The crypto sphere has been buzzing with chatter as Coinbase, a renowned cryptocurrency exchange, recently affirmed its plans to incorporate the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN). Positioned as the solution to Bitcoin’s scalability problems – lingering issues that have given rise to faster and more affordable newcomers, LN had, until very recently, been largely overlooked by major crypto exchanges like Coinbase. The hesitation was partially due to the belief within the crypto community that Lightning Network utilisation provides fewer incentives for exchange profits.
Nevertheless, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, stirred the waters by confirming the crypto exchange’s decision to integrate LN. His confident claim that “Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto” reveals a commitment to enhancing transaction speed and reducing fees for the world’s largest cryptocurrency. This groundbreaking move comes on the heels of an internal investigation headed by Protocol Specialist Viktor Bunin, who has been probing the practicability of LN’s adoption.
That said, the endorsement took a few industry heavyweights by surprise as they had been very vocal with their concerns. The likes of Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s founder, and Jack Dorsey, Square’s CEO, had publicly questioned Armstrong’s stance on LN earlier. The crypto community couldn’t help but celebrate Armstrong’s announcement, which they view as pivotal for the democratization of low-cost, efficient Bitcoin microtransactions.
Meanwhile, Binance announced the successful completion of Bitcoin LN integration for Bitcoin withdrawals and deposits on July 17. This significant stride means users seeking to deposit or withdraw Bitcoin can now select “LIGHTNING” as an option alongside BEP-20, Bitcoin, BEP2, BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC-20.
Yet, the world of crypto is a convoluted maze, not necessarily as simple as it seems. Philip Torres, 0xScope’s co-founder and chief data scientist, pointed out that the metrics often used to measure the state of a cryptocurrency ecosystem’s healthiness may not be inuative. Specifically, he suggested that a small group of users can generate the lion’s share of activity across numerous wallets. As such, he warns all stakeholders within the crypto circle to be wary of entities claiming to have larger user bases, as it’s not uncommon for one individual to control multiple wallet addresses hidden behind the veil of privacy concerns or automated trading strategies.
Neither negative and sceptic views nor positive interpretations and applications exclude each other, and so, covering all angles is the key. The more light that is shed upon the subtle nuances of the blockchain industry, the greater our capacity will be to comprehend its volatile nature and potential.
Source: Cointelegraph
