The Lightning Labs CEO, Elizabeth Stark, has said that there are potentially only ten total full-time developers currently working on the Lightning Network. Following the news that such a small team are currently working on the project, 26 universities have kicked off a contest asking people to critique the tech, under the banner the Bsafe.network.

The Lightning Network developers have suggested that their team of content testers only play around with dummy coins during any tests, yet some developers have begun testing the tech using their bitcoin stash. Past competitions inspired the current project, as many have been used to improve cryptography standards.

Professor at Georgetown University Shin\'ichiro Matsuo has argued that past competitions have already helped to develop the field, going on to say that the Bsafe community will be able to act as an independent body, represented by academics who can analyse the data accurately and clearly. Matsuo says that he felt that the competition would greatly enhance the current technology behind the Lightning Network. Matsuo also stressed that the competition would help highlight any potential flaws in the tech.

Submissions, open to all techies and crypto enthusiasts, are due in March and winners will be announced in August.