What kind of apps would you build if sending tiny amounts of money was as easy as the press of a button? Tipping a few cents for your favorite articles? Drawing and paying per pixel? Pay-per-play minigames? This and more is now finally becoming a reality thanks to the Lightning Network, a completely open peer-to-peer layer on top of Bitcoin that makes payments as simple and frictionless as sending a text message.

• It’s fast – Payments are confirmed within a few seconds

• It’s cheap – Fees are a fraction of a cent, you won’t even notice them

• It’s permissionless – There are no gatekeepers that can deny you access

Check out this video for a detailed but simple explanation of the Lightning Network.

The only catch is that this awesome open source technology is still in its infancy, which is why we’re organizing this hackathon. We’ll save you the technical hassle of connecting to the Lightning Network (with the help of OpenNode) so you can focus on building amazing Lightning apps and experiment with the massive potential!

Jan 5th (Sat), 10am – 6pm, Hongdae

10:15am – 11:00am: Introduction to Lightning and API demo (be on time!)

11:00am – 4:30pm: Brainstorm and build Lightning apps (+ lunch break)

4:30pm – 5:45pm: ten-minute demo presentations for each group

In order to build balanced teams, we are encouraging programmers to sign up. All that’s required is that you can build an interactive app or website and access an API (demo code available in Node JS and PHP). Of course people with other skill sets are welcome too.

Ready to join? Just RSVP on Meetup and join our hackathon chat on Telegram (attendants only).