Startup Behind Ethereum DEX Releases Lightning Developer Tools

The startup Radar, which raised $10 million in a series A funding round last year, has revealed a new suite of tools for developers working on the lightning network, bitcoin’s second layer for scaling payments.To be released at the Boltathon hackathon, the developer tools include a configuration helper for setting up a lightning node and an invoice “playground,” where users can test if their lightning node can connect to other nodes. Then, there’s a liquidity tool for making sure users can send and receive payments, a feature that’s not as easy as it might sound as the technology is still under development.
The tools are a part of Radar ION, Radar’s site for onboarding lightning users. Participants in this weekend’s virtual Boltathon conference, featuring a hackathon dedicated solely to lightning, are invited to use these tools. While Radar is best-known for creating Radar Relay, a decentralized exchange for trading tokens without a middleman over ethereum, this is the team’s public debut branching out into the bitcoin realm by focusing on lightning technology. Radar product lead Brandon Curtis told CoinDesk:
“We’re constantly scanning the horizon for groundbreaking technologies, last year our R&D team identified lightning as promising technology, with the potential for more than just payments. While an ethereum [decentralized application (dapp)] was our first product, our parent brand Radar is focused on building products for our next financial system.”