. At the same time, the network has improved its energy efficiency by 46% compared to the previous year. Although he has stepped down as CEO, Saylor remains on the company’s board and remains a strong supporter of BTC. The executive continues to use his Twitter account to talk about the cryptocurrency’s properties, such as scarcity and its independence from governments and banks. Earlier this month, MicroStrategy bought an additional 301 BTC for its holdings during the price drop. The company now holds 130,000 BTC which, at the time of writing, has an estimated value of BRL 13 billion.
Lightning Network Growth Plateaus
The Lightning Network’s growth leveled off somewhat in 2022 as a result of a slowdown in markets and the prolonged drop in the price of cryptocurrencies. But there was no drop, as the network maintained established highs for the first time earlier this year. According to the Bitcoin Visuals website, there are around 85,000 active channels on the network. This represents an increase of more than 120% in the last two years. The number of nodes has also stabilized at around 17,000, having increased by a similar percentage over the past 24 months. The network’s capacity is currently around $93 million, having failed from an all-time high of $214 million, along with the price of BTC.
