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DREAM BIG: A proposal to upgrade the bitcoin network dubbed Taproot would be an "enormous privacy win," making virtually all transactions on the blockchain look identical to outside parties.
However, Taproot is dependent upon a more contentious, and perhaps more crucial, bitcoin network upgrade known as Schnorr that developers have reportedly been "dreaming about" for years. Full Story
FIRST STEPS: The earliest iteration of BOLT, a scalable, anonymous second-layer payment system inspired by bitcoin’s lightning network, was published Tuesday.
Described as a “privacy add-on” for lightning, the full implementation of the code is still under development. While the current version was written for zcash, there are plans to iterate versions of the protocol for other cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and litecoin. Full Story
UP AND COMER: Prime Trust, a small U.S. financial institution with a growing back-office role in the crypto space, will soon begin offering custodial services for ether and any ERC-20 token issued on the ethereum blockchain.
The Nevada trust company quietly started offering cold storage for bitcoin in mid-July. If the name sounds familiar, it may be because Prime Trust is also the custodian for the U.S. dollars backing the stablecoin that IBM is involved in. Full Story |
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 The lightning network has grown to over half a million dollars in total network capacity. Taking a look at how that breaks down across percentiles, we notice three things: - The nodes in the 90th percentile — those with the largest capacity — each hold a total of 20 million satoshis, valued at around $1,200.
- The bottom 50 percent of nodes have capacities at roughly 4 percent to that of the top 10 percent.
- The capacity per node of the bottom 10th percentile gained 19 percent this past week, while the capacity of the 90th percentile nodes dropped 16 percent.
Find out more crypto research insights here. |
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| | SIGHS OF RELIEF: After falling nearly to its 2018 low yesterday, bitcoin has recovered back to mid-$6,000 territory, and technical charts suggest the price outlook is improving. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST
WALL STREET JOURNAL: The paper offers a gloomy take on the current bear market for crypto, noting that 98 of the top 100 coins declined in market value over the span of 24 hours this week.
Some say "there is a growing recognition that prices may never again reach the high levels of January," the article says. With "no practical utility in traditional markets and in daily commerce," cryptos are still seen by mainstream investment analysts as a dicey gamble.
THE REST
CNBC: Ripple, the company closely associated with the cryptocurrency XRP valued at $147 billion, is setting its sights on China.
Having partnered with Hong-Kong based financial servcies firm LianLian International, Ripple's focus is to bolster support for cross-border transactions between China, the U.S. and Europe, though the exact technology to be deployed in these efforts remains unknown.
REUTERS: Telecommunications giant AT&T is getting sued for "gross negligence in connection with the theft of digital currency tokens."
Filed by Michael Terpin, one of the founders of an angel group for bitcoin investors, the $224 million lawsuit blames AT&T for a "digital identity theft" of his cellphone account. The company disputes the allegations. |
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