Why this tiny country is adopting the Bitcoin Lightning Network

September 29, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Gibraltar is becoming well known for its pioneering crypto regulations, support for blockchain development and bitcoin adoption.

Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall visited the country of Gibraltar to explore Bitcoin adoption on The Rock, as the peninsula is known locally, and how the adoption of bitcoin for shopping in the territory is impacting business.

The visit was also an opportunity to visit Xapo Bank, the world's first private financial institution to combine traditional banking with Bitcoin. Coinbase acquired its custody business in 2019, making the American exchange the largest crypto custodian in the world.

The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is known for its pioneering crypto regulations, support for blockchain development and bitcoin adoption, with many retail businesses using the Lightning Network — a layer two network that enables off-chain transactions — to accept bitcoin as payment around the peninsula.

"When you talk about adoption of the use of Bitcoin, is it going to come? Yes, it is as more and more jurisdictions begin to regulate. And what is for me, the ideal is when there are enough countries doing it."

April this year, Gibraltar introduced a new regulatory package for distributed ledger technology (DLT) service providers, providing clarity for crypto businesses in regard to threats of market manipulation and insider trading.

Raising a glass to Satoshi’s Place and the challenge of running Bitcoin businesses

September 21, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Community

A Bitcoin-themed bar and education center has popped up in Northern England —Cointelegraph swung by to interview the founder and raise a glass.

Cointelegraph took a trip to Satoshi’s Place on Friday, a Bitcoin (BTC) hub in Greater Manchester. Named after the anonymous creator of the world’s largest and most widely accepted cryptocurrency, the bar and workspace offer workshops, coworking spaces for local businesses and Bitcoin-inspired cocktails.

Adam, the founder (who chose not to share his surname), first heard about Bitcoin in 2012 and has spent the past 10 years experimenting with ways to onboard and educate people about the magic internet money. He told Cointelegraph over a beer — paid for by Bitcoin over the Lightning Network — that it’s the first of many forays into the Bitcoin business.

Everything in the space–absolutely everything–is Bitcoin-themed or Bitcoin-branded. From orange being the dominant colour to rare Bitcoin art adorning the walls to the hand dryer in the loos which generates heat from–you guessed it–a Bitcoin miner plugged in upstairs.

The "Gold Rush" was the most popular cocktail on the night.

Adam explained that over the past four years he’s focused his efforts on Bitcoin merchant adoptin, a growing trend in the United Kingdom. Satoshi’s Place began life as a coffee shop and then a pizzeria back in 2018. At first, customers could buy coffees with Bitcoin and even use a Bitcoin ATM to buy and sell Bitcoin, “Back when it was legal,” he joked.

“People were putting £20,000 worth of cash into an ATM on a monthly. From teenagers to I think the eldest was 93 years old.”

Bitcoin ATMs were forced to shutter by the Financial Conduct Authority in March this year. Adam explained that despite the fact that they did everything by the book — “a full exchange system literally to the minute,” — the banks made life hard.

An example that’s part of a wider trend, Bitcoin Businesses in the UK are beleaguered by banks. Adam’s experience is no different: he had issues with Barclays while operating a UK-based crypto festival called CoinFest and has had bank accounts blocked and emails ignored despite best efforts do business above board.

Satoshi’s Place is his third attempt at creating a by-the-book space for Bitcoin enthusiasts and precoiners to meet and learn what is money, and why Bitcoin might be a better one. Thanks to the Lightning Network, a layer-2 Bitcoin solution, payments are now near-instant, frictionless and basically free. Many punters, Bitcoin enthusiasts, and even first-timers bought burgers and beverages with Bitcoin at the bar on Friday.

The youngest of the Satoshi’s Place crew buying a drink! @theboltcard @CoinCorner #SPTeam #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/o2uQdfJTEc
— Satoshi's Place® - A UK based Bitcoin Hub (@SatoshisPlaceUK) September 17, 2022

The bar uses solutions from Fast Bitcoins and CoinCorner, two Bitcoin companies based on the Isle of Man. CoinCorner’s team made the trip across the Irish Sea to mingle on Friday and host a Bitcoin workshop the following day.

Elsewhere, Nathan Day, “Pleb at Large” and contributor to BTCMap.Org, an open source map to show where Bitcoiners can spend Satoshis, demonstrated Bitcoin-themed games. Jordan Walker, CEO at the Bitcoin Collective, the group behind the UK Bitcoin Conference, was schooled by Day's son at Sats-Man (like Pac-Man but with Satoshis).

Related: The UK 'Bitcoin Adventure' shows BTC is a family affair

https://t.co/Xi10jsz6TB https://t.co/afm5iJCwJ4 pic.twitter.com/AQjZcrKypB
— ⚡ BTC Map ⚡ (@BTCMapDotOrg) September 19, 2022

The workshops at Satoshi’s Place will be as close to free as possible and open to all: Bitcoin the currency doesn’t discriminate, after all. Workshops in the workspace at the front room cover “Everything from lightning education to Bitcoin for kids, Bitcoin development, all different types. There are about 16 hosts that I've got up to now that want to do workshops.”

It's been more than a decade since Satoshi Nakamoto stepped away from public involvement in the blockchain community. It makes you wonder what they would have thought of spaces like this, all these years later.

The Bitcoin bottom — Are we there yet? Analysts discuss the factors impacting BTC price

September 3, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

$20,000 is becoming the “new” resistance for BTC price even though multiple indicators are screaming “buy.” Analysts share their views on the future of Bitcoin price.

When Bitcoin was trading above $60,000, the smartest analysts and financial-minded folk told investors that BTC price would never fall below its previous all time high.

These same individuals also said $50,000 was a buy the dip opportunity, and then they said $35,000 was a generational buy opportunity. Later on, they also suggested that BTC would never fall under $20,000.

Of course, “now” is a great time to buy the dip, and one would think that buying BTC at or under $10,000 would also be the purchase of a lifetime. But by now, all the so-called “experts'' have fallen quiet and are nowhere to be seen or heard.

So, investors are left to their own devices and thoughts to contemplate whether or not the bottom is in. Should one be patient and wait for the forecast “drop to $10,000” or is now the time to buy Bitcoin and altcoins?

Generally, calling price bottoms is a futile task. What's really important to focus on is whether or not there are fundamental reasons for choosing to or not to invest in Bitcoin.

Sure, price has changed drastically, but have Bitcoin’s network fundamentals and the infrastructure surrounding Bitcoin as an asset improved or degraded? It’s important to zoom in on this data because for investors, this is where one should be sourcing their confidence and investment thesis.

This is exactly why Cointelegraph hosted a Twitter Spaces with analysts Joe Burnett of Blockware Solutions and Colin Harper of Luxor Mining. Here’s a few highlights from the conversation.

Equities markets will decide when Bitcoin price can “go back up”

According to Blockware Solutions analyst Joe Burnett, Bitcoin price is heavily impacted by Federal Reserve policy and its impact on equities markets. Burnett said:

“The macro environment is obviously heavily weighing on the price of Bitcoin. High CPI inflation has led to an aggressive Fed since November of 2021. Higher interest rates inevitably cause all assets to come down. Interest rates are basically gravity on financial assets, just basically discounted cash flow analysis. And these increasing interest rates are an attempt to destroy demand and and destroy inflation by the Fed. It's obviously putting pressure on all risk assets, including Bitcoin.”

When asked about the Bitcoin hash ribbons on-chain indicator suggesting that BTC had bottomed and miners had capitulated confirming that the Bitcoin bottom was in, Burnett said “I think with every sort of like on chain type metric, you definitely have to take it with a grain of salt. You can't look at it in a vacuum and say, yes, the bitcoin bottom is in.”

Burnett said:

“If US equities do make new lows, I certainly expect Bitcoin to follow. With that being said, I mean, if you're looking at the fundamentals of Bitcoin itself, I think minor capitulations do typically mark Bitcoin bottoms. And a hash driven indicator that Charles Edwards created is basically depicting that there was a minor capitulation this summer.”

Synergy between Big Energy and Bitcoin miners is a net positive for BTC

Discussion of the growing partnership between big energy providers, oil and gas companies and industrial-size Bitcoin miners has been a hot topic throughout 2022, and when asked about the direct benefits of this relationship to Bitcoin itself, Colin Harper said:

“I don't think that mining does anything bad or good for Bitcoin. I think it's good for Bitcoin in the sense that it will actually in the long run strengthen network security, decentralize mining and put it in like basically every corner of the globe if you have energy producers mining it. But in terms of actually doing anything to the price, I think that's just a kind of a wider adoption case. And as to whether or not people will be using it day to day as a medium of exchange, store of value and just general investment.”

Harper elaborated with, “If these companies do start mining it, then it becomes more palatable. It becomes less stigmatized. Depending on, I guess the oil producer and that person's politics.”

When asked about what Bitcoin mass adoption might look like in the future, in relation to the growth of the mining industry, Harper explained that:

“It's just going to be a matter of time before they start integrating Bitcoin into their stacks. And I think that's when things get interesting in terms of mining as an industry because if you have the producers of the energy and the people who own the energy mining Bitcoin, then that makes it very hard for people without those assets to eventually turn a profit because you're going to see hash price, which already trades in backwardation. Eventually, you can imagine a future where only energy producers and those who are invested with or embedded with energy producers can actually turn a profit on their bitcoin mining.”

Regulation and a growing desire to self-custody will drive Bitcoin Lightning Network growth

Both analysts agreed that while it may take a handful of years, the growth potential for layer-2 Bitcoin is bright. Burnett predicted that “over time more and more people will learn to demand final settlement of their Bitcoin, meaning that more people will hold their own keys.”

According to Burnett:

“If Bitcoin adoption grows by 100x or 1000x, there's going to be a lot more competition for scarce block space and on-chain fees will likely rise just because people will be demanding much more settlement, magnitudes more settlement on the base layer. But the block space to settle on the base layer is fixed. So these on chain fees rising will basically, in my opinion, potentially make lightning channel liquidity that's already open and available. It'll make it more valuable.”

Harper wholeheartedly agreed and added that, in his opinion, the Lightning Network “will be the thing that allows Bitcoin to be used as a worldwide medium of exchange and also, like Jack Maller has put it, It's the thing that can kind of separate Bitcoin, the asset from Bitcoin, the payment network in a way that's actually scalable.”

Tune in here to listen to the full conversation of the Twitter Space.

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content of product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.

Bitcoin Lightning Network vs Visa and Mastercard: How do they stack up?

August 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network has been growing at a slow pace. What’s keeping it behind, given its high transaction throughput?

Bitcoin (BTC) changed the world as a decentralized and non-governmental form of currency that can facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions that transcend national borders.

But, despite this functionality, Bitcoin’s role as a payment mechanism has been called into question due to its low transaction throughput.

The Bitcoin blockchain can handle up to seven transactions per second, which means that network demand has seen the average transaction fee on the network reach an all-time high above $62 during specific periods.

In order to address low throughput and high transaction fees, developers made the Lightning Network — a layer-2 scaling solution that allows for off-chain transactions.

The Lightning Network creates a P2P payment channel between two parties in a transaction. The channel “allows them to send an unlimited amount of transactions that are nearly instant as well as inexpensive. It acts as its own little ledger for users to pay for even smaller goods and services such as coffee without affecting the Bitcoin network.”

Users of the network lock in a certain amount of Bitcoin in order to create a channel. Once the BTC is locked, recipients can invoice amounts as they need.

To a certain extent, the network is seen as a solution to Bitcoin’s scalability problem, but its adoption has been somewhat slow. The network currently has 87,000 payment channels and 4,570 BTC worth over $111 million locked in, compared to the 19.1 million BTC in circulation, the market capitalization of which is over $460 billion.

Despite its slow adoption, the network has the potential to outcompete existing payment solutions.

Lightning Network’s transaction throughput

Payments giants like Visa and Mastercard are used to process payments worldwide. Mastercard’s network is estimated to process up to 5,000 transactions per second, making it far superior to Bitcoin’s seven per second.

Visa’s transaction throughput is even more impressive, being able to process up to 24,000 transactions per second. In a recent interview, Visa chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said that the network can, in theory, handle up to 65,000 transactions per second.

The Lightning Network goes much further, however, processing up to one million transactions per second, making it the most efficient payment system in the world in terms of transaction throughput.

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 Hall (@JoeNakamoto) July 25, 2022

Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall does an impromptu test of the Lightning Network versus fiat contactless payments.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ovidiu Chirodea, CEO of Romanian cryptocurrency exchange Coinzix, noted that the network marks the next phase in the evolution of money. Per Chirodea, first, there was gold, which was a store of value but wasn’t a convenient medium of exchange, with fiat currency following up as a convenient medium of exchange.

Recent: Tornado Cash saga highlights legal issues affecting the crypto market

Bitcoin, Chirodea said, was an evolutionary step that created a new store of value, with the Lightning Network serving as a platform for it to also become a medium of exchange:

“Visa is charging businesses around 3% to process payments, so I think the Lighting Network is a game changer. Companies will increase their revenue by using it and that’s not something that you can ignore.”

He noted, however, that the network’s scalability “isn’t so great,” as users need to open a channel with each party and tie up BTC on it, which affects their liquidity. Per his words, tying up liquidity can be avoided “using other routes and other payment channels,” but the solution “isn’t very scalable as payments channels keep opening and closing.”

Thomas Perfumo, head of business operations and strategy at crypto exchange Kraken, told Cointelegraph that since the firm launched Lightning Network support in April 2022, it has “steadily increased network capacity” to the point that it’s now the fifth-largest node on the Lightning Network:

“We currently have over 800 open channels that can facilitate upwards of 18 billion satoshis worth of payments. Clients are routinely funding their accounts via the Lightning Network on a daily basis.”

Perfumo added that the exchange sees the Lightning Network as “essential for the creation of a permissionless payment system that will ultimately help accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide.”

While the Lightning Network’s advantages in terms of transaction throughput are now clear, it has some notable downsides.

Firstly, opening up a Lightning wallet and funding it may not be as easy or as ingrained as opening a bank account and using a debit card.

Furthermore, funding a Lightning Network wallet requires users to send BTC from a traditional Bitcoin wallet, and creating a payment channel involves locking up funds.

Once funds are locked into a payment channel, they can freely transact but can only be recovered after that channel is closed. Moreover, offline transaction scams are possible, as one party may close a channel when the other is offline to try and steal funds. While third-party services may mitigate the risk, it keeps some from entering the network.

Privacy, ease of use and censorship-resistance

Keeping these disadvantages in mind, Max Rothman, head of crypto and digital assets at global payment processor Checkout.com, told Cointelegraph that being able to use cryptocurrencies to exchange goods and services “is only effective when crypto can seamlessly exchange hands.”

The Lightning Network being peer-to-peer, Rothman added, puts the responsibility for the transactions process on both merchants and customers. On an institutional level, “this can be challenging and resource-intensive to administer in-house without a trusted partner to manage thousands or millions of cross-currency transactions.”

Rothman said that solutions like the one used by Checkout.com, which rely on partner companies like Visa to offer on-ramps that allow for crypto-to-fiat conversions, are that “bridge that offers a more seamless translation experience between Web2 and Web3.”

Onboarding the next million or billion people to crypto “requires guidance, support, and bespoke solutions that work for every level of payment needs and acknowledges the current payments environment in which we operate,” he stated.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Bruce Fenton, a board member at the Bitcoin Foundation and a candidate for the United States Senate in New Hampshire, said the Lightning Network “enables Bitcoin to do more transactions” while being “more decentralized and censorship-resistant than centralized companies or most other chains.”

When asked about the pros and cons of using the Lightning Network over solutions from companies like Visa, Fenton dismissed Visa as “entirely centralized,” which means it can “be stopped or censored.” While centralization may be a concern on the Lightning Network for some, he said that it does not affect the Bitcoin blockchain itself and added:

“It’s mostly about what money you are building on and for. For those who believe in Bitcoin as the superior money, LN is the most well-known scaling solution.”

Chad Barraford, technical lead at decentralized liquidity protocol THORChain, told Cointelegraph that when checking out at online stores, the Lightning Network enables a “cash” option, in which “there is no other party participating, no exorbitant fees and substantial privacy benefits.”

He said that the network is “not solely motivated by the best interests of shareholders or board members” but serves its participants’ interests as a public good, adding:

“Visa is a financial institution that inherently seeks profit, control and is at the behest of governments. The Lightning Network is purely a public good. It only exists to provide a fundamental and critical service for every person on the planet in need of access to financial services.”

The Lightning Network’s adoption and success are “tightly coupled with the Bitcoin network itself,” Barraford stated. He believes that as the world sees BTC less as a speculative asset and more “like a currency to purchase items,” then inflationary pressures “will push more and more people to the Lightning Network.”

While the comparison against networks like that of Visa or Mastercard is clear from these answers, it’s worth pointing out that some of these arguments apply to other solutions such as PayPal, which can be forced to freeze customers’ assets or charge higher fees, for example.

Blockchain technology has been developing over time to the point other blockchains are also able to compete with Visa’s transaction throughput without seeking to profit from it.

What about other chains?

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Fenton hinted that the Lightning Network stands out as “more decentralized and censorship resistant” than most other blockchains.

Decred co-founder and project lead Jake Yocom-Piatt built on that idea, telling Cointelegraph that other blockchains are unable to match the Lightning Network’s qualities.

Yocom-Piatt claimed that high-throughput blockchain Solana, with a theoretical throughput of 710,000 transactions per second, is a “centralized noncustodial blockchain that requires its validating nodes run in datacenters on high-end hardware.” Comparing Bitcoin, Solana and Decred itself, he said:

“Of these three, Lightning Network is the most decentralized, sovereign and most aligned with the original ethos of the cryptocurrency space. Solana sacrifices most of its decentralization via its onerous validating node requirements, but at least it does not appear to be able to censor users and merchants arbitrarily.”

Whatever the future holds, it’s clear that innovation in the cryptocurrency space is increasing transaction throughput. Whether users will end up choosing to sacrifice privacy and immutability for more convenience remains to be seen.

Recent: Metaverse promises: Future of Web3 or just a market gimmick?

As it stands, more convenient solutions are available. It’s now easier to use layer-1 blockchains for payments via centralized entities that allow crypto assets to be converted to fiat currencies at the point of sale.

For the Lightning Network to gain a wider audience, more services are likely going to have to support it. Leading exchanges like Coinbase, Binance and FTX haven’t followed the footsteps of other exchanges in embracing the network, hindering its growth. As the network relies on having more payment channels to keep routing transactions, other networks and centralized payment providers are likely to stay ahead.

Bitcoin mining revenue jumps 68.6% from the lowest-earning day of 2022

August 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

Since July 2022, the Bitcoin ecosystem recovered across numerous determinants, including miners’ revenue in dollars, network difficulty and hash rate.

The Bitcoin (BTC) mining industry endured immense financial stress throughout the year 2022 as a prolonged bear market directly impacted their earnings when translated to the U.S. dollar. However, miners resilient to the year’s lowest mining revenue day, June 13, witnessed a 68.63% increase in mining revenue within a month.

Over the year, revenue from Bitcoin mining dropped due to a multitude of factors centered around investor sentiment — driven by tensions arising from market crashes, ecosystem collapses and loss-making investments. Cutting through the noise, the Bitcoin ecosystem recovered across numerous determinants, including miners’ revenue in dollars, network difficulty and hash rate.

*Total miners revenue over time. Source: blockchain.com*

Data from blockchain.com confirms that BTC mining revenue jumped nearly 69% in one month — from $13.928 million on July 13 to $23.488 million on Aug. 12. The significant increase in mining revenue reassures Bitcoin mining as a viable business despite high operational costs. In addition, lower mining equipment (GPU) prices have allowed BTC miners to expand their existing infrastructure as they pursue mining the last 2 million BTC.

Alongside mining revenue, Bitcoin’s hash rate grew over 10% over the last month, adding to the network’s resilience against double-spending attacks. However, as a result, network difficulty — a measure of how difficult it is to mine a new BTC block — increased for the first time since June.

Mirroring the positive outcomes across the Bitcoin network, crypto mining companies reported increased stock prices over the last month.

Crypto mining companies, including Hut8 Mining Corp., Marathon Digital Holdings and Core Scientific, revealed skyrocketing stock prices, each performing at least 95% better than June 2022.

All three companies, however, posted widened losses, driven by impairment losses on their crypto holdings.

Bitpay Reveals Prepaid Cardholders Can Get up to 15% Cash Back Rewards via Select Retailers

August 11, 2022 Bitcoin.com

VC Roundup: Lightning Network payment rail, DeFi trading platform and blockchain security firm raise millions

August 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

ZEBEDEE, Halborn, Hashflow, Socios and EtherMail headline the latest funding deals from the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Even with the onset of crypto winter, 2022 has been a watershed year for venture capital funding. Crypto and blockchain companies collectively raised $30.3 billion in venture capital in the first half of 2022, exceeding all of last year's totals. While the number of deals has declined in recent months, startups at the intersection of blockchain payments, decentralized finance (DeFi) and cybersecurity are still attracting sizable interest from the VC community. The latest edition of VC Roundup highlights some of the most intriguing funding deals of the past month.

ZEBEDEE closes $35M Series B

ZEBEDEE, a Bitcoin (BTC)-powered payment processor for the gaming industry, has raised $35 million from several investors including Kingsway Capital, The Raine Group and Square Enix. ZEBEDEE is essentially a platform that allows game developers to incorporate programmable money, including BTC, into their games. The payment platform is powered by Lightning Network, making ZEBEDEE a “Bitcoin enabler of choice” for its partners, according to Kingsway Capital managing partner Afonso Campos.

So, we all know that the Lightning Network transfers value instantly and is ever growing with more than 4K Bitcoin stored on its public channels. But how does it make money?

You asked our Development Team and here’s their response pic.twitter.com/f3ZMpEFjhW
— ZEBEDEE (@zebedeeio) July 21, 2022

Blockchain security company raises $90M Series A

Blockchain security firm Halborn closed a $90 million funding round in July that was led by Summit Partners with additional participation from Castle Island Ventures, Digital Currency Group and Brevan Howard, among others. Halborn was founded in 2019 by ethical hackers offering blockchain security services. The company recently warned MetaMask users to be weary of a phishing campaign targeting their browser wallets.

DeFi platform Hashflow raises $25M in Series A funding

Hashflow, a decentralized finance trading platform headquartered in San Francisco, has closed a $25 million funding round backed by some of crypto’s most prominent venture funds. The investment round, which had participation from Jump Crypto, Electric Capital, Dragonfly Capital Partners and GSR, will aid Hashflow in expanding its product offerings for market markers and institutional traders.

See the biggest deals and more VC data from Q1, courtesy of @CointelegraphCS.

https://t.co/MPIp7dgMOW pic.twitter.com/KTGDkM4qBf
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 3, 2022

Socios acquires 24.5% stake in Barca Studios

Fan engagement token platform Socios announced in early August that it would invest $100 million in Barca Studios, the digital content arm of the FC Barcelona football club. Socios, which is owned by blockchain technology provider Chiliz, will help FC Barcelona accelerate its Web3 and nonfungible token (NFT) engagement strategy. Specifically, Barca Studios is pursuing NFT and metaverse projects that will help the football club engage with its vast global fanbase, and will rely on Socios’ blockchain to deliver on the strategy.

EtherMail secures seed funding for wallet-to-wallet communications

Web3 email solution EtherMail has raised $3 million ahead of the planned launch of its encrypted wallet-to-wallet communication service. Scheduled for release in the third quarter, EtherMail enables Web3 companies to send “rich, relevant content directly to their asset holders,” thereby reducing the risk of communication fraud. The service also streamlines community newsletter distribution by enabling autonomous, self-updating mailing lists. The seed round was led by Fabric Ventures and Greenfield One.

Fintech Firm Galoy Raises $4 Million, Startup Introduces Bitcoin-Backed Synthetic Dollar Product

August 3, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Dollars on the Lightning Network: a boon for emerging markets?

August 3, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

An innovation on the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) could shelter users from the price volatility of BTC by providing access to dollars.

Dollars at the click of a button on the Lightning Network could soon become a reality. An innovation from Galoy, the provider of open source core banking platforms such as Bitcoin (BTC) Beach wallet, could provide safe haven from the volatility of BTC.

The innovation, called Stablesats, uses derivatives contracts to create a Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar pegged to USD. The founder of Galoy, Nicolas Burtey, told Cointelegraph in an ‘explain like I’m five’ kind of way that the wallet works as so:

“When we receive sats over Lightning, we convert it into dollars so that even if the price of Bitcoin changes, the user is not affected by the liability.”

But why do we need dollars inside of a Lightning wallet–isn’t that what stablecoins are for? In effect, stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT) already provide the functionality of synthetic or digital dollars.

In a YouTube video, Burtey explains that “Lightning [Network] is the best payment protocol there is, so instead of using all these different payment protocols that stablecoins use.” It keeps users in one place in one app or wallet. According to the website, “Stablesats only relies on the Bitcoin payment network to work.”

The idea was built upon a suggestion by Bitmex in 2015 of creating a synthetic USD. However, in a press release, Burtey suggests that the idea may have been before its time: there was no Lightning Network and no nation-state Bitcoin adoption.

As Bitcoin continues to make waves in emerging markets, price volatility is often brought into question. For example, the Bank of England chief argues that Bitcoin is too volatile for legal tender. The ease with which users can now access dollars flies in the face of that argument. Burtey told Cointelegraph sums up the situation:

“Because lightning is getting a lot of traction in developing countries, but this is also the place where people live paycheck to paycheck. So they can't necessarily afford the volatility until they manage to have some savings.”

As Cointelegraph reports, U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins are “viable alternatives” in emerging markets, and appetite for them swells in countries with high inflation and unstable regimes. The innovation on the Lightning Network provides users with another means of Dollar-exposure.

Sebastien Verreault, the lead contributor to the Stablesats GitHub repository, explained that Dollar exposure is just a first step: “Ultimately, we can unlock the ability for every Lightning user to choose their own units of account without ever leaving the network.”

Galoy is behind the Bitcoin Beach Wallet in El Salvador, the Bitcoin Jungle App in Costa Rica, and Guatt Wallet in Panama, which is yet to be released. The Bitcoin Beach Wallet is the most popular wallet in El Zonte, the heart of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador.

*Nicolas Burtey (right) with Central Bankers explaining the Bitcoin Beach Wallet in May. Source: Twitter*

Central Bankers from around the world tried out the Bitcoin Beach Wallet on a visit to El Salvador in Ma this year.

The Costa’ Bitcoin on the rise: Major chains give Gibraltar a BTC boost

July 26, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Community

Major franchises in Gibraltar including Costa Coffee, the Card Factor and Hotel Chocolat now accept Bitcoin over the Lightning Network or on-chain.

“But you can’t buy a coffee with Bitcoin,” the Bitcoin (BTC) critics chanted. Gibraltar, a tiny British Overseas Territory in Europe just blew a hole in that FUD as popular coffee chain Costa Coffee now accepts Bitcoin over Lightning.

Hotel Chocolat, the Card Factory and the Gibraltar bakery also accept Bitcoin as a currency in the British Overseas Territory. The well-known franchises take advantage of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) to accept customers’ money. The LN is ideal for microtransaction cappuccinos, postcard payments or ice cream investments as reporter Joe Hall found out during a Gibraltar shopping spree.

Lightning-enabled Bitcoin merchants in Gibralatar. Source: CoinCorner

Payments are instant, frictionless and charge merchants less than the typical Mastercard or Visa payment rails. Neil Walker, managing director at Sandpiper GI — the group managing the retail franchises — told Cointelegraph that when using a Lightning-enabled card, “It's no different to using a contactless credit card.”

“It is just as quick you can tap and pay contactless credit cards, you can tap and pay lightning, scan a QR code. And whilst I haven't timed it, I reckon it's almost exactly the same speed.”

CoinCorner, a Bitcoin exchange on the Isle of Man, partnered with Sandpiper GI, to help in equipping merchants with Bitcoin Lightning point of sale (PoS) devices.

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 Hall (@JoeNakamoto) July 25, 2022

Walker shared that even for Bitcoin naysayers, the ease with which customers and merchants can transact is a no-brainer. He told Cointelegraph, “whether you believe in Bitcoin or not, you can use the lightning network to cut your transaction costs and to pay via mobile.” Given that it’s a neutral payment rail, he said that customers can traverse currencies easily:

“For a long time, the idea of paying with bitcoin seemed alien to both businesses and individuals, but with the launch of The Bolt Card and the ability to “tap and pay” via lightning, the user experience is quick, easy and familiar to everyone.”

Gibraltar welcomes 8 million tourists onto the rock per year, from countries including the United States, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Plus, Walker estimates that roughly 15,000 cross-border workers cross over from Spain to work in Gibraltar on a daily basis. Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar pound while Spain uses the euro, so currency conversion, remittance and tourism could be strong drivers for adopting a global, borderless currency.

To pay for a coffee in Gibraltar, customers can now scan a QR code or simply tap to pay using an NFC-enabled Bitcoin Lightning card. The most popular payment choice among Satoshi spenders is the Bolt Card, a CoinCorner innovation. Molly Spiers, head of marketing at CoinCorner told Cointelegraph that the “Bolt Card has been a driving factor for Bitcoin adoption.”

Bitcoin adoption in British Overseas Territories is booming, boosted by the ease of tap-and-go payments. Over on the Isle of Man, an island whose population doubles Gibraltar’s 35,000, Bitcoin adoption “has exploded over the last 6 months,” Spiers told Cointelegraph. “We've gone from around fi businesses accepting bitcoin, to now nearly 10x that!”

While the Isle of Man has made itself the mantle, “Bitcoin Island,” Walker quips that Gibraltar could be called “Bitcoin Rock.” Indeed, the household names of Costa Coffee and Hotel Chocolat join a growing list of merchants that accept Bitcoin in Gibraltar. Essardas Luxury, for example, has accepted Bitcoin since early 2021, while smaller independent shops accept Bitcoin and sometimes cryptocurrencies including stablecoins upon request.

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