# Lightning Labs

> Lightning Labs develops open-source software and paid services for bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Its lnd node implementation, Loop swaps, Pool liquidity marketplace, Taproot Assets protocol, and newer developer tools help operators and app builders send, receive, and manage fast payments.

- **Founded:** 2016
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Elizabeth Stark (CEO and co-founder), Olaoluwa Osuntokun (CTO and co-founder)
- **Products:** Lightning Network Daemon (lnd), Neutrino, Lightning Loop, Lightning Pool, Lightning Terminal
- **Notable:** Released the first lnd bitcoin-mainnet beta in March 2018., Launched the paid Loop beta in February 2020., Made Taproot Assets issuance available on bitcoin mainnet in October 2023 and Lightning transfers in July 2024.

## Products & services

- **Lightning Network Daemon (lnd)** — Open-source Lightning node implementation for payment channels and routing.
- **Neutrino** — Privacy-preserving bitcoin light-client technology for non-custodial wallets.
- **Lightning Loop** — Non-custodial swaps between Lightning channels and on-chain bitcoin that help operators manage channel balances.
- **Lightning Pool** — Marketplace for leasing inbound Lightning channel liquidity.
- **Lightning Terminal** — Web interface for node activity, channels, balances, and Lightning Labs liquidity products.
- **Taproot Assets** — Protocol and daemon for issuing assets on bitcoin and transferring them over Lightning.
- **Taproot Assets SDK** — Go library released with v0.8 to simplify asset issuance and transfer workflows.
- **Wavelength** — Alpha toolkit and API for adding self-custodial bitcoin payments to applications; stablecoin support is planned.

## Achievements

- Released the first lnd bitcoin-mainnet beta in March 2018.
- Launched the paid Loop beta in February 2020.
- Made Taproot Assets issuance available on bitcoin mainnet in October 2023 and Lightning transfers in July 2024.
- Released Taproot Assets v0.8 and its first public SDK in June 2026.
- Introduced the Wavelength alpha in July 2026 and a read-only Terminal node assistant in August 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Launched an alpha AI assistant in Lightning Terminal for analyzing node data; it does not take actions on the user’s behalf.
- **2026-07** — Released Wavelength alpha for self-custodial bitcoin payment integration, open on test networks with mainnet by invitation.
- **2026-06** — Released Taproot Assets v0.8 and the first public SDK; released lnd v0.21-beta with onion messages and production-ready simple taproot channels.
- **2025-01** — Announced a Tether integration to bring USDT to bitcoin and Lightning using Taproot Assets.

## Links

- Website: https://lightning.engineering/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightning-labs-inc
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/lightning
- GitHub: https://github.com/lightninglabs
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LightningLabs
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/pages/biz/Lightning-labs-2195493817131029/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lightning-labs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-29