Fireblocks VP: Big names won’t go back after discovering crypto payments’ potential

April 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Ran Goldi, the vice president of payments at Fireblocks, believes that affordability and speed will keep big brands that have implemented crypto payments in the last two years.

Hashing It Out Episode 16 explores one of the most popular use cases for cryptocurrencies: payments. Elisha Owusu Akyaw is joined by Ran Goldi, vice president of payments at Fireblocks, to explore the rapidly evolving world of crypto and payments, the steps necessary for adoption, the role of stablecoins, and the hurdles — such as the collapse of crypto-friendly banks in the United States.

The conversation begins with a discussion on the impact of the collapse of crypto-friendly banks in the United States. Goldi believes that the current banking issues in the U.S. are not helping with crypto adoption, especially with institutions. These issues shake the firms’ confidence in using blockchain technology like stablecoins to move money globally, according to the vice president of payments at Fireblocks.

“We had one company that was working with Silvergate, and Silvergate got shut down. We immediately gave them an intro to SVB, and then SVB got shut down, and then in the evening, we said don’t worry, we will introduce Signature next week, and by next week there was no Signature.”

Despite the issues with the banking sector and regulatory environment, Goldi is optimistic that 2023 will bring more adoption to crypto through payments. The vice president of payments at Fireblocks argues that multiple big names like PayPal, Checkout and Stripe have entered the digital asset industry in the last couple of months, and when they discover they can do more while paying less and faster, they will not go back.

Goldi breaks down how blockchain payments allow for faster cross-border payments that don't require three to four days to settle. Furthermore, Goldi believes that the most popular form of cryptocurrency payment adoption in the initial stage will involve institutions. He explains that the financial rails between institutions around the world will evolve, and most firms will have a leg in blockchain to move money faster.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashing It Out with Ran Goldi on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph's complete catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

Bitcoin Lightning Network growth is organic, coming from real-world adoption

February 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Africa

Bitcoin Lightning Network adoption receives a boost with the launch of USD payments and decentralized social media platform, Nostr.

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) capacity recently surpassed an all-time high of 5,000 BTC.

The Lightning Network is a neutral protocol built on top of Bitcoin and currently it does not have a “native” token attached to it like many decentralized finance platforms.

Although the Lightning Network’s total liquidity is less than 0.5% of the ETH in DeFi contracts, the uptrend in Bitcoin’s LN capacity versus a downtrend in the amount of ETH locked in smart contracts is encouraging for LN development.

*Total ETH locked in DeFi contracts (top) and total BTC in Lightning Network channels (bottom). Source: DefiLlama*

While the liquidity on the LN has been rising consistently, the number of channels on the peer-to-peer network dropped drastically in November following the FTX collapse. It could be due to an exodus of miners operating LN nodes besides running mining clients.

However, the likely end of miner capitulation and the rise of Bitcoin-based applications like NFTs could mark an end to LN channel capitulation. Since the start of 2023, over 2,000 new channels have been added to the network.

*Lightning Network number of channels. Source: glassnode*

A Valkyrie Investments report stated that LN adoption was picking up speed in emerging markets like South America and Africa, primarily due to efforts of the LN mobile payment application, Strike.

In December 2022, the firm launched an LN-based remittance service in Africa. The service offers no-cost transfers from the U.S. to Africans in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. Later, Strike announced a similar program in the Philippines.

*LN capacity and important chronological events. Source: Valkyrie*

More recently, the firm announced dollar payments using LN, where users can potentially send dollars from the Strike’s cash balance to savings and VISA-enabled accounts. The app will convert USD to BTC in the background and convert to USD at the destination. Since LN is fast and cheap, the risk due to Bitcoin’s price volatility is minimal.

The cost of international payments from the U.S. can rise as high as $45 per transaction, with transfers taking hours or sometimes days. Thus, users could start preferring Strike-based payments over traditional remittance channels.

A recent report from Marty Bent found that the LN payments have risen this year on the top Lightning Network wallets, Wallet of Satoshi. Moreover, a podcasting platform, Podcasting 2.0, that accepts LN payments also recorded an uptick in tips sent to creators.

Nostr is boosting LN adoption

Another factor influencing the adoption of LN is the launch of Nostr. According to the protocol's Github page, Nostr is a simple, open protocol that enables global, decentralized and censorship-resistant social media. The protocol allows social media applications to be built on it.

Damus, a Twitter lookalike, implements Nostr with an IOS and Android application. The idea of an open and free social media network reverberates the strongest in the crypto space. Bitcoin pioneers like Jack Dorsey and Adam Back have strongly endorsed Nostr.

Besides similarities in ideology, Nostr can boost LN adoption as Damus has integrated various LN wallets like Wallet of Satoshi, Strike, BlueWallet, and others. A report from LN analyst, Kevin Rooke, cited that over 600,000 users signed up on Nostr. This could help onboard users to LN as Nostr inherently supports the Bitcoin payment network through Nostr Zap.

The Lightning Network is a neutral protocol built on top of Bitcoin, with no token attached to it, avoiding speculation. There is a potential for yield for LN nodes as fees for facilitating transactions and providing liquidity. However, in the current state, the earnings are negligible. Hence, the Lightning Network's growth appears organic and well-positioned to become the leading global payment network, which prominent personalities in this space have predicted.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Paying the way for Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador: Video

February 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

What is Bitcoin adoption like on the ground as peer-to-peer cash in the home of Bitcoin worldwide? Cointelegraph visits El Salvador to find out!

The Bitcoin (BTC) white paper title describes Bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” So how is Bitcoin being used as a means of exchange, or electronic cash, in the first country to adopt Bitcoin?

Reporter Joe Hall spent a few weeks in El Salvador attempting to live off Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes and satoshis (the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) in a video for Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel:

Headlines from El Salvador within the crypto community have been largely positive. Moreover, statistics emanating from the country have been abundantly positive; tourism is up 30%, crime and the murder rate in El Salvador have decreased dramatically, and the Bitcoin bonds project is underway in 2023.

Nonetheless, while Bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the best-known brands worldwide; and a marketing tool that appeals to a pool of ardent Bitcoin believers around the world, its use as a means of exchange is often questioned. In El Salvador, it’s no different, as Hall explains.

Some Salvadoran vendors are laser-eyed hodlers; others made their first Bitcoin payment with Hall and were keen to ask questions and learn more.

*Tipping Henry the delivery guy in Bitcoin to his Chivo wallet at 2 am. Source: Cointelegraph*

Hall was surprised, dismayed, entertained and ultimately enthused by his findings in the country. Adopting a new technology as novel and misunderstood as Bitcoin is a mammoth task, but Salvadorans are getting stuck into the new technology where possible.

Retailers like Walmart had the option to pay in Bitcoin — but the process was slow and inconvenient — while the likes of Texaco were staunchly anti-Bitcoin. At McDonald’s, the experience is smooth and fast; it’s even quicker than the McDonald’s branches that accept Bitcoin in Switzerland.

From the Adopting Bitcoin conference — a Lightning conference in San Salvador that gathered Bitcoiners from around the world — down to Bitcoin Beach and Surf City, across to the volcanoes of Santa Ana and on the streets of San Salvador, Hall mingled with locals to get a better sense of Bitcoin as a means of exchange.

Hall attended the “My First Bitcoin” educational graduation ceremony at a school in El Pacheco. The founder, John Dennehy, was recently interviewed by Cointelegraph. Dennehy explained the group’s plan to remedy Bitcoin education in El Salvador by teaching teenagers how to Bitcoin.

Indeed, the recent graduates Hall interviewed at the school grasped the fundamental tenets of Bitcoin and expressed their belief that Bitcoin represents hope for the future. Watch the video to find out more.

Bitcoin adoption of Guatemalan merchants grows one BTC tattoo at a time

January 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Art

The Central American country of Guatemala is getting inked on the path to greater Bitcoin merchant adoption.

Bitcoin (BTC) use in Guatemala is on the up. The Latin American country that borders El Salvador boasts Guatemalan-grown Bitcoin companies such as Ibex and Osmo, several Bitcoin Beach-inspired projects including Bitcoin Lake, and now, free BTC tattoos.

A Bitcoin merchant adoption competition hosted by Osmo Wallet in 2022, a Guatemala-based Bitcoin company, led to the free ink promotion. Cointelegraph spoke to Piero Coen, the co-founder of Osmo Wallet, and Steven Marroquin, the owner of Soul’s Anchor, a tattoo parlor in Guatemala City.

Free tattoo ideas from Soul's Anchor. Source: Coen

Coen explained how it that the mission is to get more people to use Bitcoin:

“So we ran a competition amongst merchants to see who would process the most volume in Bitcoin sales in 2022. Turns out Soul's Anchor Tattoo Shop in Guatemala City, who started accepting Bitcoin payments using Osmobusiness back in October, won the competition.”

Merchant adoption is nothing new in Guatemala. So they thought about how to make things more exciting. They decided that offering free Bitcoin tattoos to customers might be a Bitcoin-friendly marketing tactic. “It was a huge hit. All the slots filled up in hours!” He explained.

The free Bitcoin tattoos get the thumbs up from Cointelegraph's Bman. Source: Coen

Guatemalan Bitcoin believers and Bitcoin tourists streamed into the store to ink their favorite Bitcoin meme, quote or art onto their skin. Steven Marroquin, Souls Anchor owner, explained, “It’s been around seven months since we officially accepted Bitcoin and have two to three customers per month.” It's a small amount, but payments are on the rise, he reports:

“The first months we had only one customer, and even though it’s still a few percentages of our income, probably 1%, we are happy have started accepting it.”

Coen explains that “It’s still super early” for Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala, and “Most business owners are still unsure about accepting and holding onto Bitcoin because of the volatility.”

By allowing instant Bitcoin to fiat currency conversion at the payment merchant terminal, merchants can sidestep the volatility. Instant BTC to fiat conversion is a growing trend in the Bitcoin payments space, as companies such as Strike–headed up by Jack Mallers–and CoinCorner offer similar solutions. Bitcoin as a means of exchange is burgeoning and Coen is optimistic about its future:

“Bitcoin adoption in Guatemala City is on the rise, every day we see more and more people are getting into it, learning about it, and stacking up on Sats."

Rikki, one-half of the Bitcoin Explorers couple who spent 45 days living off Bitcoin only in El Salvador, recently traveled around Guatemala, paying his way in Bitcoin. Rikki told Cointelegraph the level of “adoption of Bitcoin in Guatemala has really surprised us,” referring to himself and his partner Laura.

“Locals are curious, they want to learn about Bitcoin and see it as an important alternative to credit cards whose fees are very high in the country.”

Indeed, by accepting Bitcoin, business can save over 50% on transaction costs when compared to accepting credit card payments, “So the incentives are there,” Coen explained.

Rikki added that “orange-pilling” efforts by Guatemalan-based companies, such as Ibex and Osmo, “are pushing to raise awareness of the technology.” The couple also visited the Bitcoin Lake, a Bitcoin-beach-style community project, where a Guatemalan mayor is mining Bitcoin in his office, before getting inked themselves as part of the promotion.

“We found the tattoo idea very cute. It is a company that wants to reward its shopkeeper who has received the most Bitcoin transactions by promoting its business.”

Bitcoin and crypto tattoos are increasingly common, as crypto advocates choose to brand themselves with their coin of choice. However, crypto tattoos can sometimes go very, very wrong.

Bitcoin tattoos belonging to Rikki (top) and Laura (bottom). Source: Rikki

Take Mike Novogratz, the Galaxy Digital founder, as an example. His Terra (LUNA) tattoo is a constant reminder that investing requires humility. The LUNA token crashed by over 99% in price in 2021. Fortunately, the Bitcoin tattoos are safe, for now, thanks to a January price pump.

Less than 100 Bitcoin ATMs added worldwide in the second half of 2022: Data

January 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

ATM

Over the last six months, between July to the end of 2022, just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network.

While Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs were an afterthought to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of sound money, they are now considered one of the main pillars of Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption. However, the global Bitcoin ATM network, which used to add thousands of machines each month in 2021, recorded a net addition of just 94 Bitcoin ATMs over the past six months since July 2022.

A year-long bear market in 2022 — accompanied by geopolitical tensions and global inflation — hindered various initiatives aiding the growth of the entire crypto ecosystem. As a result, efforts to install new Bitcoin ATMs dipped in many countries that once spearheaded the initiative.

*Chart showing the number of bitcoin machines installed over time. Source: CoinATMRadar*

Over the last six months, between July to the end of 2022, just 94 Bitcoin ATMs were added to the global network. In contrast, a modest 4,169 ATMs were added during the year’s first six months, confirms data from CoinATMRadar.

Despite the global slowdown, countries such as Spain and Australia have taken the lead in crypto ATM installations. The United States and Canada retain the top two positions for hosting the highest number of ATMs. El Salvador, the country that once held the third position, has now moved down to the fifth position after Spain and Australia, respectively.

*Number of cryptocurrency machines installed over time per each top manufacturer over time. Source: CoinATMRadar*

During this timeframe, Bitcoin ATM manufacturer BitAccess saw a relative drop in its ATM installation while others reported a comparatively steady increase.

As crypto investors shake off the negative sentiments from the past year and dive back into the game, sub-ecosystems like Bitcoin ATMs remain well-positioned for a recovery.

Australia, just after overtaking El Salvador to become the fourth-largest crypto ATM hub, got its first Bitcoin ATM with integrated Lightning Network (LN) capabilities.

Using LN, Bitcoin ATMs can process transactions immediately without having the operator batch the funds. As Cointelegraph previously reported, this development can potentially lower transaction fees compared to an on-chain payment.

Not medical advice: Bitcoiner implants Lightning chip to make BTC payments by hand

December 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Community

A Bitcoiner has literally taken the Lightning Network into his own hands, installing a tiny payment chip into his hands to make NFC contactless payments.

The Lightning Network continues to shock the Bitcoin (BTC) community. A swiss IT Professional called F418 (not his real name) surgically implanted a Lightning-enabled chip into his right hand to make Lightning Network (LN) payments.

*An X-Ray image of the chip implanted into F418's hand. Source: Youtube*

Speaking with Cointelegraph, F418 said he experimented with body modification and LN payments for fun. He does not recommend that Bitcoin enthusiasts take the layer-2 payments network, the LN, into their own hands as he did. “The use is just to show that it is possible and you can do stuff like that." He added that most people carry cards, it’s just his hand has the wow factor:

“It’s funny if you are doing a presentation as I sometimes do presentations about payments and talk to people that are working in banks, and they make “Big Eyes” if they see that [my hand]. You don’t need to have the implant.”

Cointelegraph first met with F418 in his home country of Switzerland at the LN-friendly Plan B Lugano Conference. His attempts to pay failed as the first implant F418 used was “Defective.” Undeterred, F418 visited a medical professional to surgically remove the implant before trying again.

The second attempt succeeded. The chip sits neatly in his right hand and can now make LN payments–without reaching for a Bolt Card or a smartphone. But does it hurt, Cointelegraph asked. “I don’t feel anything–even when I go to the gym,” he replied.

*F418 taps his hand on the back of his phone to pay for two beers and some crisps. Source: Youtube*

Nonetheless, F418 brings up certain risks to the procedure. While the process is medically safe, “The only problem with the implants is that you can not make them really safe. It’s not the same security as the bolt card–you can only do LNURL withdraw; it’s not safe.”

Plus, if you make a mistake during the implantation process, it’s not a good idea to take the chip in and out of the body. It could cause harm or infection, F418 explained, so it's best to get it the right the first time.

In brief, the NFC chip works identically implanted in F418’s hand enables him to make LN payments without the need for a physical device, such as a smartphone or card. He can simply hold his hand near a compatible NFC reader to initiate a payment. It’s arguably the most convenient Bitcoin payment, allowing for quick and easy transactions without the need for any additional equipment.

NFC, or Near Field Communication technology use cases have bubbled up in the Bitcoin world. Indeed, NFC payments over the LN have surged in popularity since the introduction of the Bolt Card, first trialed over lunch on the Isle of Man, and now available in ‘Bitcoin Country,’ AKA El Salvador.

F148 shows the tiny raised insert of the chip to Cointelegraph during a call. Source: Google Meet

It’s straightforward to set up an NFC card, sticker or even a sock to work for payments (see below Twitter video). However, it’s worth noting that F418’s NFC implant into a human is the first of its kind. F418 has made the entire process open-source and accessible–including health warnings–on GitHub. He has called the process "Lightning Paw."

Paying for a coffee with #Bitcoin Lightning NFC and a pair of @mtsocks ⚡️

ANOTHER WORLD FIRST?!?! pic.twitter.com/E4c0eei3v1
— Molly Spiers (@CoinCornerMolly) December 10, 2021

The LN is a second-layer payment protocol that operates on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. It allows for near-instant and near-free transactions by enabling users to make multiple payments without having to wait for the transactions to be confirmed on the blockchain. In essence, the LN creates a network of payment channels between users, allowing them to transact directly without the need for each transaction to be recorded on the blockchain.

As for F418, he continues to tinker with Bitcoin and, increasingly the Lightning Network. IT professional and extreme sports enthusiast by day, he's a Bitcoin hobbyist “who likes to try stupid stuff” by night. He joins thousands of Bitcoin hobbyists around the world who continue to build on Bitcoin despite the brutal bear market. Speaking from home in Switzerland, he told Cointelegraph:

“If you have an open network where everyone can do innovative things; it will always have the advantage of a closed system that only a couple of people can work on it.”

Just don’t try this at home, anon.

Bitcoin could reach $1M in 5 years due to fiat currencies’ collapse, says Samson Mow

December 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin could reach M in 5 years due to fiat currencies’ collapse, says Samson Mow

Bitcoin Industry

The future collapse of fiat currencies could propel Bitcoin to $1 million in the next five to 10 years, according to Jan3 CEO and Bitcoin proponent Samson Mow.

Despite the ongoing bear market, Jan3 CEO and Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Samson Mow believes that the leading cryptocurrency could reach the $1-million-price benchmark in the next five to 10 years. The collapse of major fiat currencies will be a major catalyst, which he said can “happen very rapidly” and “are not anticipated.”

”It just sort of happens overnight, and then you are shoveling cash into a wheelbarrow,” he said in a recent interview with Cointelegraph.

Mow made his prediction while commenting on the current state of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador, about a year after it was adopted as a legal tender. Mow said he sees El Salvador’s move as an overall success, despite the relatively low usage rate and uneven availability of Bitcoin payment infrastructure in the country.

“You’re basically recreating traditional banking infrastructure in the country. So, it’s bound to take some time, and it’s bound to have uneven deployment,” he said.

According to Mow, Bitcoin’s high volatility is among the reasons why El Salvador’s citizens still rely on cash to get by in their everyday lives instead the cryptocurrency. Mow sees it as a temporary problem, as volatility is bound to decrease as Bitcoin approaches the $1 million benchmark.

Even now, Mow believes that El Salvador can play a role in inspiring other countries to follow its example. In particular, he sees El Salvador's vibrant, grassroots local Bitcoin community as playing an important role in driving adoption.

A mix of top-down and bottom-up initiatives is needed to balance each other out in any country that wants to successfully adopt Bitcoin.

To learn more about the current state of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador, check out the full interview on Cointelegraph's YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe!

NYC Mayor stands by Bitcoin pledge amid bear market, FTX: Report

December 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

During Eric Adams’ time in office, the NY state government passed a law which will implement a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining, and the crypto market turned bearish.

Eric Adams, who became mayor of New York City in January, has reportedly stood behind a campaign pledge to make the city a crypto hub, despite a drop in the price of many tokens in 2022.

According to a Dec. 12 report from Slate, Adams suggested he still wanted New York City to be the “center of the cryptocurrency industry” — one of the plans he announced during his mayoral run in November 2021. The New York City mayor reportedly converted the first of his three paychecks while in office into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in January and February, prior to the crypto market downturn.

“Mayor Adams believes cryptocurrency, blockchain, and other emerging technologies offer an incredible opportunity for innovation and economic growth over the long term, and he wants to see that happen right here in New York,” reportedly said Jonah Allon, a press secretary for Adams. “As with all financial products, price fluctuations are an expected feature of the market — and it is shortsighted to believe that setbacks in an industry are an indication that it won’t experience long-term growth.”

Slate’s estimates suggested that Adams may have lost up to 60% of his crypto investment — assuming he HODLed those funds — based on the price of BTC and ETH. At the time of publication, the BTC price was $16,998, having dropped more than 66% in the previous 12 months, while ETH was $1,249, having fallen roughly 70% over the same period.

During Adams’ time in office, the New York state government passed a law which will implement a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining. The NewYorkCityCoin (NYCCoin) project, which launched in November 2021 with the then mayor-elect’s support, has also fallen more than 93% in the last 12 months, reaching a price of roughly $0.0003 at the time of publication.

The collapse of crypto exchange FTX has also seemingly spurred state regulators and lawmakers to action, with New York Attorney General Letitia James recommending that crypto investments be prohibited from certain retirement funds. New York Representative Ritchie Torres also penned a letter on Dec. 6 requesting the U.S. Government Accountability Office look into the performance of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding FTX.

Subway accepts Bitcoin, so users can get a sandwich on the Lightning Network

November 9, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Berlin

The largest franchise in the world, Subway, is testing out the Lightning Network layer-2 Bitcoin payments solution and receiving encouraging results in Berlin, Germany.

No, it’s not Groundhog Day. Subway is accepting Bitcoin (BTC), again — but this time it’s using the fast, nearly free Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Kicking off the 7-day #usingbitcoin week with Lunch at Subway, Chausseestrasse in Berlin!

50% off when paying with #bitcoin
#spendyourbitcoin pic.twitter.com/f81kdMOnEQ
— felix (@felixbillert) October 19, 2022

The world’s largest franchise by number of restaurants is trialing Bitcoin payments at three Subways in Germany’s capital, Berlin. Subway first experimented with Bitcoin almost 13 years ago in Moscow, Russia.

Over the past few months, Daniel Hinze, the Berlin Subway franchise owner, recorded over 120 Bitcoin transactions. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Hinze explained his desire “to help Bitcoin become money.”

“Five years ago, I started to deal with cryptocurrencies; and in the last two years, I have dealt very intensively with the topic of Bitcoin. With that in mind, I’ve decided that [Bitcoin] could be the better money system.”

Bitcoin is not a popular means of exchange in Europe, despite the efforts of merchants, retailers and even Lightning-enabled conferences. Hinze has encouraged Bitcoin payments by offering a 10% discount on all footlongs, meatball marinaras and sucookies paid for with BTC.

Lunch with #usingbitcoin
at Subway in Berlin.
Also got 50% off. :D pic.twitter.com/yZkZ6osO9D
— Rumpel_BTC (@BtcRumpel) October 19, 2022

To kick off the campaign, Hinze offered a 50% discount on all Bitcoin payments for one week:

“Around the week, there was, of course, extremely high demand. Our three restaurants were frequently visited by people who liked to pay with Bitcoin.”

German-speaking social media was buoyed by Subway buys as the hashtag #usingBitcoin took over. Hinze partnered with Lipa, a Swiss-based Bitcoin company, to enable an easy-to-use point-of-sale solution.

Bastien Feder, CEO of Lipa, told Cointelegraph that its mission is to make Bitcoin “basically irresistible to use because Bitcoin is currency.” Lipa kitted out the Subways with merchant devices that allow customers to quickly scan a Lightning-enabled QR code that allows for fast, frictionless, low-cost payments.

Lipa charges merchants 1% for the service, as opposed to Visa or Mastercard payment rails, which charge double or more. Feder explained:

“It’s 2.5% to 4% depending on the contract from the merchant. If it’s a business card, there’s 0.5% on top of that. […] And if it’s a foreign business credit card, you pay up to 7%, and you don’t know until the end of the month.”

The experience of paying over the LN differs greatly from when Subway franchises first accepted Bitcoin payments in 2014. Before the arrival of the LN, customers would have to wait for around for several minutes.

Miners would mint the next block on the blockchain, with the transaction confirmed by Bitcoin nodes around the world. The process was inconvenient for retail payments due to the wait time as well as the sometimes high fees. With the LN, customers enjoy faster settlement times than Visa or Mastercard and lower fees thanks to a peer-to-peer network of payments.

RACE OF THE RAILS ‍♂️

Bitcoin #Lightning payments vs #fiat contactless payments at the #Gibraltar Bakery.

£2.20 loaded up on both PoS.

WHO WINS?? ⚡️ ⚡️

⁦@CoinCorner⁩ ⁦@CoinCornerMolly⁩ pic.twitter.com/b3ezy7FIeq
— Joe Nakamoto (@JoeNakamoto) July 25, 2022

Nonetheless, due to the fact that Bitcoin has for most of its history been a speculative vehicle — sparing a few use cases for purchasing — encouraging Bitcoiners to spend BTC can be a challenge.

Nonetheless, retail examples are popping up, such as in Berlin or San Salvador. Nicolas Burtey, CEO of Galoy Money, told Cointelegraph that the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador was the tipping point for the Lightning Network. He joked that the Bitcoin Law “should have actually been called the Lightning Law!”

Lipa and Hinze expect a steady increase in demand for Bitcoin payments. Feder told Cointelegraph that it’s due in large part because of the ”exponentially rising Bitcoin community in Germany, in Switzerland, basically all over the world.”

Indeed, the LN is enabling communities keen to trade, from Senegal to Guatemala and Switzerland. Hinze told Cointelegraph that for the moment, the Subway restaurant only accepts the world’s most recognizable currency, as he and his business partners “firmly believe in Bitcoin.”

Why banking uses at least 56 times more energy than Bitcoin

November 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

“Bitcoin uses 0.05% of world energy consumption. Banking uses 56 times more energy than Bitcoin,” Michel Khazzaka, a cybersecurity engineer and cryptographer, told Cointelegraph.

The next time Bitcoin (BTC) comes under fire for energy consumption, remember this statistic. The banking industry uses at least 56 times more energy. That's according to cryptographer and founder of Valuechain, Michel Khazzaka:

"I’m not saying it uses less or the same, just know it uses 56 times more than Bitcoin."

The statistic, first shared by Michel Khazzaka in the summer, caused a stir in the Bitcoin and wider crypto community. He published his estimates in a Valuechain report, a company he founded to investigate the world of crypto payments.

In an exclusive Cointelegraph Crypto Story interview, Khazzaka talks viewers through the extensive research that led to striking conclusions. In short, Bitcoin might not be as bad for the environment as the mainstream media lead people to think.

Khazzaka, who describes Bitcoin as “Money with a memory,” sought to refute the claim that Bitcoin is worse for the environment than fiat money. He spent four years toiling away, compiling data and crunching numbers. He built out a model, or estimate, to understand just how much energy the banking industry consumes.

Speaking from his home in Paris, Khazzaka told Cointelegraph that he looked at commute times, data centers, servers, and even ATMs for the calculations. He didn’t, however, take into account the energy put into “Banks, buildings or ATMs; to manufacture to bring the metal etc. Let’s compare the operations.” Khazzaka admits this oversight is intentional:

“That’s why all my numbers are underestimated for banking and extremely accurate for Bitcoin.”

For Bitcoin, Khazzaka concluded that Bitcoin consumes 88.95 TWh per year, considerably less than the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance estimates. Nonetheless, Khazzaka admits that Bitcoin uses an “Extraordinary amount of energy.” However, in return users receive:

“An extraordinary amount of security, for an extraordinarily important service.”

He compares Bitcoin to space travel, explaining that even if people don’t care about going to the moon, it’s a right– “Even it tries to consume more energy than a car.”

Finally, in a nod to the layer-2 Bitcoin Lightning Network, Khazzaka concludes that as a payments network, it shows tremendous promise. It just needs to prove itself.

Bitcoin Payments

Nostr is boosting LN adoption

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