Honk if you love Bitcoin! Lightning takes the wheel of a European rally car adventure

June 23, 2023 Coin Telegraph

With a comically loud horn, a candy machine and a jukebox filled with Mozart, metal and more, it's the "Bitcoin Ambassadors" rally car adventure.

A Bitcoin-mobile (BTC) piloted by the “Bitcoin Ambassadors” team is competing in the 8,000-kilometer Baltic Sea Circle Rally race, orange-pilling competitors and campsites along the way.

*The car is adorned and sponsored by Bitcoin companies. Source: Cercatrova*

Two Bitcoin advocates, Cercatrova, the democratically elected president of German-speaking Bitcoin community Einundzwanzig, and his copilot Daktari, set off on the orange-pilling adventure this week, attempting to pass through 9 Northern European countries in their Bitcoin-branded car.

Speaking to Cointelegraph from somewhere above the Arctic Circle, Cercatrova explained:

“The whole rally is a charity rally; there are 150 teams or cars. It starts in Hamburg and goes up to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and around the Baltic Sea – it’s around 8,000 kilometres, 16 days and we’re the only Bitcoin team here–none of the other teams are cryptocurrency teams.”

The goal is to “Bring Bitcoin to the people,” while also raise money for two sources, a Panamanian coffee farmer and an El Salvadoran peer2peer ride-sharing app developed on Lightning. Naturally, they’ve been “orange pilling” or introducing people to Bitcoin along the journey.

Christian, founder of Seedor, a metal Bitcoin backup based in Germany who’s avidly following their journey told Cointelegraph that while in Norway “They orange pilled the campground." The duo showed the campground owner how to pay in Bitcoin:

Orange pilling the campground owner in Norway

If you take your time, listen and explain to people, they will understand we could pay our place here in #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/OReIxQKHuA
— cercatrova⚡️ (@cercatrova_21) June 21, 2023

Cercatrova told Cointelegraph that so far they have discussed Bitcoin with at least 30 people as part of the rally in amongst chance conversations with interested observers. Plus, passersby and overtakers can scan the QR code on the side of the car to receive free Satoshis, or small amounts of Bitcoin, to get started on their Bitcoin journey.

“So when somebody sees us and asks about Bitcoin, “how does it work?” We can actually take the people to our car and say, okay, just install a wallet and it's done in about 30 seconds. And they’re amazed: ‘I didn't have to fill out anything, didn't have to take a passport or whatever.' It just works,"

The car is also equipped with a candy machine that accepts Bitcoin, so noobies can spend their brand new Sats on candy, “just to see how it works,” Cercatrova explained.

*The team's location, northern Norway. Source: superlative-adventure.com*

For the Bitcoin enthusiasts following at home, the car is Lightning-ready. A remote-play jukebox and a Lightning-switch horn can be operated from all around the world. Fans and supporters worldwide are sending their song requests to the car’s Lightning-ready Telegram group, paying less than a dollar for the courtesy.

Choose which song we will listen at the #BalticSeaCircle Rally and honk our horn over Lightning All sats will go to the https://t.co/vB9oXhpbrh project (from @FPupusas), 2 indios in panama, who make coffee for sats and to the creater of the jukebox ☕️ pic.twitter.com/x6IsuhPZZA
— cercatrova⚡️ (@cercatrova_21) June 20, 2023

Lightning enthusiasts can also set off the car’s horn from thousands of miles away. The process uses a Lightning switch which turns on when it has received enough sats. Cercatrova explains:

“So on my Twitter feed is also the QR code, where you can scan the lightning invoice. And when you pay that, it's about 3000 Sats to honk it once. And then our car honks!”

The honk is comically loud and playful, while the lightning jukebox playlist has featured metal to Mozart and German folk tunes to crypto classics such as Pump it Up. Cercatrova explained that the musical variation is a great source of fun and motivation:

“One time there is death metal and the other side it's Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and it's really crazy.”

To date, the Bitcoin Ambassadors rally team has raised approximately 4 million Satoshis or $1,200 for charity, although Cercatrova added "the next days and the willingness to send more Sats," could drive the number higher. The drivers are about halfway through the journey, expecting to finish by the end of June.

As vital research for this article, Reporter Joe Hall not only set off the horn during the phone interview but he also queued up a famous song by Rick Astley.

Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Bitcoin adoption in Mexico boosted by Lightning partnership with retail giant

June 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

“Imagine if Best Buy, Bank of America, Fox News and an NFL team were all owned by the same individual. All of them will have lightning capabilities in the future,” Jose Lemus, CEO of Ibex Mercado, told Cointelegraph.

The world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) conference, Bitcoin 2023, in Miami, Florida, passed without major fanfare this year. Past conferences announced nation-state adoption, massive crypto integrations in the United States, and islands and territories worldwide embracing Bitcoin.

Nonetheless, at Bitcoin 2023, one partnership with a potentially significant impact on the world’s 15th-largest economy flew under the radar.

We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Grupo Salinas. Looking forward to seeing the positive impact this collaboration will have.⚡️ #Bitcoin #bitcoiconference2023 https://t.co/rkAjWnmKsK pic.twitter.com/yWIWc6751B
— IBEX ⚡️ (@PoweredbyIBEX) May 18, 2023

José Lemus, the CEO of Ibex Mercado, closed out the Bitcoin 2023 Industry Day. He announced a partnership with Grupo Salinas, one of Mexico’s largest corporate conglomerates. In brief, the collaboration would allow millions of Mexicans to pay their internet bills at popular telecoms company Total Play using the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Crucially, the Salinas Group owns tens of businesses across Mexico. Its billionaire founder, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, is the third-richest person in the country and a well-known Bitcoin maximalist.

Not only does the Bitcoin Lightning payments integration already deliver Bitcoin adoption to millions of Mexicans, but as Lemus explained to Cointelegraph, Total Play is one small retailer that’s part of the vast Salinas conglomerate:

“Imagine if Best Buy, Bank of America, Fox News and an NFL team were all owned by the same individual. All of them will have Lightning capabilities in the future.”

Lemus explained it’s just the “tip of the iceberg of what will go on in Mexico,” as more Bitcoin and Lightning integrations, and on and off-ramps attract more Bitcoin business. Speaking via video link, Lemus explained that fiat and Bitcoin can interact more freely in Mexico:

“Let’s say you have a wallet and you want to make Mexican pesos available in Mexico, or you have an exchange and you want to make the balances for your customers in Mexico. You can do that through CoinPro or through Grupo Salinas.”

The partnership is the beginning of Lightning functionality across Grupo Salinas. There will be a Lightning app “for employees, a super app for soccer teams to do something similar to what we have with the Perth Heat where we drive fan engagement with innovative ways.”

The Australian baseball team, Perth Heat, adopted a Bitcoin standard in 2021, with players earning salaries in Bitcoin and “Sats4Stats”, where players receive Bitcoin for hitting home runs. Plus, fan engagement activities use the Lightning Network. For example, during baseball games, “When a player steals a base, a QR flashes on screen and the first people that scan it get satoshis,” Lemus explained.

*Players can send satoshis to players directly during Perth Heat baseball games. Source: PerthHeat.com.au*

In the first year of operation, the Perth Heat players earned an extra 1% through Bitcoin, Lemus said on stage at Bitcoin 2023. “It’s still early” for such a technology, but an extra 1% is already encouraging.

Grupo Salinas owns the Mexican football clubs, Mazatlán and Club Puebla. Fans could soon get their hands on free money — in the form of Bitcoin or satoshis — for simply scanning the QR code on the stadium screen when a player scores, just like with Perth Heat.

*A snapshot of some of the Grupo Salinas brands spanning retail, banking, sports and advertising. Source: GrupoSalinas.com*

Ibex Mercado understands the massive opportunity for financial inclusion offered by the Lightning Network. Lemus founded Ibex in neighboring Guatemala, and the company delivered the Lightning Network integration for El Salvador’s Chivo Wallet — which effectively banked millions of Salvadorans — two years prior.

Lemus explained that more Bitcoin adoption could improve the lives of unbanked and underserved populations. Moreover, financial inclusion goes beyond banking the unbanked:

“It’s the ability to raise funds for your company. It’s the ability to open yourself to a broader market. And that is what, for me, true financial inclusion is.”

Finally, Lemus highlighted the potential of Mexico as a Bitcoin destination: “I think that Mexico is going to be the place where this is going to take off.“ More broadly, 2022 was a promising year for Bitcoin and crypto adoption in the country, from crypto remittance companies establishing in Mexico to crypto exchange expansion.

Does this mean that crypto enthusiasts may soon be able to live on Bitcoin like they can in El Salvador? Lemus replied:

“Let’s say you conduct most of your life in Bitcoin, I think 18 months is a reasonable target where you can do most of your life. But obviously, things like taxes and maybe rent will not run on Bitcoin yet.”

Similarly, the partnership with Grupo Salinas took 18 months of work and preparation, Lemus said. More partnerships and projects are on the horizon in Mexico, although it’s too early to share details, Lemus concluded.

Magazine: Peter McCormack’s Real Bedford Football Club puts Bitcoin on the map

Cuba Bitcoin community hosts BTC-only meetup

May 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin meetup

The Cuba Bitcoin community hosted the country’s first-ever Bitcoin-only meetup in Havana over the weekend, attended by 60 crypto-curious Cubans.

Cuba Bitcoin hosted the meetup at the Bitcoin-friendly bar and restaurant Pazillo. Cuba Bitcoin is a lively group of Bitcoin advocates and activists whose discussions on Telegram between anonymous social media accounts that hide people’s identities, had yet to make it into the real world.

*The Cuba Bitcoin community complete with emojis to hide faces.*

Cuba’s foray into Bitcoin signifies a departure from the centralized economic model that has shaped Cuba’s economic progress for decades. Despite limited internet access, financial constraints, and a socialist-styled government, the meetup underscored that Cubans are increasingly turning to crypto as a means of financial freedom and an “exit” from the local economy.

Co-founder of Cuba Bitcoin, Forte11 (not his real name) told Cointelegraph:

“The mission of the meetup is to educate–not convince Cubans about the potential of Bitcoin in Cuba. Each person has the freedom of expression to decide what they want to do. It’s education, education, and education first and foremost.”

While Bitcoin meet-ups in the Western World might be dominated by white, middle-aged men, Cuba’s Bitcoin-only meet-up included a wide range of characters. From small business owners to software developers to teenage students to grandmothers, more than 60 people turned up. Paco de la India, a Bitcoin vlogger and evangelist also attended, delivering a talk on Bitcoin adoption around the world.

Although Cuba is technically a centrally-planned economy, the state recently relaxed laws on private business ownership. This arena is the target market for Bitcoin merchant adoption, as coupled with the recent crypto regulations passed in Cuba, it is now legal to accept cryptocurrencies for goods and services.

To demonstrate this, the group sold Cuba Bitcoin t-shirts for 1,000 Satoshis ($0.30) so attendees would learn about the layer-2 lightning network. The T-shirts sold out.

*Paying for T-shirts with Bitcoin Lightning during the meetup.*

Nonetheless, the main talk of the day revolves around how to get one's hands on Bitcoin. In a country where mobile Internet penetration remains relatively low and smartphones are not yet ubiquitous, downloading Bitcoin applications or wallets is out of reach for many Cubans.

What’s more, due to the US trade embargo, familiar exchanges, such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini are not welcome in Cuba. As a result, to buy Bitcoin, Cubans tend to do so the OG way, through peer-to-peer exchange.

*Forte11 introduces "C" (face hidden) ahead of their talk on buying Bitcoin peer-to-peer.*

Bitcoin Cuba co-founder “C” delivered a talk on how to buy bitcoin, peer-to-peer through telegram trading groups. Through a lightning-enabled tipping bot chat on Telegram, Cubans can buy bitcoin in exchange for Cuban pesos, or the Cuban MLC, which is a “dollar-backed” government-owned stablecoin. Mobile transfers can also make purchases as more and more Cubans access, government-run banking services. Most trades in the telegram groups range between $.20 to $50; the average Cuban owns just $40 a month.

A well-known Cuban crypto enthusiast, Erich Garcia Cruz also attended the meetup. He told Cointelegraph:

“Using Bitcoin you can be a freedom person. We have a lot of opportunity here if we teach to all the businesses to use Bitcoin as a payment method; to use Bitcoin as a freedom tool–as that’s the path.”

Now more than 10 businesses in Cuba’s capital, Havana, accept Bitcoin for goods and services. Buoyed by the success of the first Cuba Bitcoin meetup, the community intends to set up regular future meetups and events.

This interview is part of an upcoming Youtube documentary about Bitcoin adoption in Cuba. Subscribe here.

Bitcoin Lightning company River raises $35M amid ‘new wave of institutional adoption’

May 16, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Lightning company River raises M amid ‘new wave of institutional adoption’

Coin Telegraph

“We’re seeing another wave of Bitcoin interest, largely driven by business and institutional adoption,” says Alex Leishman, River CEO. “It’s not fueled by hype.”

The tide might have gone out on Bitcoin Ordinals, but there’s a strong undercurrent of investments in Bitcoin-only companies. River, a U.S.-based Bitcoin (BTC) technology and financial services company is the latest to make a splash.

River announced a $35 million Series B equity funding round despite the bear market. Kingsway Capital led the round, with notable contributions including Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel, Cygni, Goldcrest and Valor Equity Partners.

According to Alex Leishman, the CEO of River, the new wave of Bitcoin interest is “largely driven by business and institutional adoption.” He added:

"It’s not fueled by hype. This year’s bank failures and bailouts have been a wake-up call, revealing the cracks of the traditional financial system and reminding us why Bitcoin is so important–it’s a secure path to a stronger and more transparent global economy."

The San Francisco-based company manages one of the largest Bitcoin lightning nodes, enabling payments and managing liquidity for the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

*Top Bitcoin Lightning nodes by capacity. Source: River.com*

The River Lightning API enables companies to easily integrate with the Lightning Network. The service has already taken charge of one of the key players in the Bitcoin payments landscape; El Salvador's Chivo wallet use River for near-instant and near-free Bitcoin payments.

River was an early adopter of the Lightning Network, similar to global crypto exchanges including Bitfinex and Kraken.

*A snapshot of the River lightning node's capacity and connected channels. Source: Mempool.space*

Moreover, the world’s largest exchanges, Coinbase and Binance, may soon adopt Lightning as the world slowly warms up to the low-fee, high-throughput payments network. At the Advancing Bitcoin conference in London, River CEO Leishm told Cointelegraph:

"I still think that we are very early. Yeah, there’s a lot of cool things happening. We’re building this really amazing foundation protocol-wise."

He said that it’s important to see more people “ working backward from the real human problems as well. We need more of that.” In light of the surge in mainchain transaction fees due to meme coin mania, more and more exchanges and crypto companies may turn to the Lightning Network as a solution.

River joins a burgeoning list of Bitcoin companies making raises during the bear market. Custody service provider Unchained Capital recently raised $60 million, while El Salvador’s education program received a flood of investments from Bitcoin advocates around the world.

Bitcoin fee spike spurs shift to Lightning Network: Binance and Coinbase line up

May 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Binance announced plans to embrace the Lightning Network: which large crypto exchanges are Lightning ready, and which ones are yet to be struck?

The recent surge in Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees has lit a fire under one of the largest crypto exchanges to upgrade to the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Following a second halt in withdrawals, Binance announced it would work on “enabling BTC Lightning Network withdrawals, which will help in such situations.”

To prevent a similar recurrence in the future, our fees have been adjusted. We will continue to monitor on-chain activity and adjust accordingly if needed.

Our team has also been working on enabling BTC Lightning Network withdrawals, which will help in such situations.
— Binance (@binance) May 8, 2023

The Lightning Network (LN, for short, or simply, “Lightning”) is a federated system for cheap, near-instant, payments built atop Bitcoin. When the Bitcoin mempool (the space that transactions gather before being confirmed) is full or busy, the lightning network is unaffected.

To date, several large crypto exchanges have integrated the Lightning Network, including Bitfinex, River, OKX, Kraken and CoinCorner. If implemented correctly, the Lightning Network would allow users to withdraw and send Bitcoin immediately from wallets, sidestepping the congested Bitcoin blockchain.

Fees on Bitcoin are rising, and there are still many Bitcoin (to fiat) exchanges that haven't adopted Lightning deposits and withdrawals

Technical challenges are not the reason. Solutions like @RiverRLS exist that make integration fast and easy for any business. The issue is… pic.twitter.com/WR5u7cjMCx
— Sam Wouters (@SDWouters) May 8, 2023

The largest crypto exchange in the United States, Coinbase, is also warming up to the LN. Further to comments that CEO Brian Armstrong would integrate the LN soon, Armstrong finally sent Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall $100 over the Lightning Network, demonstrating that he is familiar with the network.

European Bitcoin exchanges are also embracing the LN. Adem Bilican, the CTO of Swiss-based Bitcoin exchange, Relai, told Cointelegraph:

“We believe that Bitcoin is the best savings technology ever invented. But you should be able to spend and send BTC as fast and cheaply as possible. The Lightning Network is the best solution to tackle that, no matter how the on-chain transaction fees look.”

Swiss Bitcoin exchange, PocketBitcoin recently tweeted it would “get this Lightning thing started,” in response to higher and higher fees on the Bitcoin Basechain.

However, given that the LN is a relatively new solution in the crypto space, payment failure can occur. The network is growing and scaling organically, but more liquidity may help the network scale faster. Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex shed light on the situation:

"The Bitfinex node is the most interconnected node on the entire Lightning Network. It is also the biggest, providing liquidity to most of the other nodes. Hence the chances of failure are extremely low."

True to form, the Bitfinex CTO tweeted in response to the high fees that users should ask their crypto exchange of choice to integrate LN. Binance and Coinbase are hopping on board, other large exchanges Gemini, KuCoin and ByBit have yet to announce or discuss implementing the LN.

Magazine: Bitcoin in Senegal: Why is this African country using BTC?

Bitcoin crowdfunding is Lightning: El Salvador school program hits 1 BTC in donations

May 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin education program "My First Bitcoin" reaches 1 BTC in donations, with Bitcoin Beach matching contributions, fueling expansion.

There’s a beacon of light in the bear market tunnel. The El Salvador nonprofit program, “My First Bitcoin” (Mi Primer Bitcoin), raised over 1 Bitcoin (BTC) in donations-not from venture capitalists and investors–but from generous Bitcoin education advocates worldwide.

Donations flooded in from Venezuelans, Poles and Canadians as 100s of people around the world sent Satoshis (small parts of Bitcoin) over the Lightning Work, to fund the expansion of My First Bitcoin’s Bitcoin Diploma program.

We did it! We crowdfunded 1 BTC on @geyserfund in April

A matching donation from @Bitcoinbeach put us over the top last night--what a way to end the month :)

Huge THANK YOU to the 250+ donors who got us here

This is a movement that we are all part of & edu is how we will win
— Mi Primer Bitcoin (@MyfirstBitcoin_) May 1, 2023

Cointelegraph wrote to John Dennehy, founder of the My First Bitcoin program to understand how the crowdfunding campaign reached 1 BTC in less than three weeks. Dennehy told Cointelegraph, "Bitcoin’s greatest potential is empowering the individual and making it easy to donate value is a big part of that.”

“Bitcoin crowdfunding makes it possible for anyone to participate, which is revolutionary when compared to the existing fiat system that restricts who can participate. This is a way to level the playing field.”

As opposed to Paypal or GoFundMe, Bitcoin's censorship-resistant and self-sovereign properties make it one of the most efficient ways of sending money online. Plus, it’s far cheaper. Money is sent over the layer-2 Lightning Network, which costs a fraction of legacy payment services. Dennehy explains:

“Bitcoin crowdfunding is an example of how Bitcoin allows people to take control of their own money.”

The crowdfunding campaign was boosted by efforts made by Bitcoin Beach, the Bitcoin circular community in El Zonte, on El Salvador’s Pacific Coast. Bitcoin Beach was the spark that led to Bitcoin being declared legal tender in El Salvador in 2021. On April 27, Bitcoin Beach declared it would match all donations to the project until midnight on April 27:

For those of you waiting to donate till #BTC goes back to $60k You can effectively do that for the next hour——-For the next hour we will match your donations to ⁦@MyfirstBitcoin_⁩ so double your giving power Primer Bitcoin 2- 2023 Expansion | Geyser https://t.co/F4w29zXNYQ
— Bitcoin Beach (@Bitcoinbeach) April 27, 2023

However, the campaign had begun with lightning fast levels of generosity. Metamick, the founder of Geyser, told Cointelegraph it’s “Definitely the biggest educational project on Geyser ever! Insane traction in just a day!” Adding that it's also the third largest crowdfund ever on Geyser after one day.

Indeed, in April, the Bitcoin crowdfunding platform Geyser hit a new record, reaching over 2 BTC sent in donations:

In all, despite the fact that the Bitcoin price grinds lower–and wipes out traders–the Bitcoin community continues to build and educate. Dennehy sums it up:

“We are inspired everyday by the support we receive from the Bitcoin community. We couldn’t do what we do without it.”

To date, My First Bitcoin has educated 6,000 students in El Salvador. Cointelegraph attended the second graduation ceremony in San Marcos in November 2021.

Magazine: What it’s actually like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador

Bitcoin Lightning Network is 1,000x cheaper than Visa and MasterCard: Data

April 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Payments

Glassnode data demonstrates that the Lightning Network outcompetes traditional payment networks in terms of commission costs.

Fresh data from Glassnode demonstrates that Bitcoin's (BTC) Lightning Network is significantly cheaper to use than legacy payment networks.

The median fee rate, or the cost of sending value across the Lightning Network, is 0.0029%, 1,000 times cheaper than that of MasterCard of Visa payment processors.

James Check, lead analyst at Glassnode, told Cointelegraph that the median fee rate, or the fee charged per 1 BTC sent across the Lightning Network, is currently 3,000 Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin). That is “equivalent to $0.84 to send $28,800 worth of value [...] which is a fee of 0.0029%.”

“Pretty remarkable when you think about it.”

In a post on the Nostr social media protocol, Bitcoin analyst Dylan LeClair noted that this rate is many times less than that charged by major credit card companies.

The Lightning Network, a layer-2 payments solution built atop the world’s largest cryptocurrency was first proposed as a way to make Bitcoin effective as a payment method. These data points demonstrate that it is not only fast but low-cost, with the mean fee rate has been steadily trending lower since November 2021.

Legacy payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard charge merchants a fee of around 2-3% per transaction, making them an expensive option for businesses. In an upcoming Cointelegraph documentary shot in Cape Verde, the business owner of one of the few businesses to accept Bitcoin explained that accepting foreign Visa and Mastercard costs over 8%.

Moreover, Glassnode's Check referred to users who run their own nodes and manage their own channels. Many Lightning users take advantage of custodial wallets, such as Wallet of Satoshi and Alby to make micropayments on social media apps such as Nostr.

Some Bitcoin early adopters have noted the growing preference for custodial solutions (as the Bitcoiner mantra is “not your keys, not your coin”), although semi-custodial solutions such as Fedi and Cashu could undermine reliance on fully custodial solutions.

Furthermore, the throughput of the Lightning Network could be called into question. Check explained:

“Of course, we must also consider that the typical channel is smaller than 1 BTC. The median channel size is 0.02 BTC and the mean is 0.08 BTC, so overall the Lightning Network remains well suited to payments below $1,000.”

In the below graph, the channel size is trending higher but still well under $10,000. In such an environment, payments over $1,000 may be better suited to the Bitcoin base chain in order to avoid payment failure or misfire.

Brian Armstrong promised me $100 in Bitcoin — so where is it?

April 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Brian Armstrong promised me 0 in Bitcoin — so where is it?

Coin Telegraph

Is it possible that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong doesn't know how to use the Bitcoin Lightning Network? It could explain why he stiffed me.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong owes me $100. That’s because he might not know how to use the Lightning Network, the instant payment solution built on top of Bitcoin.

Armstrong, who’s been building in the Bitcoin (BTC) space since 2012, recently tweeted that he would pay people who provided the “best examples” of people using cryptocurrency in Africa. “If you’re using crypto in Africa, reply with a short video (<30 seconds) or photo of how you’re using it,” Armstrong wrote. “Best few examples get $100 in crypto.”

If you're using crypto in Africa, reply with a short video (<30 seconds) or photo of how you're using it. Best few examples get $100 in crypto. Use hashtag #CryptoAfrica

And if you haven't already, try out self-custodial Coinbase Wallet - send feedback https://t.co/zWvaH1nerF
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 7, 2023

This is the CEO of Coinbase, after all, so I shared a video of myself using Bitcoin in Africa, which was part of a 30-second segment of a recent Cointelegraph documentary covering Bitcoin in Senegal.

The tweet quickly became the most-liked and most-shared response to Armstrong’s query. (Crucially, the tweet referred to Bitcoin in Africa, not crypto in Africa, and it demonstrated the ease and speed of the Lightning Network.)

However, Armstrong appears to have ignored my submission, despite more than 600 likes and 100 retweets. The next most popular submission had just 50 likes. So, I reached out to some key opinion leaders, creators and influencers within the Bitcoin community to amplify the tweet. Wicked, an anonymous Bitcoin educator and data analyst, tagged Armstrong in a post, accusing him of “actively ignoring the #Bitcoin Lightning Network.”

My tweets auto-delete after some number of months, so there is no search history.

Lightning is great and something we’ll integrate.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 8, 2023

Wicked very kindly drew Brian’s attention to my tweet video about Bitcoin in Africa. The tweet, and Armstrong's affirmation that "Lightning is great and something we'll integrate," led to news outlets around the world reporting on Coinbase's next development. He then also tweeted that he had sent me the money.

Awesome! sent $100 to joe@coincorner.io

cheers
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 8, 2023

Here’s where things get weird. Armstrong said he paid me the $100. He said he sent $100 to the Lightning address shown in my Twitter profile bio: Joe@Coincorner.io

Now, if you’ve never used the Lightning Network before, you’d be forgiven for confusing this address with an email address. But would the CEO of Coinbase make that mistake? Could the Bitcoin OG have failed to recognize that the request in my bio — which says “Send BTC to Joe@Coincorner.io,” surrounded by lightning bolt emojis — could be my Lightning address?

Side note: Running a Bitcoin node is mildly technical, and sending money on the Bitcoin blockchain for the first time is a little nerve-wracking, as the transaction takes roughly 10 minutes to confirm and we live in an instant world. But using the Lightning Network in 2023? It’s brain-dead easy. A walk in the park. Seriously.

“That’s a big call, Joe,” I hear you say.

Yep, it is. And I’ve got the receipts to prove it. It’s so easy to use the Lightning Network that I stand in the street in locations worldwide giving out Bitcoin to people on their brand-new Lightning wallets — and I film their reactions.

The most common remarks are “I didn’t know it’s so easy” and “Wow, it’s so fast.” The videos are on my YouTube channel. Here’s a video shot in France for the Cointelegraph YouTube channel where I give out Bitcoin:

So, please — let’s not pretend that Armstrong is overwhelmed by the complexity of sending money to my Lightning address. Moreover, funnily enough, Bitcoin advocates worldwide saw my tweet and took pleasure in sending me sats to show that my Lightning address is alive and well.

My phone blowing up with payment notifications.

Back to the story. Danny Scott, CEO of CoinCorner — a Bitcoin and Lightning company — was quick to point out to Armstrong on Twitter that he might have made a mistake in confusing Bitcoin and email, as Coinbase provides a “send to email” function.

Scott told Cointelegraph in an email, “Obviously, we know the address [that Joe shared] is a Lightning address, but clearly not everybody does.”

“So my guess is Brian knows very little about Lightning right now, in particular LNURL, Lightning addresses and other innovations being built out, which is perfectly fine, he's distracted, it happens, now we just hope he helps himself and the industry by turning their attention to what really has substance and long term value, Bitcoin and Lightning.”

It’s true: Coinbase offers trading for more than 250 different cryptocurrencies — that’s a lot of tokens to keep one’s eye on. And as Scott adds, “I can appreciate how busy he will be — this industry doesn’t sleep, and running a Bitcoin company myself, I know that feeling even at a smaller scale.”

To give Brian and ultimately Coinbase the benefit of the doubt, I waited a few days before writing this article. I have tweeted repeatedly at Brian (no reply) and I also reached out to the Coinbase Press Team. They told me that they would get to the bottom of it, but “My guess is that Brian is likely batching the sends at certain times." A day has passed since this message (more doubt-benefit-giving) and they’ve not sent an explanation.

The press team email was particularly left-field as it referred to “batching.” Batching is consolidating multiple payments into a single transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain, not the layer-2 Lightning Network. Again, they’re not familiar with Lightning. This adds further insult to injury: Could it be that the Lightning Network simply isn’t on Coinbase’s radar?

It’s been three days since Armstrong said he would send the money, and there have been some simply wonderful memes from the Bitcoin and wider crypto community.

*Brian the "LN Maxi" trying to blend in. Source: @Corndalorian*

Armstrong has been active on Twitter, while his company is busy launching new projects and winning insider trading cases for the over 250-plus crypto projects Coinbase hosts.

Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for my $100. But I’m also increasingly alarmed that the billionaire, crypto OG and Coinbase CEO Armstrong struggled to spot a Lightning address.

Joe Hall joined Cointelegraph as a reporter in 2021. He holds an MA in French and Spanish from the University of Edinburgh and a BA in languages from Sceinces Po Lyon.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin gaming enters Africa with local crypto exchange partnership

April 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Africa

The Bitcoin gaming economy gets a boost from Zebedee’s expansion into Africa, complementing its Brazil and Philippines operations.

Gamers in Africa can now send and receive small amounts of Bitcoin (BTC) while playing classic titles like Counter-Strike.

Zebedee, a fintech and payments processor targeting the gaming space, has partnered with crypto exchange platform Bitnob to offer payments and gaming reward options in Africa using the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN).

Within the partnership, African users can earn Bitcoin through Zebedee-powered apps and games. Zebedee’s offering serves as a second layer in games that allows developers to replace vague in-game points rewards with satoshis, the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. Through the partnership with Bitnob, these, in turn, can be converted to a local currency like the Nigerian nairas.

Zebedee’s chief strategy officer Ben Cousens explained that the partnership was driven by game developers who had Bitcoin in mind for tournaments and other gaming rewards.

“If I’m Activision Blizzard or EA Games and I have 30 million players of my games in Africa, and I run tournaments or giveaways, I cannot pay those players on fiat rails — it is too expensive. I am limited to the U.S., and I lose money from loss of engagement. Try sending $0.01 to these territories on another rail,” he said.

“This is about the $180 billion video games market, not play-and-earn or crypto gaming.”

In general, Africa has been a growing area of interest for the Lightning Network, partly due to the LN’s ability to facilitate microtransactions . Bitcoin Senegal founder Nourou told Cointelegraph, “Microtransactions are our economic reality,” hence why he and many other African builders and developers are exploring the LN.

*Gamers can already earn Bitcoin by playing popular games such as Counter-Strike. Source: Zebedee*

Africa benefits from young demographics and a digitally native population. Cousens continued, “We’ve seen consistent evidence of high demand for our platform across the African continent, where the purchasing power of Bitcoin is considerably higher than markets like the U.S. and Europe.”

Indeed, the matchup of LN and gaming is a growing trend during the bear market. Cousens said it’s “A natural evolution of the interactive entertainment landscape, where ‘Rewarded Play’ (in lieu of unsustainable play-and-earn) provides meaningful performance uplift for game developers against a backdrop of slowing growth in mobile gaming revenue while engaging players in a fun and creative way.”

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The state of the Bitcoin Lightning Network in 2023

April 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

To what extent does the surge in the use of custodial wallets and difficulties in running a Lightning node undermine the Lightning Network?

The Lightning Network, a layer-2 payment solution built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, is six years old.

Products, users and the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) sent on the Lightning Network (LN) has sky-rocketed in 2023, despite the price per Bitcoin slipping under $20,000.

The LN has benefited from the integration into the Nostr protocol — in which users can send one another satoshis (small amounts of Bitcoin) — and the proliferation of custodial and noncustodial LN wallets, and its formal integration in territories such as El Salvador and Lugano.

From Mediterranean cities to Senegal, the LN is also growing as a peer-to-peer means of payment. Nonetheless, despite its growth, concerns still stymie the network, according to key opinion leaders interviewed during Advancing Bitcoin Developer Conference in London.

Eric Sirion, co-founder of Bitcoin mobile app Fedi and maintainer of the Fedimint protocol, explained that running a Lightning node in 2023 is still difficult and that some people don’t bother when faced with the complexity:

“To keep your own Lightning node running, to keep well connected, like keep your connections up to date with the nodes that are relevant — it’s a part-time job essentially.”

Matthias Koller, co-founder of Swiss company Pocket Bitcoin, said, “It has become substantially easier compared to early 2018. However, it is still not ‘easy’ for the masses.”

“But it’s exciting to see the development around full node implementations and the progress that’s been made.”

Sirion, who wrote the open-source code Fedimint and now works on the Fedi team, explained that custodial Lightning wallets, such as Wallet of Satoshi, are popular among Bitcoin advocates. He’s right: It is the wallet of choice for Nostr, a space dominated by Bitcoiners.

However, the reliance on custodial wallets could be a problem for the LN. Trusting a third party with funds, such as Wallet of Satoshi, is contrary to the Bitcoiner mantra, “not your keys, not your coins,” Sirion said.

Furthermore, Koller explained that the reason many Bitcoiners end up sidestepping the “not your keys, not your coins” mantra is that some of the custodial solutions are just so easy. “It’s set up in seconds, ready to transact,” he said, noting:

“But in fact, it’s no different from keeping Bitcoin on an exchange — it’s not your Bitcoin. It’s risky if people aren’t aware of the risks involved and the amounts kept in custodial wallets grow in size.”

However, Koller conceded that custodial solutions are fine for “pocket money.” The LN is ideal for micropayments, but even so, trusting centralized wallet providers could erode privacy. In response to the rise in custodial wallets, one Twitter user explained, “If payments are being made from custodial mobile wallets to custodial mobile wallets it’s very simple to link senders and receivers.”

Sirion hopes that the rollout of Fedi will undermine the reliance on third parties and provide a straightforward and privacy-centric route to using Bitcoin and Lightning. Fedi uses the open-source protocol Fedimint in which trusted members of a community share ownership of Bitcoin:

“If you’re already using custodial service, at least use one where you have a reason to trust the people that are.”

Moreover, the reliance on Lightning custodial wallets could be in part due to the difficulties in running a Lightning node. Node software businesses, such as Amboss and Umbrel, attempt to remedy the issue with improved UX, but in comparison to downloading Bitcoin Core to run a Bitcoin node, there are more steps, and a deeper understanding of Bitcoin is required to run a Lightning node.

Furthermore, in the world of Venmo, Revolut and other near-instant centralized payment services, there’s a risk that Lightning’s free and frictionless payments do not necessarily solve a pressing problem. During Advancing Bitcoin, Alex Leishman, CEO of Bitcoin firm River Financial, told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoiners use Lightning mostly because it’s interesting and it’s cool. It’s not solving deep problems in their life.”

Koller joked that the LN is “Bitcoin on steroids. Fast, cheap and perfect for small, daily transactions.” Plus, it’s still substantially more private than Google Pay or using Visa or Mastercard at a checkout:

“The pain I feel every time I have to use a credit card online is just gut-wrenching. Give me Lightning everywhere!”

Leishman would like to see more people working backward from real human problems observed worldwide and see where Lightning can fit in. For example, in the West, the LN could resolve inter-institutional transactions.

“It can really move the needle on a number of things in the West and in the developing world.”

In El Salvador, some Salvadorans use the Lightning Network, but cash is still king. Leishman mentions the Taro protocol, which, once implemented, could allow for assets to be issued on the Bitcoin blockchain.

“Do people actually just want dollars? And does that mean we want to try to build stablecoins on Lightning with Taro?” he said.

These assets could be deposited into Lightning Network payment channels and transacted instantly. In theory, LN users could hold several balances in their wallets, including different stablecoins or dollars.

Currently, developers can mint, send and receive Taro assets on the test network of the Bitcoin blockchain. In the meantime, LN developers will continue to seek out more user-centric Bitcoin solutions.

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