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  Cheaper and faster bitcoin transactions are on the way and may soon go live. App developer Alex Bosworth tweeted on December 27th that he had used the Lightning network to make a real money transaction, although this was later qualified. The tweet announced jubilantly: \"Speed: Instant. Fee: Zero. Future: Almost Here.\" 

However, the transaction took place inside the offices of Bitrefill, a Swedish prepaid phone payment provider, where Bosworth was conducting an implementation test. Sergej Kotliar, CEO of Stockholm-based Bitrefill, said that Bosworth had been invited to test the system, and since he had to top up his phone at the time, he decided to do the test with real money.

This kind of transaction is not yet publicly available, however, as Lightning wallets have yet to be released, but it does give a glimpse into the future for regular bitcoin users. The Lightning network is a solution to the scaling problem experienced by Bitcoin which is slowing down transaction time and making it more expensive. The average transaction fee just before Christmas for bitcoin reached an astronomical $55.16, with confirmation times of around ten minutes.

Bitrefill users can also test the new system if they wish, but only at present with fake coins. Once Lightning is implemented, the company hopes it will offer a secure solution to all kinds of payment situations, using bitcoin worldwide as money.