On Saturday (January 19th), Jack Mallers, the creator of the open source Lightning Network (LN) wallet Zap, demonstrated at a meetup in a Chicago bar (Hubbard Inn) the new Zap Point of Sale (POS) system, which consists of the Zap POS application, Bitcoin Core, Lightning Network Daemon (LND), BTCPay Server, and some custom hardware.
Jack gave his Zap POS demo at an event organized by the Meetup group “Bitcoin & Open Blockchain Community – Chicago”.
He did so in two ways:
- allowing the attendees to pay for their drinks with bitcoin both on-chain and over the Lightning Network; and
- creating a website (http://www.buyabeerwithlightning.com/) that allowed people from all over the world to buy, via the Lightning Network, beer and three other types of drinks for Jack and the other attendees.
Here is Jack explaining on Twitter the motivation for creating the “Buy a Beer With Lightning” website:
1/ Leading up to our Lightning event tonight I've been getting lots of DMs from folks wishing they could physically use LN to buy drinks. I don't think we can transport beer over the internet yet, but Bitcoin knows no borders, so I thought why not let anyone participate?
— Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) January 19, 2019
2/ So the last few days I quickly put together https://t.co/lYKptqgrGb. You can go to the site and buy a beer for the folks in Chicago, and it will instantly settle with the bar.
Instantly settled, peer to peer, global money in action 🤯🚀🌩️
— Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) January 19, 2019
3/ I also put a UI together that will be streaming the payments coming in, broadcasted on the bar's TVs. So as soon as a payment is made, it will be announced to the bar for a drink thanks to the generous person who bought it 😀 pic.twitter.com/9D4azvNB5W
— Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) January 19, 2019
4/ So if you're in the giving mood, want to support this growing network and would like to buy a drink for the hardworking @BOBmeetupCHI and the event hosts, head over to https://t.co/lYKptpYQOD. The party just started!
— Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) January 19, 2019
Naturally, the Lightning Network community loved this idea. Here are a couple of reactions:
The first Peer to Beer transaction!
— RideTheLightning⚡️ (@MediumSqueeze) January 20, 2019
I love this! Wish I was in Chicago
— Zack Voell (@zackvoell) January 20, 2019
Just sent bitcoin instantly to buy drinks from afar via @ln_zap and #LightningNetwork to the folks at @HubbardInn in Chicago, celebrating @JackMallers and @ln_zap team demo. @BOBmeetupCHI pic.twitter.com/RjAlLSapxS
— Brooke (@bitcoinmom) January 20, 2019
And, of course, the event’s attendees, were loving Jack’s Zap POS demo:
Cheers https://t.co/uM0j3N8j37
🤓🥃⚡ pic.twitter.com/T0lLkfzNlm— Hannah Rosenberg ⚡ (@hmichellerose) January 20, 2019
Hanging out at the Hunbard Inn, buying drinks on the #LightningNetwork via @JackMallers's Zap PoS system.
Cheers! 🍷⚡🍷 pic.twitter.com/GEPKL0uP7g— Hannah Rosenberg ⚡ (@hmichellerose) January 20, 2019
Channel capacity 24 beers! 😛
Thanks to everyone who bought us a beer via https://t.co/R4iKV9d6iE
Cheers 🍺⚡🍺@JackMallers pic.twitter.com/aN14wlohnQ— BOB Meetup Chicago (@BOBmeetupCHI) January 20, 2019
Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pexels.com
