A payment channel network for Ethereum
Blockchain is by design slow and scaling will be an issue soon or later. If we want Ethereum to be a real revolution (the next Internet?), we’ll somehow have to think of ways to speed it up probably through off-chain networks sort of extensions for cheap instant transaction, computing power and storage. Raiden Network for Ethereum or Lightning Network for Bitcoin is an intent to bring such ideas as running an off-chain p2p network along blockchain. It uses the blockchain ledger but as a sort of insurance for an external network. It is looking more and more like we might use blockchain as an insurrance to build sort of off-chain stacks. In the future we might be able to “plugin” efficient and fast specialized networks and application platforms on top of the ethereum blockchain... maybe...