Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network nodes have claimed 2.2 BTC in “justice transactions” to deter potential thieves, a BitMex Research analysis revealed on July 15. A so-dubbed “justice transaction” is a punitive mechanism involving the closure of a lightning channel that is suspected to be attempting theft. As the report outlines: “[B]y design, when a thief attempts to steal funds on the lightning network, if caught, they do not only lose the money they tried to steal, they lose all the funds in the relevant channel. This ‘punishment’ is expected to act as a deterrent and is sometimes called ‘justice’. BitMEX …
A team of researchers claims that the prototype silicon chip that they developed enables encryption that is impossible to break. According to an article published on Dec. 20 by scientific paper publication outlet Nature, the system uses chaotic wavepackets in conventional Silicon-based semiconductors. The chip was developed by scientists from the U.K.-based School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, and the Center for Unconventional Processes of Sciences in California. The paper explains that conventional encryption standards — that cryptocurrencies rely on — could soon become obsolete …
Following a recent warning on vulnerabilities on Bitcoin’s (BTC) Lightning Network (LN), a startup claims to have found instances of the vulnerability being exploited. Upgrade advised to avoid loss of funds Olaoluwa Osuntokun, CTO at LN-focused startups Lightning Labs and ACINQ, revealed the news in a brief statement on Linux Foundation’s domain on Sept. 10, claiming that there are confirmed instances of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) “being exploited in the wild.” The vulnerability was first reported on Aug. 30 by LN coder Rusty Russell. At the time, the Australian software programmer warned of security issues in a number of …
Blockchain development company Lightning Labs announced that it released the first alpha version of its Lightning Network (LN) client for the main bitcoin (BTC) network, according to a blog post published on April 23. The announcement specifies that this is still an early version aimed at testers and developers willing to start experimenting with the software. The developers also warn that the users should not put more funds into the app than they are willing to lose. Furthermore, while the release supports macOS, Windows and Linux, the post also specifies that it is an important stepping stone in the development …
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has updated its wallet infrastructure to include support for Segregated Witness (SegWit) bitcoin (BTC) addresses. The news was revealed in a Gemini blog post on April 15. SegWit is a scalability solution for the bitcoin network, first activated in late 2017. As well as increasing block size, Segwit moves the “witness” signature data to a separate location. It thus solves what is known as transaction malleability, which is conducive to second-layer solutions like Lightning Network (LN). Claiming that Gemini is the first major crypto exchange to launch full — rather than …