RIF Labs, the owner of RSK Labs, has officially launched the RIF Lumino Network as part of the RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF OS). The first network to bring smart contract capabilities to the Bitcoin blockchain now has a live-scaling solution that can achieve nearly 5,000 transactions per second on top it.
The RIF Lumino Network integrates with the previously launched RIF Name Service (RNS), enabling the use of aliases instead of complex hexadecimal addresses when creating payment channels or sending payments. This is an important step towards broader network adoption by making cryptocurrency technologies more accessible to non-technical users.
The RIF Lumino Network, an integral part of the RIF Payments Protocol, provides scalability without compromising long term sustainability. The RIF Lumino Network is similar to the Lightning Network, but provides scalability not only for bitcoin but for every token running on the RSK Network. With near-instant processing capabilities and network transaction costs at a fraction of a cent, the RIF Lumino Network sets the foundation for the infrastructure developments that will help bring to life the financial system of the future.
“The launch of the RIF Lumino Network is a major milestone in our path to enable a global and inclusive financial system. Blockchain scaling solutions are a priority for both RSK and RIF because they are key to serving billions of individuals around the world that are excluded from the traditional financial system.”
“The RSK/RIF team has been researching on-chain and off-chain scaling for many years. The launch of the RIF Lumino Network is the first step towards a scalable network infrastructure.”
“We are very excited because the RIF Lumino Network will enable solutions built on RSK to benefit from off-chain state channels. Fast, secure and low-cost transactions will be key to the development of use cases for cryptocurrency technologies.”
The RIF Lumino Network is the second major implementation of RIF OS protocols to be launched on RIF OS since its debut in November 2018. RIF OS is a suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols that enable faster, easier, and scalable development of distributed blockchain applications built atop RSK Network, the first open-source smart contract platform secured by the Bitcoin Network.
Bitcoin and blockchain scalability is one of the most important issues being discussed throughout the ecosystem these days. While the RSK Network added smart contract capabilities and onchain scaling improvements on top of the Bitcoin network, it is not enough to achieve transaction processing levels on par with those offered by major payment processors around the world.
On top of this, onchain scaling impacts the future as every record saved on the blockchain needs to be saved forever. It is going to become increasingly difficult to maintain and validate multi-terabyte blockchains in the coming years.