Just under two weeks after SegWit locked in for the Bitcoin network, Lightning, which offers considerably faster and cheaper transactions for more users, may appear sooner than planned.

Tweeting the as yet unsourced information, commentator Ferdous said that the so-called 'Layer 2' technology would be available "from Tuesday."

For users, he clarified, the move meant "trustless instant nearly zero-fee transactions," "scaling to billions of users" and "thousands of new apps."

The technology powering Lightning is still in beta testing, with Blockstream having first tested it with Litecoin transactions back in May.

Last week, ex-Bitcoin Core developer Gavin Andresen forecast the accompanying ecosystem would be "highly centralized" once operational, but that this was "OK."

Potential applications are already in the offing, with Blockstream CEO Adam Back recently revealing he had held talks with BitTorrent CEO Bram Cohen regarding potential integration of Lightning microtransactions into the platform.