Bicycle rental through the LN cryptocurrency micropayment system

A regular 28-inch shift bike can be converted into an e-bike with a flick of the wrist with a conversion kit from YOSE Power (Ebay) that can be used to transact on the Lightning Network.

The creator of the electric bike, Matthias Steinig, called it “Lightning Bike.” In fact, an electric bike can be rented by paying using the Lightning Network cryptocurrency micropayment system. The new technology will undoubtedly be of interest to companies involved in urban bike sharing.

So far, the new idea is only being tested, but it shows good results and is fully functional. The highlight of the bike is the LR-compatible payment application, which allows you to scan the QR code that appears on the display and pay for the selected trip time.

There is a display on board that allows you to choose between three different periods: 1 minute, 3 minutes or 5 minutes. The cost is 250 satoshi per minute, a very small amount. ( remember that one satoshi is equal to 0.00000001 bitcoin )

After selecting the period, the e-bike program generates a payment request, which is transmitted to the LN server node. The device retrieves payment information from the same server and uses it to generate a QR code that is displayed on the user's display. The customer has 60 seconds to scan the QR code and pay using their own app.

Once the payment is made, the system will be enabled for the selected period and the bike is ready for use. When the paid time is over, the system will shut down and the power will be interrupted.

The system uses a Raspberry Pi Zero WH single board PC that manages both the mobile network connection and power supply switching via a relay, and only requires two steps to complete the payment process. Running in a tender with the Bitcoin network, it allows transactions to be carried out instantly and at minimal cost.

Currently, the Lightning-bike is a trivial 28-inch bicycle that turns into an e-bike with a conversion kit from YOSE Power, equipped with a 250-watt front motor. This is still an experiment and the product is not yet available on the market.

However, with the proliferation of electric bicycles, this solution can be easily implemented.