The Lightning Network Torch was created back in 2018 and has been making its way around the crypto world ever since, moving from some of the biggest names in the crypto world to even an 88-year-old grandma. Over the weekend, Fidelity Investments received the torch and passed it on to the Harvard School Blockchain & Crypto Club. Fidelity is one of the world’s largest financial services firms with more than a whopping $2.4 trillion of assets under management – making the torch’s journey through the company a rather significant moment.
We and our research team at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology have received the #LNTorch ⚡from @Wiz.
Who should we pass it to? #LNTrustChain https://t.co/JGcVoNQgBA
— Fidelity Digital Assets (@DigitalAssets) 22 February 2019
The Rise of the Lightning Network Torch
The Lightning Network torch began when Twitter user Hodlonaut sent 10,000 Satoshis to another Lightning Network user, who then added 10,000 and passed it on. Since then the torch has been accepted and passed on by some of the biggest names in the tech and crypto world. Notable torchbearers include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Andreas Antonopoulos, Morgan Creek Founder Anthony Pompliano, and Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark. Every person who passes on the torch adds a further 10,000 Satoshis, valuing the torch at 3.66 million Satoshis ($153).
We just received the Lightning Torch from @digitalassets. Who should we pass it to next? #LightningTorch #LNTorch #hbscryptoconference https://t.co/okNANtsKL2
— HBS Blockchain & Crypto Club (@HBSCryptoClub) 23 February 2019
The Harvard School Blockchain & Crypto Club Causing Chaos
The idea of the torch is to highlight how fast the Lightning Network is – as well as how opening a connection with a trusted person can allow funds to travel virtually anywhere in the world. However, the Harvard School Blockchain and Crypto Club has been holding onto the torch for quite some time now and appears to have gone silent. Hodlonaut pointed the fact out, saying
More than twenty-four hours and not even a word… not cool.
It’s reasonable to accept that the Harvard School Blockchain and Crypto Club doesn’t open on the weekend, meaning the torch will be trapped in their Lightning Network node until business resumes on Monday morning. This delay won’t impress many in the crypto community and will likely make people think twice before sending it to a large institution again.
More than 24hrs and not even a word.. not cool imho.
— hodlonaut?⚡? (@hodlonaut) 24 February 2019
Who Will Be Next?
Tradition dictates that as soon as the torch is received, the person posts a Tweet announcing they received the torch and asks who wants it next. If you follow the torch’s journey back a few passes, you will quickly notice a few Lightning Network users who stand out amongst others. There have been repeated calls for Ziya Sadr to have the torch passed to him, highlight just how the Lightning Network bypasses government censorship and sanctions. Vijay Boyapati is another Twitter user who looks like a top candidate for the torch after commenting on virtually every torch post since its inception. Whoever gets the torch will be the next user in a long-standing Lightning Network tradition.
Fidelity looks set to launch its crypto trading platform to the world in March, and holding the torch is a great way to remind the crypto world of this huge news. With only a handful of weeks left until the expected launch of its platform, all eyes are back on Fidelity as the world awaits the fabled announcement.
