A tweet from the Litecoin Foundation confirms that cryptocurrency transactions will be quicker using the Lightning Network, which completed its first physical purchase on January 20th.

The system is one of the recent responses to Bitcoin\'s issues with scaling, launched in December 2017 and entered beta-testing on January 18th. Many responders rejoiced at the news, suggesting that Lightning was going to be a \"game changer\" in 2018 and that it was \"the future of payment systems\".

Pioneering Reddit user, btc_throwaway1337, made headline news with the announcement that they had purchased a VPN router using the Lightning Network system to connect to TorGuard. Another user named Alex Bosworth tweeted a video showing how a Lightning payment was made, inspiring the message of confirmation from Litecoin. Bosworth completed a successful test transaction in December using BitRefill.

The Lightning Network is designed to help solve Bitcoin\'s scaling problems by using smart contracts to allow direct connections between users while transactions are made. These transactions are fast, free and are only recorded on the Bitcoin Blockchain once the transaction is completed and the channel closed. The transaction speed is reduced because the verification happens off the block, enabling fees to be reduced and transactions to be made even for small amounts.