Bitcoin, the world’s first and most widely-used decentralized digital currency, has an important role in building a decentralized financial system. One of the key advantages of Bitcoin is its potential for appreciating in value, thanks to its limited and predetermined supply. This can make it a potentially attractive investment, as it may increase in value over time.
In addition to its potential for growth, Bitcoin offers security and transparency through its distributed ledger, the blockchain. This means that transactions on the network are almost impossible to cheat or make fraudulent, making it a secure option for conducting financial transactions.
Bitcoin’s decentralized nature also means that it is not subject to the same risks as traditional currencies, such as inflation or government seizure. This makes it a useful option for individuals in countries with unstable currencies or high inflation rates, as it allows them to store value and make payments in a more stable and secure way.
The rise of DeFi, or decentralized finance, has also seen the development of a number of projects built on top of the Bitcoin network. These include RSK and tBTC, which allow users to access a wide range of financial services in a decentralized and trustless manner.
The Lightning Network, another layer built on top of the Bitcoin network, also offers users the ability to make fast and cheap transactions. This can make transactions faster and cheaper, and can also enable new use cases such as micropayments and instant payments. One such wallet that integrates with the Lightning Network is HolyTransaction, which offers a wide range of digital assets and other benefits such as an easy-to-use interface and fast and cheap transactions.
A leading project is Blockstream’s Liquid Bitcoin, also known as L-BTC. Liquid Bitcoin is a sidechain-based token that is pegged to the value of Bitcoin, allowing users to transfer value between the two networks quickly and securely. The Liquid Network is a federated sidechain that uses a consortium of trusted nodes to provide increased privacy and security for users.
Another project that leverages the Liquid Network is Fuji Money, a Lightning-enabled non-custodial synthetic asset protocol. Fuji Money allows users to create and trade synthetic assets, such as stablecoins or synthetic commodities, on the Liquid Network in a trustless and decentralized manner. This allows users to access a wider range of financial instruments and services, further expanding the capabilities of the decentralized financial system.
Overall, the role of Bitcoin in building a decentralized financial system is significant, thanks to its potential for appreciation in value, security and transparency, and ability to provide financial inclusion.
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Acknowledging the unprecedented potential of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, El Salvador and Lugano are two of the most significant adopters of this remarkable technological breakthrough.
As a cornerstone moment for the Bitcoin economy, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed on 28 October 2022 between the nation of El Salvador and the city of Lugano in Switzerland. Moving forward, the goal of the MOU is to increase the use of Bitcoin not only in their respective areas but also in the states and nations that are nearby.
Overall, the anticipated aims of the partnership include bolstering cooperation in education and research for both El Salvador and Lugano, assisting initiatives to promote the adoption of Bitcoin and other digital tokens in their respective regions, and encouraging the exchange of students and talent between the two countries.
So far, the scalability of the Blockchain has been a significant barrier to the widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies from their inception. The Lightning Network’s second layer introduces a cutting-edge solution to this matter, as it intervenes by processing transactions outside the first-layer blockchain mainnet while retaining the mainnet’s robust decentralized security model. By bypassing the official Bitcoin blockchain, the Lightning Network can grow Bitcoin transactions per second (TPS), charge reduced fees, and allow new use cases like micropayments.
In addition, the Lightning Network has the potential to bring financial inclusion and freedom to the developing nations involved, in part because it is a trusted and private network that does not require the participation of third parties or intermediaries. Moreover, it could also lessen the likelihood of governments enacting policies restricting the free flow of capital. It also helps people who do not have access to bank accounts by facilitating transactions in a manner that is almost instantaneous and free of charge, thereby making Bitcoin usable not only as a means of payment but also as a means of exchange.
Lugano appears to have the same goal as El Salvador: to have all local businesses routinely accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. However, Lugano does not appear to have the same goal as El Salvador of making Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency legal tender. Although Lugano does not hold such a position in Switzerland, the city of 70,000 people did launch its Plan B programme approximately seven months ago to increase the use of Bitcoin.
In March of 2022, Lugano announced that it would be implementing the Plan ₿ Initiative. Additionally, the technology company Polygon joined as a critical infrastructure partner. Plan ₿ Foundation, a partnership between the City of Lugano and Tether, the technology company behind the public blockchain that supports the largest stablecoin by market capitalization (USDT), has been announced today. This partnership will allow Bitcoin, Tether, and LVGA payments to be accepted in the city of Lugano.
Tether and the city of Lugano have collaborated to create a Plan ₿ aiming to increase the use of Bitcoin and stablecoins throughout the city. This, in turn, is expected to have a beneficial effect on all aspects of inhabitants’ everyday lives. As a result, the city’s financial system will be revolutionized faster than ever, thanks to the widespread use of Bitcoin.
In 2021, El Salvador was the first country to acknowledge Bitcoin as a legal tender. Through this avenue, El Salvador became a pioneer in demonstrating how technologies such as Bitcoin, decentralized ledgers, and peer-to-peer networks can accelerate financial literacy and inclusion
Furthermore, Latin America appears to follow El Salvador’s lead and powering Bitcoin mining farms with natural resources (such as energy generated by geothermal activity). Countries of Costa Rica in Central America and Paraguay in South America are also heading in this direction.
Since most people in Europe are not yet familiar with this idea, a closer relationship between El Salvador and a nation located in Europe could usher in uncharted territory.
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Today, we are pleased to announce that HolyTransaction is adding support for swapping to Bitcoin on Lightning Network and thus introducing the ability to deposit and withdraw using Lightning Network.
By adding this capability, HolyTransaction is set to revolutionise the speed, cost and security of depositing and withdrawing Bitcoin on to its platform.
Lightning Network is a software stack which sits on top of the Bitcoin blockchain and, as the name implies, ensures faster and cheaper transactions for its users.
Other than super fast speed and lower fees users will notice a new format of address called invoice when they send or receive Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. The team at HolyTransaction reported that the integration has been successful and hassle free.
Lightning Network brings three essential product benefits to the HolyTransaction exchange:
• Instant Payments. With the use of smart contracts security across the network is much higher and because the stack is built ‘on top’ of the Bitcoin network no transaction confirmations are required. This makes instant payments super fast, super secure and, of course, super cheap.
• Scalability. The massive upscale in transactions per second eclipses any traditional legacy payment rail on the market today. Furthermore, payment ‘with click’ becomes a true reality as the need for financial custodians are eliminated.
• Low Cost. Because Lightning Network does not interact directly with legacy Bitcoin infrastructure itself Lightning Network enables transaction with incredibly low fees. This in turn will stimulate economic growth in new and emerging markets.
In real terms this means Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals on HolyTransaction will be much faster and much cheaper when using Lightning Network.
At the time of press average costs for sending a Bitcoin transaction currently stand at around $2 with confirmation times of around 10 minutes. This clearly has limitations. However, a Lightning Network enabled transaction will cost less than $0.01 and take somewhere in the region of 1-3 seconds.
Adopting Lightning Network will make HolyTransaction more attractive for users who wish to send transactions with added security at much lower cost and super fast speed. HolyTransaction is happy to report that Lightning Network has been integrated for both desktop and mobile application versions.
Lightning Network was envisioned in 2015 and has seen significant growth throughout 2021 which has lead to it being regarded as the most popular layer 2 scaling solution on the market for Bitcoin today. With continued adoption Lightning Network may just help to finally realise the original Bitcoin goal of providing a scalable, fast and cheap financial payments network to the world.
The team at HolyTransaction believe the adoption of the Lightning Network is the logical step in the development of the platform. Lightning Network adoption will enable HolyTransaction to continue to provide a first class crypto trading experience and offer competitive fees with super fast finality times.
021744d86987a91958461117cd9e7c0e3160f7b86de11f5998018f4b4984a5c330@54.194.246.117:9735
Lightning Network Node links:
1ML
Amboss
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