Tag: Lightning Network

Coinbase to Integrate Bitcoin’s Lightning Network: A Deep Dive

by Blockchain News

Coinbase has announced a significant move that could revolutionize Bitcoin transactions. CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to reveal that Coinbase plans to incorporate the Lightning Network (LN), a secondary payment layer aimed at boosting Bitcoin’s transaction efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This decision highlights Coinbase’s dedication to user experience and emphasizes the critical role of the Lightning Network within the cryptocurrency sphere.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s Announcement

In a tweet, Armstrong expressed, 

The team did a great job digging into this, and we’ve made the decision to integrate Lightning. Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto and we’re excited to do our part to enable faster/cheaper Bitcoin transactions. Will take some time to integrate so please be patient.

Viktor Bunin, who is spearheading the integration at Coinbase, echoed Armstrong’s sentiments, stating,

Friends, I’m happy to say that I’m leading up this effort. DM me if you’d like to grab some time to chat Lightning support at @Coinbase.

Delving into the Lightning Network

The Essence of Lightning Network

The Lightning Network operates as a “layer-2” payment protocol atop the Bitcoin blockchain. Its primary objective is to facilitate rapid transactions between nodes, positioning itself as a remedy to Bitcoin’s scalability issues.

The Significance of Lightning Network

Scalability Solution: Bitcoin’s pioneering status in the crypto world came with scalability challenges. LN addresses these by enabling off-chain transactions, which are later consolidated on-chain.

Cost and Speed Efficiency: With the main Bitcoin blockchain often incurring high transaction fees, especially during peak times, LN provides a cost-effective alternative. Additionally, its ability to process transactions almost instantaneously offers a stark contrast to the sometimes prolonged confirmation times on the main blockchain.

The Mechanics of LN

The foundation of the Lightning Network is “payment channels.” In essence:

Two entities establish a payment channel, committing a specified Bitcoin amount.

They can then execute an unlimited number of off-chain transactions.

Upon completion, the final balance is updated on the main Bitcoin blockchain, allowing for the channel’s closure.

Implications for the Crypto World

Coinbase’s decision to integrate the Lightning Network is indicative of LN’s escalating importance. As its adoption proliferates:

Bitcoin might become a preferred choice for microtransactions.

The main Bitcoin blockchain could witness reduced congestion, translating to swifter and more economical on-chain transactions.

The allure of diminished transaction fees and expedited processing might incentivize more businesses to embrace Bitcoin as a payment avenue.

In summation, the Lightning Network isn’t merely a technological innovation; it’s a strategic instrument poised to influence Bitcoin’s future and its integration into daily transactions. With industry giants like Coinbase acknowledging its potential, LN is set to play a crucial role in propelling cryptocurrencies into mainstream acceptance.

Disclaimer & Copyright Notice: The content of this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Always consult with a professional before making any financial decisions. This material is the exclusive property of Blockchain.News. Unauthorized use, duplication, or distribution without express permission is prohibited. Proper credit and direction to the original content are required for any permitted use.

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BlueWallet is Sunsetting Its Lightning Node Connection to Lndhub

by Blockchain News

According to an official announcement, BlueWallet will be disconnecting its lightning node connection to Lndhub in the near future. BlueWallet is going to stop its custodial lightning operations. This means that customers of BlueWallet who are also members of the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network will need to connect to nodes in order to continue making use of BlueWallet’s lighting services.

“The most essential thing is that people don’t panic, and suddenly noobs take out their on-chain money or incorrect lightning balances,” said one person. “This is the most crucial thing.”

Bitcoin serves as the foundation for the Lightning Network, which is a layer-2 payment system. Small sums of bitcoin, also known as satoshis or sats, may be transferred between users with the use of the Lightning Network. This is often done via a lightning wallet.

Blue Wallet is a well-known Lightning Network wallet that has a liquidity pool of more than 42 BTC (one million dollars). According to the statistics provided by Amboss, the network’s biggest channel has a capacity of 4 BTC, which is equivalent to $95,000. BlueWallet is a well-known lightning wallet that comes highly recommended by some of the most prominent Bitcoin users.

Calle said, “It is essential to understand that lndhub is a protocol that facilitates the linking of wallets to accounts. BlueWallet is the wallet that supports LndHub in this instance; however, other wallets, like as Alby and Zeus, also support LndHub.

It is just the account that is being closed, not LndHub or Bluewallet in and of itself. This particular account is hosted by the BlueWallet team, and they have expressed that they no longer want to be responsible for it.

Although users will still be able to withdraw their sats, the LndHub node will no longer let users to create new lightning wallets or refill current ones. BlueWallet has issued a public statement advising customers who have satellite wallets linked to BlueWallet’s lightning node to transfer such wallets as soon as possible.

Because customers of BlueWallet will no longer have access to the service after April 30th, it is imperative that they transfer their sats to another service or wallet of their choosing before the service is discontinued. However, Bitcoin wallets that are used regularly will not be impacted by this change.

According to the website, BlueWallet will “only support self-custody solutions,” which is a crucial fact to keep in mind despite the fact that some people may regard the move as an impediment to the widespread adoption of the Lightning Network. The modification intends to encourage decentralized solutions and self-custody in its recipients.

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Block’s Cash App Bitcoin Revenue Falls 7%

by Blockchain News

The Cash App business section of Jack Dorsey’s payment startup, Block Inc., reported Bitcoin (BTC) revenue of $1.83 billion in the fourth quarter, which is a 7% decrease from the same period last year.

Block attributed the reduction in Bitcoin income to the decline in the price of BTC during the year, which was reported in its quarterly and full-year results on February 23. Bitcoin’s price dropped by nearly 65 percent throughout the course of 2022.

Due to the decrease in sales, Cash App’s Bitcoin gross profit decreased by 25% year-on-year, coming in at $35 million for the quarter. This was the lowest quarterly total since the company began reporting Bitcoin earnings.

Block’s Cash App is an application for processing payments made using mobile phones. On October 25th, functionality for transactions made via the Bitcoin Lightning Network was enabled to Cash App. It does this by offering Bitcoin sales to its consumers via the app, which brings in money.

In the entire year of 2022, Cash App made $7.11 billion in Bitcoin revenue and $156 million in Bitcoin gross profit, representing decreases of 29% and 28%, respectively, when compared to 2021’s figures.

In the meanwhile, Block Inc. reported a significantly increased net loss for the quarter, coming in at $114 million. This is compared to a loss of $77 million in 2021. When compared to the same period of the previous year, its adjusted profits before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose to $281 million, or a 53% rise. The aggregate amount of revenue during the period was $4.65 billion.

Following the release of the results report, the after-hours trading of Block’s shares resulted in a significant price increase.

The increase in the company’s gross profit, which was up 40% in Q4 compared to the same period the previous year and also above expert estimates, has been ascribed by some analysts to the surge in revenue.

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Bitcoin Flips Visa Again

by Blockchain News

Since the beginning of the year, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has increased by 48%, which has caused its market valuation to once again surpass that of the payment processing behemoth Visa.

According to CoinMarketCap, with the price of Bitcoin sitting at $24,365 at the moment, its market size of $470.16 billion is now only slightly more than that of Visa, which has a market cap of $469.87 billion at the moment.

Companies Market Cap reports that this is the third time Bitcoin has “flipped” Visa’s market cap, meaning that Bitcoin’s value has exceeded Visa’s value.

The first occasion was in late December 2020, coincidentally coinciding with the first time that BTC reached $25,000 in value.

This was accomplished during a price rise that saw BTC climb from $10,200 in September 2020 to $63,170 seven months later in April 2021. The price increase lasted for seven months.

BTC was able to take the lead over Visa for a very short period of time on October 1 before the payments business was able to reclaim their position as the market leader. Visa regained the lead between June and October 2022.

This advantage was further extended when, between November 6 and 10, 2022, the failure of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX took off more than $100 billion from the value of BTC in only four days.

However, since that time, BTC has had a complete recovery and has added an extra $65 billion to its market valuation of $408 billion as of November 6. This has allowed it to surpass the payment processing behemoth.

Because of the relatively tiny gap in their respective market caps, Bitcoin and Visa are now trading places on an hourly basis, which is something that should be taken into consideration.

Regarding the remarkable beginning that Bitcoin had in 2023, its third “flipping” of Visa occurred on the heels of a run of 14 days in a row during which the price increased. This run lasted from January 4 through January 17.

According to Google Finance, the market capitalization of Mastercard, the world’s second-largest payment processing network, is now $345.24 billion. BTC, on the other hand, has a significant lead over Mastercard.

However, Bitcoin is still trading at a discount of 63% compared to its all-time high of $69,044 that it hit on November 10th, 2021.

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Cash App Introduces Bitcoin Transactions via Lightning Network

by Blockchain News

Payment processing app created by Block Inc, Cash App, has now added support for Bitcoin transactions enabling users to both send and receive Bitcoin via the lightning network.

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After its integration with the lightning network in February to allow users to make payments using Bitcoin, Cash App has now added support for transactions via the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

The Lightning Network is a layer-2 solution network built on top of Bitcoin to improve its scalability and enable instant payments across a network of participants.

The Product Lead Michael Rihani initially revealed this announcement when he made a post about it on Twitter. He added, “Cash App now supports both send and receive over lightning. As long as the other wallet supports LN, you should be good.”

According to Michael Rihani, this new feature is only currently available to Cash App users in the United States. In addition, the feature is excluded for residents in New York State, as they won’t be allowed to employ this service.

When some users commented on Micheal’s announcement about the feature on Twitter, they indicated that it wasn’t working. Michael confirmed that the feature is available for both Android and iOS users, and they should either install or update to the latest version of the app.

CashApp started as one of the first mainstream payment apps to support Bitcoin since 2018. “We believe that bitcoin is the world’s best digital, sound money, period,” said Miles Suter, Crypto Product Lead at CashApp. “We believe that Bitcoin is for the people and that in America, Cash App is the financial app for the people.”

In addition to Cash App’s support of the Bitcoin lightning network, the layer 2 solution itself has been growing so well over the years. As reported by Blockchain.News earlier this month, the lightning rework now crossed the 5,000 BTC Benchmark, marking its increase of an additional 2000 BTC in just 1 year.

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Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Capacity Crosses 5,000 BTC Benchmark

by Blockchain News

Over the years, Bitcoin’s lightning network has been growing so well, and according to recent data, the capacity of the layer-2 payments solution has crossed the 5,000 BTC benchmark.

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In September 2021, the Bitcoin lightning network went parabolic and hit an all-time high of 2,738, and by October of the same year, it hit a new all-time high of 3,000 BTC for the first time.

Fast forward to October, the lightning rework has now crossed the 5,000 BTC Benchmark, which means the layer-2 payments solution increased by an additional 2k BTC in 1 year.

This data was revealed according to a Bitcoin lightning network chart by lookintobitcoin. It shows how the layer-2 payments solution capacity has grown over the years ever since 2018 when it was first created.

As illustrated above, the capacity increase started in the middle of this year despite the decline in Bitcoin’s price. It shows regardless of the plummet in Bitcoin’s price, the lightning network amplified in growth, increasing its adoption.

The lightning network is a layer-2 payment solution built to facilitate Bitcoin’s transactions. It enables users to send or receive BTC at lower fees and faster. A higher capacity in the network results in an increment in liquidity.

John Carvalho, CEO of Synonym, tweeted about this benchmark milestone and said a “lightning fairytale” has been made into “reality.” He pointed out another fad that states more than 20% of the bitcoin lightning network capacity is represented by Bitfinex. It has more than 1000 BTC in over 2000 channels.

Furthermore, last month, Strike, a leading digital payments platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, announced it secured $80m in funding to propel instant Bitcoin payments. 

In addition, last week, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy disclosed it is seeking to hire a Bitcoin Lightning Software Engineer to build a Lightning Network-based SaaS platform. The software company also revealed that it was working on solutions to bring in a large number of people to the Lightning Network.

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Bitcoin Hodlers are Unwilling to Spend at Lower Prices as Most Coins Remain Untouched

by Blockchain News

Despite the bearish momentum experienced in the Bitcoin (BTC) market, long-term hodlers remain steadfast because they are not selling.

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Market insight provider Glassnode explained:

“Over 80% of the total USD denominated wealth invested in Bitcoin has been hodled for at least 3-months. This signifies that the majority of the Bitcoin  supply is dormant, and hodlers are increasingly unwilling to spend at lower prices.”

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Source:Glassnode

 

This correlates with the fact that Bitcoin’s balance on exchanges recently reached a 4-year low. BTC leaving crypto exchanges symbolizes a hodling culture, given that coins are often transferred to cold storage and digital wallets for future purposes other than speculation. 

 

Therefore, hodling continues to be a favored strategy in the Bitcoin market.

 

On the other hand, signs of a Bitcoin bottom have not yet popped up, despite the leading cryptocurrency continuously consolidating around the psychological price of $20K.

 

Market analyst under the pseudonym Tajo Crypto pointed out:

“No one knows what price Bitcoin will bottom, but after Bitcoin hit $17K on June 18th, Bitcoin hasn’t retested that level. There’s no guarantee that $17K is the bottom, but Bitcoin has dropped massively and could bottom at any point and start reversing. Many will be taken unawares.”

Glassnode recently shared similar sentiments that more time was needed for a resilient bottom to be formed. The market insight provider stated:

“For a bear market to reach an ultimate floor, the share of coins held at a loss should transfer primarily to those who are the least sensitive to price, and with the highest conviction.”

Glassnode believed that most BTC held at a loss had to be transferred to long-term holders for an ultimate floor to be formed.

 

Bitcoin oscillated around $21,395 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

 

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin Lightning Network continues scaling heights after hitting a new all-time high (ATH) of 4,208 BTC. 

 

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Source:Glassnode

 

The growth witnessed on the Lightning Network is happening amid Bitcoin’s price being on shaky grounds, suggesting that the development for adoption continues to take shape. 

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Bitcoin Lightning Network Hits ATH, Signalling Heightened Grounds for Adoption

by Blockchain News

The Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network continues going through the roof by making historic highs.

As a layer two scaling solution on the Bitcoin network, the Lightning Network (LN) boosts the blockchain’s capacity to undertake transactions more efficiently through micropayment channels. It currently comprises more than 4,000 BTC.

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Source: Glassnode

Therefore, transactions on lightning networks are more readily confirmed, cheaper, and faster than that processed on-chain or Bitcoin mainnet (layer one).

The growth witnessed on the Lightning Network is happening amid Bitcoin’s price being on shaky grounds, suggesting that the development for adoption is taking shape even if the price falls. 

Bitcoin has been hovering around the psychological price of $20K, with the leading cryptocurrency losing at least 70% of its value from the all-time high (ATH) of $69,000 recorded in November last year.

Tightened macroeconomic factors like increased interest rates have not benefited Bitcoin as the globe fights off heightened inflation.

Nevertheless, the Bitcoin Lightning Network is experiencing surging adoption because it attracts fees close to zero.

Leading investment bank Morgan Stanley noted that the LN would be more practical when undertaking small payments than a debit card. Therefore, it boosts Bitcoin’s narrative about being a medium of payment. 

Previously, a report conducted by Arcane Research acknowledged that the continuous micropayment architecture provided by the Lightning Network had the potential to revamp the business models of content providers in audio, video, and gaming, among others. 

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Bitcoin Hits a 2-Month High as BTC Lightning Network Scales the Heights

by Blockchain News

After surging past $31,000, a scenario was last seen in March, renewed momentum seems to be ticking in the Bitcoin (BTC) market. 

The leading cryptocurrency was up by 3.24% in the last 24 hours to hit $31,629 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

After printing nine consecutive weekly red candles, momentum is building up in the Bitcoin market thanks to a surge in the BTC Lightning network and China’s slackened Covid-19 restrictions.

On-chain analyst Will Clemente pointed out:

“Bitcoin lightning network capacity continues pushing to new all-time highs despite the recent price decline. Although still in its infancy, Bitcoin’s L2 continues to show consistent growth, allowing BTC to scale as a medium of exchange.”

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Source: Glassnode

On the other hand, China eased Covid curbs as the present outbreak fades away, causing stocks to rise in Europe and Asia. This is proving to be a friendly gesture to the BTC market.

The Bitcoin Lightning Network is a second layer incorporated into the BTC blockchain to undertake off-chain transactions. As a result, micropayment channels are utilized to scale the blockchain’s capacity to carry out transactions more efficiently. 

Therefore, transactions on lightning networks are believed to be more readily confirmed, cheaper, and faster than that processed on-chain or Bitcoin mainnet.

Earlier this year, leading investment bank Morgan Stanley believed that the Bitcoin Lightning Network would be more practical for small payments than debit cards based on the near-zero fees attracted.

Meanwhile, for Bitcoin’s upward momentum to be sustained, the leading cryptocurrency ought to breach the $32,000 level.

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital pointed out:

“BTC needs to break orange ~$32K resistance to enable a rally to ~$35K.”

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Source: TradingView

Accumulation is also ticking in the Bitcoin market, and this is bullish. 

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 26,635.14 1.68%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,593.86 1.88%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 65.00 0.19%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 209.31 2.17%