Lightning network
Can you earn passive income running a Lightning node?
The prerequisites to run a Bitcoin Lightning node include an amount of Bitcoin to fund your Lightning channel, fiat money to buy the hardware equipment(s), and a Lightning-compatible wallet. Remember that Lightning nodes are non-mining nodes, which means you aren’t mining Bitcoin but are vital to validating Bitcoin blocks. Validation Nodes are the most common name for these. MyNode and Umbrel are two of the most popular specialized hardware options for validation nodes. In just a few simple steps, you can set up a new myNode device. To begin, download the myNode image for your device type and follow the instructions on the download page to flash it to an SD card. After that, turn on the device and connect an external SSD. You’ll be asked to type in your product key. You can sel...
Bitcoin Pizza Day rewind: A homage to weird and wonderful BTC purchases
Happy Bitcoin Pizza Day! Before you dial for a Margherita to commemorate the world’s first real-world Bitcoin transaction, here’s a slice of trivia: What do a family holiday to Japan, a 50 Cent album, a steak dinner, and a framed cat photo all have in common? They were all paid for with Bitcoin (BTC) by members of the Cointelegraph Bitcoin community! And just like the Bitcoin pizzas that cost 10,000 BTC, which are now worth more than $300 million, the community’s Bitcoin purchases have also skyrocketed. Benjamin de Waal, the VP of Engineering at Bitcoin exchange Swan Bitcoin told Cointelegraph, “I spent 7 BTC on a family trip to Japan a few years back.” In today’s value, 7 BTC is worth well over $200,000 — but Ben’s happy because his kids are happy: “It would have be...
Bitcoin network fortifies as mining difficulty records ATH of 31.251T
Further distancing itself from any concerns of planned attacks on the blockchain, the Bitcoin (BTC) network established a new mining difficulty all-time high of 31.251 trillion — exceeding the 30-trillion mark for the first time in history. The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, warranted the security of the BTC network through a decentralized network of BTC miners who are tasked with confirming the legitimacy of transactions and minting new blocks. Given the extensive community support — from developers to hodlers to traders to miners — that spans over 13 years, the BTC network was witness to a historic 10-month-long rally as it achieved mining difficulty of 31.251 trillion. Bitcoin network difficulty. Source: Blockchain.com Mining difficulty safeguards the BTC ecosystem against networ...
“DeFi is not decentralized at all,” says former Blockstream executive
Samson Mow, former chief strategy officer at Blokstream and founder of JAN3, is convinced that most decentralized finance protocols can’t compete with Bitcoin when it comes to providing an effective monetary network because of their lack of decentralization. As Mow pointed out, DeFi projects are governed by entities that can modify the protocol at will. “At the fundamental level, money should be immutable,” explained Mow. “If you can change it at will, then you’re no better than a fiat currency governed by the Fed.” Bitcoin’s decentralization makes it very difficult to modify its protocol, which is why Mow considers it a unique candidate for becoming a truly global monetary system. Mow pointed out that despite the immutability of Bitcoin’s base layer, developers can still build appli...
Binance and Coinbase silent on Bitcoin Lightning: Community tries to understand why
The Bitcoin Lightning Network integration started to take off among the cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide. However, some of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms seemingly are not in the hurry to integrate the protocol. Last week, Robinhood crypto trading app became the latest major industry player to announce the Lightning integration, following in the footsteps of BitPay and the Kraken crypto exchange. As the main goal of the Lightning integration is to reduce the cost of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and accelerate the network transfers, one may wonder what cryptocurrency exchanges have still not added the Lightning support. Binance, Coinbase and FTX stay silent on Lightning Not everyone is happy with the pace of Bitcoin LN adoption. David Coen, a software quality assurance te...
Cash App and Chivo help drive Lightning payment volume up 400%
A new report highlights how the Lightning Network has grown in popularity as a way of transferring digital assets quickly and efficiently around the globe. CNBC today told the story of Alena Vorobiova, a Ukrainian refugee currently seeking sanctuary in Poland. Vorobiova used Lightning to transfer $100 worth of Bitcoin from Miami, where it was then withdrawn from an ATM in the equivalent Polish currency — all within the space of three minutes. That’s the sort of low cost, high speed transaction that has seen the Layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin grow 410% in payment volume over the past year. According to the report published by Arcane Research, the number of payments that occurred on the Lightning Network in the past year doubled while the total value of those payments quadrupled....
Bitcoin transaction fees hit decade lows, here’s why
It’s a great time to move Bitcoin (BTC) between wallets and exchanges. Bitcoin transaction fees have hit all-time lows in BTC, according to research by Galaxy Digital. #bitcoin fees are at all-time lows. the craziest thing? fall 2021 was the first bull run not accompanied by a major spike in fees. how is that possible? what does it mean? here’s a thread explaining the most confounding (and awesome) chart in bitcoin. (remember june 2021) pic.twitter.com/gnWssTckX2 — Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) April 5, 2022 As shown on the graph below, the Bitcoin mean transaction fee has plummeted to 0.00004541 Bitcoin ($2.06) in 2022, while the median is 0.00001292 Bitcoin ($0.59) which is the lowest of any year except 2011, according to the report. Graph to show the fees trending down ...
Visa should be ‘scared’: Lightning Labs raises $70M to add stablecoins
Bitcoin software firm Lightning Labs has secured a large funding round enabling it to further develop the Lightning Network for faster, cheaper Bitcoin and stablecoin transactions. The $70 million Series B funding round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Baillie Gifford, Goldcrest Capital, and several other angel investors. Lightning Labs builds additional features and software for the Lightning Network (LN), Bitcoin’s layer-two transaction solution. The funding will be channeled into a new protocol it has developed called Taro, which will enable stablecoins to be transferred using the LN, according to reports. Lightning Labs will not issue stablecoins, but the infrastructure will allow them to be sent over the network. Stablecoin transactions were made possible with...
Visa should be ‘scared’: Lightning Labs raises $70M to add stablecoins
Bitcoin software firm Lightning Labs has secured a large funding round enabling it to further develop the Lightning Network for faster, cheaper Bitcoin and stablecoin transactions. The $70 million Series B funding round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Baillie Gifford, Goldcrest Capital, and several other angel investors. Lightning Labs builds additional features and software for the Lightning Network (LN), Bitcoin’s layer-two transaction solution. The funding will be channeled into a new protocol it has developed called Taro, which will enable stablecoins to be transferred using the LN, according to reports. Lightning Labs will not issue stablecoins, but the infrastructure will allow them to be sent over the network. Stablecoin transactions were made possible with...
Bitcoin network hash rate explodes to a new all-time high of 248.11 EH/s
The Bitcoin (BTC) network has recorded a new hash rate all-time high of 248.11M TH/s as of Feb. 12, 2022, further securing the decentralized ecosystem through a growing network of global BTC miners. The hash rate correlates to the computing power required by a miner’s computer equipment to confirm a transaction. The recent spike in BTC’s network hash rate ensures further security against attacks by deterring bad actors from confirming fraudulent transactions. Bitcoin hash rate over the past year. Source: YCharts As evidenced by the above screenshot, the network hash rate jumped 31.69% — from 188.40 EH/s to 248.11 EH/s — in just one day. Moreover, the Bitcoin network’s hash rate levels rose 54.33% over the past year. Bitcoin hash rate over the past one month. Source: YCharts Pre...
Strike wallet is 5th most popular finance app in Argentina, but where’s the BTC?
Strike’s digital wallet has become the fifth most popular finance app in Argentina within a week of its launch. The firm, led by hoodie-wearing CEO Jack Mallers, rolled out its crypto payment services for the Argentinian market on Jan 12. Strike is famed for enabling Bitcoin (BTC) payments via the Lightning network, particularly in El Salvador. However, according to local media and user reports, the firm’s app in Argentina reportedly currently only supports the use of Tether’s stable coin USDT for transfers via Lightning. Users are able to purchase Bitcoin via the app though, and send it to a third party wallet. Mallers tweeted on Jan. 18 that Strike’s app is currently ranked as the fifth-highest finance app and the top new app overall on the Argentinian Apple app store, as he emphasized t...
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